Every afternoon, crowds of young Western customers would get together at À Table, a French bakery and café not far from the Green Lake Park in central Kunming. Croissant, French sandwich and baguette are among the best sellers of this restaurant.

Getting up around 7 a.m. Vincent, the owner of À Table, only prepares 20 baguettes each day, in order to make sure that every loaf that comes onto customers’ tables is as hot and fresh as it can be.

As a t r a d i t i o n a l a n d meticulous Frenchman, Vincent always keeps an eye on those details. “He felt in love with this old house when he saw it for the first time,” said Haiya, Vincent’s wife who is a Chinese. “These brick flooring tiles and wooden walls combine perfectly with our desserts and coffee.”

“I enjoy my life in Yunnan very much,” said Vincent. And he is definitely not the only person that feels this way. In fact, quite a few French come to settle down on this land not merely because of its congenial climate, but the special historical and cultural tie between Yunnan and their homeland.

A number of cultural similarities that Yunnan shares with France, such as the cultures of coffee and mushroom eating, are another factor which keeps enchanting the French nationals, just like Vincent.

À Table, meaning “the meal is ready” in French, now has become a major gathering place for the French community in Kunming, and everything in relations to Yunnan and France seems to be able to evoke customers’ interest here. “I hope that food exchange could bring Yunnan and France closer than ever,” said Vincent.