Xishuangbanna- Is it Worth Visiting?

Where is Xishuangbanna?

Xishuangbanna is located South of Yunnan province and it borders Laos and Myanmar. A lot of ex-pats call it the ‘Thailand of China’ because it is influenced by Thai culture. As soon as you arrive in Xishuangbanna you will see the Thai coffee carts, restaurants, temples, and many elephant statues. There is also a lot of wildlife in this part of Yunnan and it is the only place you can see wild elephants in China. Firstly, this is what attracted Daniel and I to visit. We wanted to taste the food and see some wild elephants. Keep reading to find out what to visit, where to stay, and eat.

Where to Stay and How Long?

We stayed in the Capital City, which is Jinghong. There isn’t a lot to do here, but it is a good location to stay to reach touristy activities. It is very tropical, with palm trees, Buddhist temples and it’s close to the famous night market (Gaozhuang Night Market). There are also some restaurants with Thai food and Western food. We stayed 5 days and it was plenty to see the Jinghong area and surrounding activities.

What to do? Is it Worth it?

I was really excited to visit Xishuangbanna, I had heard many things about it, and I just wanted to feel like I’d escaped China for a little bit. I can say that it feels like Thailand. However, if you have been to Thailand and live in China, it is not Thailand. The Thai food that we tried was nice, but not amazing. The coffees also weren’t that great. The well-known market that I will talk about below, is extremely crowded in the evenings.

Lastly, if you are an animal lover and care about animals being used for profit, then the following activities you might not want to support. I love animals and after visiting the tourist hot spots, I would not go back to them again. This may not be the most positive post about a place. However, honesty is important and if my friends asked me what I thought, I would tell them all these things.

All of the following activities are close to Jinghong or in Jinghong:

1. Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Valley

We did some research before going to Wild Elephant Valley and from the photos it looked like there were a lot of ‘wild’ elephants to see. In the research, it suggested you need to be there at either dawn or dusk to see the elephants. We decided to get there as soon as the park opened at 8AM. It was incredibly quiet in the park, and we were able to walk around without the crowds. When you enter, you will see beautiful photos of elephants and famous people that have visited the park. You will also see a ‘stage’ with seating around the edge.

Why You Should Go Early

When we arrived at 8AM there weren’t many people, and this was lovely. My advice is to go early as when it turned 10/11AM it was uncomfortably crowded. It was at this time, that we saw near the stage area a few semi- loose elephants being fed.

From research on the internet, we knew that there are walkways that go through the rainforest. During these walks you are supposed to be able to see the elephants in their natural habitat. To reach the walkways and elephants observation deck, you need to get a ticket for the cable cars that will take you to these platforms. These cable car tickets can be bought inside the park near the entrance to them. To reach the cable cars you need to pass through a small zoo. They have snakes, birds and a butterfly house. This was disappointing to see as the peacocks were chained and being used for photographs with tourists. The smaller birds looked cramped inside their cage and at this point into the experience, it felt like a zoo rather than a ‘wild elephant’ sanctuary.

The Best Part

Even though, the park is more like a zoo, the one positive about the Wild Elephant Park is the cable car ride up to the Elephant Observatory Deck.  You go through the trees and if you are lucky, you will see monkeys in the trees as you go up. It was the best part of the park in my opinion. You are surrounded by rainforest and its beautiful. I also really enjoyed walking around the rainforest on the walkway.

Furthermore, there is an elephant museum that includes facts about Asian elephants and famous people that have visited the park. Unfortunately, we only saw 1 elephant on the walkway. I should mention that we travelled there in July and from research, they suggest you visit during the months of October- April or November- February. This definitely could be the reason why we only saw one, but it doesn’t excuse the other elephants that are used to perform at the stage area.

The Worst Part

On the way back from trying to spot the wild elephants, we saw huge crowds at the ‘stage’ area. We saw elephants being used for rides, feeding and even using their trunks to pick up tourists for photos. THIS is what makes the whole experience sad. Why advertise wild elephants? I’m sure there are some elephants in the place that are wild. However, I saw many in the stage area and only a glimpse of one in the forest.

Conclusion

Overall, ‘Wild Elephant Park’ is a PARK/ zoo more than anything else. If you care about animal welfare, then this isn’t a trip for you to take. If you do decide to enter the park, then it will cost you only 84Rmb and 40 Rmb for the cable car ride.

2. Xishuangbanna Primitive Forest Park

Our second activity on the list is, ‘The Primitive Forest Park.’ It is in a huge rainforest and the main attractions are the peacocks and wild monkeys. When you enter and buy tickets, there is also the option to buy tickets for an aquarium. Daniel and I decided against this and just walked around the park. It is much cooler in the forest under the trees and is a nice day out from the city. We weren’t exactly sure on how to get around the park and we were coaxed into buying electric car tickets that take you to the top of the mountain. This is where you will see the monkeys.

My advice is that you don’t need the electric car to the top, it is only a short walk, but it is steep. When you do reach the top, you will be able to enter the monkey forest. There are a lot of wild monkeys around and options to buy bowls of peanuts or bananas to feed them. It was baby season, so it was very cute to see. Daniel and I walked through the forest and saw that they also do zip lining across the trees. This looked like fun, but we weren’t sure where you were supposed to buy tickets from for that.

