A wonderful journey in Banna in summer!

Number of days：7 days
Time: July
Average cost: 6500 yuan
With whom：parents and children
Updated: 2024.12.03

Xishuangbanna has only a dry season and a rainy season, hence the saying "long summer without winter, and autumn comes with a single rain." November to April is the best time to travel to Xishuangbanna, as the temperature during this period is neither high nor cold. Traveling to Xishuangbanna from June to September allows you to sample the wonderful tropical fruits there.

May to October is Xishuangbanna's rainy season. Seeing the weather forecasts from previous years predicting daily rain from June to August, I suddenly felt a bit hasty in booking this trip.

But some say that high-tech things like weather forecasts are completely useless in a tiny place like Xishuangbanna!

Downpours often come suddenly, leaving you completely drenched without any preparation. Then, a few minutes or even ten minutes later, the rain stops, and the sky clears again.

In fact, you can expect to see rain every day in Xishuangbanna during this season, but it's still worth having an umbrella ready.

Remember to always have an umbrella handy; it's very practical for providing shade and protection from the rain.

Xishuangbanna's humidity, over 90 percent, is incredibly high. Clothes hung out on the balcony overnight still look like they've just been hung out, while clothes hung indoors are actually dried out by the air conditioning.

During our stay in Xishuangbanna, we ate every meal on banana leaves, skipping the tablecloth.

Once we ate directly on the grass, even skipping the table.

The pineapple rice in Manzhang Village was especially delicious, with pineapple mixed in. The pineapple rice in Wild Elephant Valley was just so-so.

The chances of seeing wild elephants in Wild Elephant Valley were about as good as winning the lottery.

Every meal was filled with generous portions of grilled fish, barbecued meat, bacon, smoked meat, and chicken, leaving plenty left over after every meal. Pumpkin vines were a must-have at every meal.

Our tour guide was knowledgeable but also quite arrogant, claiming to be amphibious and lecturing at school as part of his job.

My neighbor, Mr. Wang, said he saw we always left the most meat, so he arranged a vegetarian hot pot for us on our last night in Yuxi. I actually declined. The Jiangchuan three-course meal (fish, chicken, and lamb), a Yuxi specialty, was gone.

Because I was traveling with a group, using a study abroad program on China-TravelNote, I skipped the essential pre-trip research and only worried about round-trip airfare.

Even though I only worried about round-trip airfare, I'd already experienced so much before even setting off. It's like being mentally exhausted before even setting off.

After two flight changes, after much effort, the result was a delightful one.

Due to force majeure, all my previous efforts were wasted, and the flight I was rebooked on was actually the one that had been changed.

The main text hasn’t started yet, but the prologue is already so exciting---the flight process on the 18th

Day 1

Hurry, hurry, hurry! Depart at 8:30 in the morning------Arrive at Banna Airport at 1:00 in the morning of the second day

Transiting in Kunming

Arrival at Banna Airport

Day 2 Manzhang Village

In Manzhang Village, our host, Xiaoyu, is a beauty.

The village offers many activities, including dancing, water splashing, pottery making, papermaking, brocade weaving, and bamboo rafting.

Most of the village's stilt houses appear somewhat dilapidated, but a few are modern, giving them a distinctly upscale feel.

Every household has a car and is well-off.

Every household has one or two hammocks under their stilt houses.

The river water is like the Yellow River.

Washing is inconvenient, though we used to do it that way when we were kids.

The tap water is unfiltered mountain spring water, so it becomes murky when it rains.

The toilet is so low you have to bend down.

We live in Xiaoyu's stilt house. Downstairs are three guest rooms, each with a bed and an electric fan.

This is a world without air conditioning. It's cool at night.

Upstairs is a single room with no bed, but some farm tools. The old man has built a fire and is making fishing gear. We sleep on the floor. Check in at Xiaoyu's house Brush your teeth and wash your face right here. Pair up with Dai children. Exchanging Gifts Strolling around the Village src="https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/1mf1912000gyfru9q9284_R_800_10000_Q90.jpg?proc=autoorient" /> Saw the carambola Carved palm leaf scriptures Enjoyed the Dai dance Invite us to dance together Everything is strange, many things I have never seen before This is my first time seeing a rubber tree. There is a bowl tied to the trunk to collect the rubber juice. Banana trees on the roadside Chinese Peacock Feast The pineapple rice is so delicious! After lunch, take a bamboo raft to the next activity point, splashing water Change into Dai clothing and prepare to splash water, and perform a dance first Hand-made slow-wheel pottery Because firing takes time, the finished products are fired and sent back to us by the villagers src="https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/1mf3112000gyfr9ml8A9A_R_800_10000_Q90.jpg?proc=autoorient" />Handmade paper Children who love hammocks Brocade We had dinner in this room with hollowed-out walls. It started to rain while we were eating, and some of the rain drifted in, so we moved the table. As we were eating, the rain got heavier, so we continued to move the table in. Everyone had eaten and left, leaving only two or three people. The food was still being served. If I were to go home tomorrow, I would just pack up the meat to take away. src="https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/1mf2l12000gyfrtda5E0F_R_800_10000_Q90.jpg?proc=autoorient" /> This weight of five large green mangoes was only 10 yuan, and it was such a treat.

Day 3, Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

The ants in the Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were incredibly large, and I got bitten twice.

