Overview

550 km south of Kunming, capital of Yunnan, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture is a very attractive destination for tourists. It was known as Mengbalanaxi in old time, referring to a piece of utopia in Dai words.

Xishuangbanna is the only oasis preserved in the tropic of cancer and also the unique tropical forest in China. It shares 996 km boundary with Burma and Laos, being an important gateway to Southeast Asia.

Covering 19,185 square kilometers, Xishuangbanna consists of three parts: Jinghong county-level city, Menghai and Mengla counties. There are totally over 800 attractions in Xishuangbanna, where there also live various wild animals and plants. Hereby it is regarded as Kingdom of Animal and Plant.

Xishuangbanna is the home to Dai nationality that holds rich folk customs, such as, Dai minority dance, water-splashing festival, etc. Such activities can allow many visitors to join in and you can share much fun with the locals.

Xishuangbanna has wet and dry seasons. The wet season is between May and October, its rains almost every day. Its day season is from November to April in next year. The annual average temperature is 21 ℃, neither hot summer nor cold winter. It owns pleasant climate. The best time traveling to Xishuangbanna is between October this year and June next year.

Attractions

Wild Elephant Valley

Wild Elephant Valley is located in the south of Mengyang Nature Reserve, 50 km from Jinghong. It is famous because wild elephants are always going around there.

Wild Elephant Valley is characterized by staggered rivers and luxuriant trees. It is the natural habitat of many rare animals, such as, Asia wild elephant, macaque, green peacock, etc. It is also the only place to view wild elephants in Xishuangbanna.

Visitors can watch wild elephant show in the daytime. When coming to the dark they will swing along to look for food. Sometimes groups of wild elephants appear in the valley at the same time, and they will blare to each other. This may make visitors get shocked and frightened very much. It indeed leaves you an unusual experience of watching the elephants in the wildness.

Olive Dam Manfeilong Buddhist Pagoda

Manfeilong Buddhist Pagoda is a famous Buddhist pagoda group in Xishuangbanna. It is about 70 km from Jinghong and lies on the top of a hill in the rear of Manfeilong village. It is also called White Pagoda owing to its white color. According to the historical records, the pagoda was first built in 1204, which was designed by 3 Indian monks.

The main pagoda of Manfeilong Buddhist Pagoda is 16.29 m high. And it is surrounded by other eight small pagodas (9.1 meter high each). They look like a cluster of strong and straight bamboo shoots growing from the soil. Each stupa has a niche where stands a Buddhist statue.

Olive Dam

Located in the lower reaches of Lancang River, 30 km southeast of Jinghong, Olive Dam is the lowest and hottest place in Xishuangbanna. Tropical climate brings in abundant products and various tropical fruits, such as, coconut, areca, banana, mango, litchi, carambola, pineapple honey, etc, as well as great amount of candied fruit.

There two main villages in Olive Dam, Mansongman (garden village) and Manting (fruit garden). Each is characterized by Burma style Buddhism pagodas and Dai bamboo buildings. Both are surrounded by lush green plants, we can see that Dai people live harmoniously with the nature.

Every year during Water Splashing Festival in mid April, Dai people like to get together here to celebrate the most important festival in a year. Tourists can also join in to share the joy with the locals.

Water Splashing Festival

Water-splashing Festival is the New Year for Dai minority and one of the most important festivals in Xishuangbanna. It usually lasts at least three days from 13th to 15th, April (It is the sixth month in Dai calendar).

When comes to April every year, the Dai people always finish their farm work and start preparing for their New Years ceremony: Water-Splashing Festival. It is the ceremony to wash off the dirt and bad luck of the past year and spread blessings and happiness in the New Year.

During the festival, everyone is dressed in beautiful clothes and ready for blessing and receiving wishes from others. Dont be shy - just splash water on everyone whether you know them or not. Dont worry about your clothes, the more soaked you get, the more blessing youve received from others. Being splashed and blessed during the festival is an experience there. For many visitors, water-splashing festival is the main reason to visit Xishuangbanna.

Dining

Xishuangbanna is the major habitat for Dai people. The food here is featured with Dai style, which enjoys the great fame in Yunnan Cuisine. Dai people love sticky rice and pickled food in their daily meals, and they also eat barbecued meat and fresh water fish a lot. Since long time ago, the locals have learnt how to use the plants to make their special seasonings and spice for cooking, the people can taste the unique flavor of Dai peoples food. The popular place for local food in Jinghong city includes Manjinglan Food Street, Manla Village and Jinshatan Barbecue Night Market.

Local featured cooking style - Baoshao

It is a popular Dai-style way of cooking. The local people use banana leaves or other leaves to wrap up the food like meat, fish, etc, and barbecue on the charcoal fire. Any meat can be cooked in that way. It tastes delicious and unique.