Xishuangbanna (often just Banna is used; Chinese: 西双版纳; Lü: ᧑᧒ ᦗᧃ ᦓᦱ) is in the south of Yunnan, near the Thai, Laotian, Vietnamese and Burmese borders. The ethnic groups and the local languages in this area are more Southeast Asian than Chinese.

Position within Yunnan

The region is a very popular destination for Chinese tourists. It offers most of the attractions of Thailand — warm climate, tropical fruits and flowers, elephants, prostitutes (legal in Thailand, illegal in China), jungle treks and a reasonably well-established tourist industry — without the complications of a border and different currency.

For other tourists, especially backpackers, the region serves as stop on the Banana Pancake Trail; it is on a major route between China and Southeast Asia.

Cities

• 1 Jinghong , capital and main center of the region
• 2 Mengla
• 3 Menghai
• 4 Mohan , small town on the Laotian border

Talk

As anywhere in China, Mandarin is the lingua franca used for communication between speakers of different languages. However this area, like most of Yunnan, has several different ethnic groups and most of those have their own language. In Banna, the largest group are the Dai, ethnically and linguistically very close to Thais.

Get in

There are some flights to Jinghong (JHG ^IATA) from several Chinese cities, but much the most frequent are from Kunming. There are also a few flights from Bangkok; see Jinghong#Get_in.

There is a highway south from Kunming into this region, via Pu'er.

A fast bullet train route all the way from Kunming to Singapore has been proposed. Not all the governments involved have reached agreement yet, but as of early 2014 the Chinese part of the route, Kunming-Mengla is in an advanced stage of construction and the link through Laos to Vientiane is scheduled to be complete by 2019.

See

Buddhist temple in Dai architectural style

Do

Stay in a Hani village homestay and visit tea plantations, do jungle hikes and try the local foods. 300 yuan per night with three meals included.