The downside of visiting the park is that there isn’t a lot to see or do. If you like aquariums and seeing animals perform, then this would be for you. However, I don’t want to support that, so we left after seeing the monkeys. It did look like they did a peacock show/performance at the arena near the lake. After seeing Wild Elephant Valley, it looks like the animals are the main attraction for tourists.

3. Manting Park

We had heard lots about Manting Park from friends that had visited and even a Chinese tourist told us he highly recommended it. The main attraction to visit the park is that it used to be home to the Dai King, so you can walk among the temples and visit his private gardens. Furthermore, the location is right in the middle of the city, so it doesn’t take long to reach by taxi. The entry to the park is cheap (40Rmb) and the tropical plants and temples are lovely. When we visited, we also saw a dance performance upon entry into the park and it was really good.

As you walk around, there are beautiful lakes and ponds, surrounded by flowers and trees. There are some beautiful buildings and people selling locally made crafts. However, towards the end of the park there are elephants being ridden, and they do elephant shows where the elephants can be seen playing football.  This felt super disappointing, it felt like another tourist trap, with little authenticity. There are also a lot of girls dressing up in traditional clothing having their photo taken, which is fine, but it seemed to be everywhere in Xishuangbanna.

4. Gaozhuang Xishuangjing Night Market

Ah, the night market. We visited in July, and it was extremely crowded. Uncomfortably crowded. The market itself is beautiful all lit up at night. It is just ruined by the huge crowds and girls getting their photos taken in the traditional clothing. Every single place in the market was covered by photographers. To escape this, we stumbled upon a little outdoor music event. We paid for entry and listened to some DJ’s play and that got us away from the crowd. It’s a nice place to take some photos, try some local foods and buy some handmade local souvenirs. It is worth seeing, it’s just a shame that it’s swarmed by people. However, during the day the whole place is empty, so you could go around in the day if crowds aren’t your thing.

5. Snoopy Bikes

Who doesn’t love Snoopy? These Snoopy bikes are so fun! In Jinghong you will see people driving around in little Snoopy cars. I highly recommend renting one out for an hour. We drove ours to the Gaozhuang Night Market during the day and then other parts of the city. It was super fun and you will see lots of people doing it. The best thing in Xishuangbanna!

6. The Great Pagoda Temple of Jinghong

The last activity I will recommend, is to wander around the city. We found The Great Pagoda Temple, which is a large Buddhist temple and museum. Entry was free, but nothing was open. We could walk around the small square and that was it. It is nice to see temples and the elephant statues are beautiful. You can see the temple at night from the popular marketplace. At nighttime, everything lit up is really special.

Foreign Restaurants

Once you’ve sampled a few Thai restaurants and coffees then you may be after some comforting Western food. Especially as if you are reading this, then you most likely live in China. There are 3 places that we went to in our short stay in Jinghong. Each place has a different style and is equally amazing. I highly recommend these places if you stay in Jinghong.

1. MeiMei Cafe

MeiMei Cafe is a beautiful Cafe that does Western Brunch, Juices and Coffees. They also have a bakery attached to the Cafe with an abundance of outdoor and indoor seating. We went a lot of times during our stay because the quality of food was excellent and tasty. The atmosphere is really relaxing as well. Highly recommend!

In a didi, it only took us about 10 minutes from our stay in Jinghong. It was very much worth the drive. If you need to do any work from your laptop, there are big tables and charging points too.

2. Wish You Were Here

The nicest Western Restaurant in the area. Best for dinner. The owner is Canadian and does an array of beautiful dishes. From burgers and chili to black crumbed chicken. The desserts were also incredible. We had tiramisu and got gifted some chocolate bread to take home and try. It was DELICIOUS. Honestly incredible. They also have a cute dog, which just makes the whole experience that much better in my opinion.

3. Flying Snake

Flying Snake was one of the first places we went to in Jinghong. They are a brewery and restaurant that sits right on the Mekong River. The views are great. The atmosphere is relaxed, and the owner is American. Everyone in there was super friendly and the food was good. The best part of the Flying Snake is the home-made beers and great views. From the Flying Snake, it is a short walk to another marketplace, which feels a lot less touristy. It is small, but long and has a variety of local dishes and souvenirs. You can also see the city lit up along the river and it makes for a good evening activity.

Thai Food and Drinks

I absolutely LOVE Thai food and it was nice to have the option of Thai food whilst in Jinghong. You see the palm trees, elephant statues and signs of Thai food and coffee and this instantly makes you feel transported. However, the Thai food we did try wasn’t amazing. It was nice to have something out of the ordinary here in China, but I wouldn’t say they were amazing. For these reasons, I didn’t write down the names of the restaurants we went to. If you do find yourself in Xishuangbanna maybe, you will find great Thai food.

Conclusion

Overall, Xishuangbanna is an interesting part of Yunnan Province.  I am glad I visited and got the chance to explore. However, it wasn’t my favourite part for many reasons that I think have shone through in this post. If you are on a time crunch, then I would say skip Xishuangbanna.