Southern Yunnan

Southern Yunnan is in China.

Regions

Xishuangbanna

1 Pu'er a prefecture-level city famous for its tea

Cities

• 2 Jinghong - the capital and main airport of Xishuangbanna (when booking a plane ticket, if there is no flight to Jinghong it may be listed as Xishuangbanna instead)
• 3 Mengla
• 4 Mojiang - Famous for the unusually high number of identical twins. An international twins festival is held here every year in May.

Other destinations

• 1 Jingmai Mountain.  (景迈山) — Lancang Lahu Autonomous County (澜沧拉祜族自治县) (about 200 km from downtown Pu'er and about 60 km from the county seat of Lancang County). Listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, this mountain is covered in old tea trees and tea has been produced here since the 10th century CE (as of Sep 2023). A company called Abaila Cultural Tourism (阿百腊文旅) operates bus services to the area from Pu'er Simao Airport, Pu'er Railway Station, and Lancang Jingmai Airport as well as the airport and railway station in Jinghong - tickets can be purchased on the company's WeChat account; alternatively you could get a bus to Huimin (惠民), which is the nearest town; buses to Huimin depart from Lancang Bus Station.

Get in

By plane

Lao Airlines flies from Wattay International Airport (VTE ^IATA) to Xishuangbanna Gasa Airport (JHG ^IATA) twice a week (Fridays and Sundays).

Do

Trekking in southern Xishuangbanna. There are a number of cafes in Jinghong where you can meet up with guides who will take you on treks to see old Dai and Bulan villages in Southern Yunnan. Cost varies, but plan on about ¥300 per person for a four day trek.

The treks are pretty easy, since you will be staying in villager's homes every night along the trail. There's no need to camp, and the terrain you'll be hiking over is hilly, but not mountainous.