Flying from Kunming to Jinghong, the visibility is very good, and the clouds are like fluff, and the clouds are clearly visible. The mountain peaks protruding from the clouds, and the winding road on the ridge are close at hand. From time to time, it can be seen that on the gentle halfway of a certain mountain, a large number of houses are spread out, and the clouds are floating in it, which is a beautiful view of heaven and earth!
Jinghong City is the capital of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. It is located at the southern tip of Yunnan Province and borders Myanmar in the south. The border is 112.39 kilometers long. Because it is located at the southern end of the Hengduan Mountains Rift Valley and on both sides of the Lancang River Fault Zone, there are many mountains and ravines in the territory, so far there is no railway.
Before departure, I checked that the temperature in Xishuangbanna was between 30 and 18 degrees Celsius. I packed a box of summer clothes and flew over without any clothes in the end.
Jinghong has long summer without winter, distinct dry and wet seasons, large daily temperature difference and small annual temperature difference. When I wake up every morning, the sky is overcast as if it is about to rain, so I just wear a sweater and a coat. At noon, the sun suddenly and violently shone on the earth, making people dizzy and sweaty. However, they didn't dare to take off too many clothes. Where the temperature is a few degrees lower in the shade, you will catch a cold if you are not careful.
Main entrance of Manting Park
The magnificent Dai Palace in Manting Park
For the convenience of visiting, we chose to live in an inn opposite Manting Park. The location here is good, more than ten minutes drive from the airport. There are many shops around, and it is very convenient for shopping and dining. After walking for more than ten minutes at night, we arrived at the barbecue night market in the Dragon Boat Square on the south bank of the Lancang River.
The Lancang River passes through Jinghong City, the picture comes from the Internet
Crossing the Lancang River Bridge, picture from Tracy
The first night in Jinghong
Two lunatics dragged their stiff legs
In the middle of the night, I was still taking pictures of night scenes, plants, and picking stones by the river
Laughed so hard for the "Little Skewers of 5 Jiao"
Gaozhuang Night Market is just under the tower, surrounded by
Stalls for eating, drinking and having fun
Image via Tracy
The unrestrained night market barbecue, the picture comes from Tracy
chunks of meat, whole fish
Various bugs, mushrooms, fruits
There doesn't seem to be anything here that can't be grilled
Tracy who lingers in the night market
I said Tracy, let's save my life!
Image via Tracy
The Lancang River passes through Jinghong City, and both sides of the river are famous for their night markets. Jiangnan is an old city with narrow roads and disordered layout. Jiangbei is a newly built tourist distribution center in Gaozhuang. There are not many people during the day, but the night market at night is huge and famous all over the world.
The forest coverage rate in Jinghong is as high as 85%, and there are all kinds of valuable trees. At the night market, there are all kinds of wood carvings, bracelets polished by precious wood, bracelets and necklaces strung with plant seeds, all of which are genuine and very distinctive. Watching the stall owner making bracelets on the spot, marveling at the complexity of its craftsmanship. As for all kinds of gems and jades, it is impossible to distinguish the true from the false.
Dining at the morning and evening a la carte restaurant with Dai style
It is called "sooner or later" here
The main rice noodles and dried rice
There are 13 ethnic minorities living in Jinghong, and the main ethnic minority is the Dai nationality. In the street market, most of the businessmen are middle-aged and elderly women, dark and thin, capable and simple. The taste of the Dai family is sour, spicy, and numb. They often sit on a small stool made of bamboo and wood, sit on a low round bamboo table with edges, and eat while crawling. If you want to sit upright and eat, you have to hold the bowl Hold it in hand.
The source of sourness in Dai is not vinegar, but lemon. At the cold vegetable stand on the street, pots of vegetables are full of bright red peppers and half of lemons. Various unidentified leaves are used as green vegetables or as spices at the vegetable stalls in the farmers' market. I recognized a type of Polygonum spicosa, picked off a leaf and tasted it, it was super spicy.
In the morning market, the fruits and vegetables from farmers setting up stalls along the street are fresh and cheap. Five or six yellow carambolas, weighing at least two or three catties, cost two yuan a bag; naturally ripe bananas, regardless of length or size, cost two yuan a catty; peppers, ginger, and various leaves cost two yuan a bag; Passion fruit, two yuan per catty; lucuma, three yuan per catty... There are also all kinds of fruits with strange shapes, which make people dazzled and salivate.
There are quite a few elderly people who come to Xishuangbanna to escape the cold. They lived here for a few months, chasing the sunshine and fresh air, seeing flowers every day, and the food and accommodation were not expensive, so they were very comfortable.
Dai women like to wear their hair in a bun and arrange flowers on it. One day, seeing a Dai mother holding a handful of white and yellow flowers on the side of the road, she couldn't help but go up and ask: What kind of flower is this? She couldn't speak Mandarin well, so she didn't say much, so she just gave me a few branches, and inserted the rest into her hair.
After receiving the fresh and tender flowers, an elegant fragrance came to me. I was so happy that I kept pinching them in my hands and couldn't bear to let them go. I sighed that my hair was too short and there was nowhere to put it. As soon as I met Tracy, I handed it to her and begged her to put it on. Later, she said that bees kept buzzing on her head, so she tore it off and threw it away. Later, in the botanical garden, I saw its plant and name: turmeric flower.
The archway of Manting Imperial Garden in the sunset
Public transportation in Jinghong City is extremely inconvenient. Buses are as rare as pandas. During the two days I stayed, I only saw a dilapidated city bus crawling. Locals mainly use motorcycles and electric vehicles to travel, and foreign tourists have to rely on taxis. Fortunately, the city is not big, and taxi drivers are simple and kind.
Speaking of the last day of the itinerary, I was reluctant to leave the botanical garden in Menglun. After returning to Jinghong alone, my fellow traveler Tracy took a bus to the Dafo Temple. It was really a stroke of luck. She was so happy that she sent a special post A circle of friends to show off.
On the first night, I played too crazy, ate some tropical fruits greedily, and took a lukewarm bath when I returned to the residence, and I actually caught a cold and got angry. Fortunately, the itinerary was relatively loose, so I decided not to go anywhere the next day. I just wandered along the Lancang River, picking up stones (*** found that there was an announcement on the riverside that forbids picking up stones*** during the day), and photographed wild flowers.
At noon the next day, I went back to the inn and slept all afternoon, being blinded by the sun. In the evening, in the courtyard, I had a battle with a few old people who lived in the inn and came to Banna from Sichuan to escape the cold. These old people are not simple, proficient in musical instruments, painting, photography. With the melodious accordion played on the spot and the vigorous tenor voice, a privately customized concert began.
Under the guidance of these old people, the proprietress of the inn steamed a basket of steamed buns and cooked a pot of fish soup, which were delicious. It is the first time to eat such a simple and delicious fish soup: cut the fresh catfish into small pieces, add ginger slices and white pepper to remove the fishy smell, and boil for more than ten minutes.
My little friend Tracy has another love. She worked hard in the night market, bought all kinds of beautiful accessories and special food for her family and friends, and took pictures of the gorgeous night scenes by the river. She provided precious images for this article, thank you!
In the next issue, we will present the Mantingyu Garden and the flowers along the Lancang River, so stay tuned!
In the previous issue, please click Kunming Trip | Lost in the spring flowers in winter
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