Welcome to Xishuangbanna Region
North of Myanmar and Laos, Xishuangbanna (西双版纳, Xīshuāngbǎnnà) is the Chinese approximation of the original Thai name of Sip Sawng Panna (12 Rice-Growing Districts). Better known as Bǎnnà, the area has become China’s mini-Thailand, attracting tourists looking for sunshine, water-splashing festivals and jungle treks. Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, as it is known officially, is subdivided into the three counties of Jinghong, Menghai and Mengla.
Recent stories
Tracing China’s ancient Tea-Horse Road
From the steamy, subtropical lowlands of Xishuangbanna (“shee-shwang-bah-na”), to the crisp highlands of the Tibetan plateau, China’s Yunnan province has…
The Dai water-splashing festival: where China meets Southeast Asia
Walk through Jinghong, the capital of the Xishuangbanna region in the far southwest of China, in the middle of April and you’re likely to get wet, very…