From Wikitravel

Jinghong (景洪) is the capital of Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Jinghong's tiny airport (IATA: JHG) fields daily flights from Kunming and a few other cities in China. The only international flight of Bangkok Airways previously from Bangkok and Chiang Mai has stopped flying there in 2008.

[edit] By bus

• There are over a dozen sleeper buses from Kunming daily. They cost ¥150-180, depending on the coach quality. The bus takes around 11 hours.

• This is the first big city for travelers coming from Laos. This is the first place with banks that accept foreign cards, but most travelers will have to change buses in Mengla to get here.

[edit] By boat

• Ferry trips run along the Mekong from Chiang Saen (on Thailand's side of the Golden Triangle) to Jinghong for ¥800, no Laos/Myanmar visa necessary. They leave early and take a full day, slower 3-4 day cruise style trips are also available.

[edit] Get around

The interesting parts of town are definitely walkable.

Jinghong is one of the only towns in China where there are tuk-tuks or auto-ricksaws about. Hire these as a slightly cheaper way to get between places, but more than a kilometer or two and your butt might be sore all day.

Taxis run about ¥5-15 to places in town.

Down by the Nancang it may possible to hire a boat for a bit of river cruising.

[edit][add listing] See

The town is located on the Nancang River, a wide tributary of the Mekong. There's excellent walking along the riverfront.

Scattered outside town are both minority villages and "minority villages." The ones in quotes are stylized reconstructions featuring song-and-dance numbers for Chinese package tourists. Approach with caution.

For bicycle tours and competent English guiding to the Botanical Garden, Pottery Factory and Dai handycrafts ask for Coco at Banna Cafe (Manting Road #1).

[edit][add listing] Do

If one is in the town during the Thai (Dai in that area) New year there is a massive celebration with Dragon boating and capped off with a massive city wide water fight on the final day of celebration.

[edit][add listing] Buy

The usual Chinese tourist gimmicks. Local Dai produced items also available.

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Mekong Cafe, 111 Manting Road, Jinghong, Tel: 2162395. Nice cafe that serves Dai food along other backpacker favorites. It's a good place to meet guides who can take you on multi-day treks to southern Xishuangbanna.

[edit][add listing] Drink

[edit][add listing] Sleep

There are a number of O.K. options near the bus station, with the cheapest starting at ¥20 a night. For other, more expensive options, try the reservation booth at the bus station. They'll steer you to the city's four and five star options at a discount.

• Traveler's Hotel, just south of the bus station is a great option. Rooms here start at ¥60 for a double with air conditioning and attached bathroom.

[edit] Get out

Jinghong is the getway to Yunnan's Xishuangbanna Region. This is China's part of Southeast Asia, with several minority groups that are many respects more Thai or Lao than Chinese. The city is quite close to a number of Dai Villages, which can be reached by local bus or through myriad tours available here or in Kunming.

Mengla, the last town before Laos, is five hours away. Buses leave from the Banna Bus Station two times an hour for ¥33. The station is across the street and about 100 meters south of the long-distance station. From Mengla there is one bus daily at 9 a.m. to Luang Man Tha, the first town in Laos.

Getting from Jinghong to Vietnam can prove to be a bit of a problem, with two imperfect solutions. The obvious one is to go back to Kunming and start from there. This can cause problems in that you may have to wait for a day or two to get a train or bus ticket to the border. The second, marginally preferable option is to take a sleeper bus from the North bus station to Mengzi. These leave every day at 2pm, cost ¥170 and arrive at Mengzi at 6am the following day. A taxi will be ready to take you to the town's second bus station where a minibus leaves for the border town of Hekou at 6.50am and gets there at 11am. From there you can cross over the bridge into the Vietnamese town of Lao Cai.

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