Before coming here, everyone said there were a lot of mosquitoes in Xishuangbanna during the rainy season. I brought a bottle of mosquito repellent and a bottle of toilet water, but they were all gone in three days.

Maybe because I sprayed frequently, I felt okay and didn't think it was as serious as I'd heard.

Jackfruit Jackfruit Lunch at the Botanical Gardens, sitting on the floor. There were so many banana leaves, layer upon layer, that when we finished eating and cleaned up, we found a few unopened packages of vegetables and rice. Rest after dinner

Afternoon activities in the botanical garden, one group of children, one group of parents

Victoria amazonica, can bear about 60 kilograms

There are snails on the back of Victoria amazonica, do you see it?

Caught a firefly, hahahaha

What a beautiful caterpillar

Day 4: After visiting the morning market outside the botanical garden, we headed to Hani Village to cross the pristine rainforest

The buffet breakfast at the Victoria amazonica Hotel in the Botanical Garden has a wide variety of dishes.

Heading to the vegetable market

Walk straight to the right after leaving the hotel, cross the suspension bridge, turn left and you will reach the local vegetable market in a few dozen meters.

After crossing the suspension bridge, you have left the Zoo and Botanical Garden. If you need to return to the Botanical Garden, remember to report to the ticket office at the entrance.

I was doing a morning market survey at the vegetable market. There were many varieties I had never seen before. It was very novel. Looks like roasted sweet millet Super large lentils, so rare It was another dish we had never seen before, and we couldn't understand the local dialect they spoke. Pineapples were so cheap, only 2 yuan each, cheap and delicious. This student is carefully investigating and recording

Hanni Village

Traveling through the pristine rainforest, a young Hani man, knife in hand, occasionally cut down plants blocking the path, leading us through the rainforest and across streams.

A rainstorm struck along the way, living up to the rainforest's reputation. I enjoyed a rainforest feast, enjoying a meal under an umbrella for the first time in my life.

Our clothes were soaking wet, so we built a fire by the stream and warmed ourselves.

If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you wouldn't have believed that the three-wheeled motorcycle had come up a mountain road that, to us, was only suitable for walking, rugged, and wider than the road. We were being too hypocritical.

The pineapples were all planted on the steep slopes; I really don't understand how they managed to grow them there.

The locals walk up and down the hillside as if they were flying over eaves and walls, so freely and easily that I really admire them.

Enter the rainforest

Climb a tree

Continuing the trek, it's not easy, but it's also quite interesting and allows you to get in close contact with nature.

Travel through the pristine rainforest and enjoy a rainforest feast

There are very few dishes that I can't get used to, but most of the dishes are very appetizing. The porridge is especially delicious, and I had more refills several times. The pilaf is very fragrant and sticky, and you can eat plain rice with it.

Free time after dinner

There are fish and crabs in the stream on the mountain, let's look for them

I caught a fish!

Passing by a rubber plantation, I saw bowls tied to tree trunks. Curious, I got closer to see what the rubber looked like.

The dried rubber is white, very chewy and elastic, and can be stretched for a long time.

Experience chopping pineapples, picking and tasting them right away. It is completely different from what we usually eat at home. As expected, those ripened on the tree are especially sweet. There is a pineapple field that is not too steep, so I went up and picked a few. src="https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/1mf1g12000gzsctwfF93C_R_800_10000_Q90.jpg?proc=autoorient" /> Wild honeycomb Tonight's accommodation

Day 5: After visiting the Wild Elephant Valley, we went to the Ning'er Tea Plantation.

Elephant Painting

Lunch in the Wild Elephant Valley, Elephant Meal I couldn't eat any more chicken wings, so I packed some up to go.

Dead Leaf Butterfly!

Ning'er Ten Thousand Mu Tea Garden

Tea picking, special tea - one bud; first-class tea - one bud and one leaf; second-class tea - one bud and two leaves; third-class tea - one bud and three leaves Tea Tasting

The Pu'er tea given away at the 10,000-acre tea garden event was a gift. I asked if it was third-grade tea, or raw tea. They said it would naturally ferment into mature tea after seven to ten years.

The tea we just picked was all top-grade and first-grade tea.

Day 6, go to Mohei - Tea Horse Road, Mojiang - Tropic of Cancer Park, stay in Yuxi

Bench Dragon

src="https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/1mf4312000gzsdmys4F82_R_800_10000_Q90.jpg?proc=autoorient" />

Mojiang Tropic of Cancer Park

Crossing the Tropic of Cancer

Twin Wells, it is said that there are many twins here and it is related to the water here.

Day 7, Colorful Yunnan

Colorful Yunnan, for those of us who don’t know much about it, we can skip the jade and buy some specialty supermarkets.

We requested a flight after 4 p.m. for the return trip, but stubbornly booked a 3 p.m. flight. Time was tight, and I didn't have time to say goodbye. I made it, but my luggage didn't; it was checked onto the next flight.

To borrow someone else's words, I can say I can't possibly write down all the experiences of a lifetime.

In this lifetime, we're bound to meet on narrow roads, and we can't avoid it.

I don't know when I'll see all the different people I've met again.

Through gains and losses, you always gain something.

Life is so changeable, with all kinds of good and bad things coming one after another.

No one can predict it,

but we must always be humble.