Xishuangbanna Three-Day Travel Itinerary Sharing

📍Itinerary ● Day 1: Arrive in Xishuangbanna and check in at Cloudscape Shangjing Resort Hotel, located in Gaozhuangli. The hotel offers free airport/station pick-up and drop-off services. We booked it for 683 RMB/night, but prices surge significantly during holidays. Despite the price, it is still highly recommended. ● Day 2 Morning: Visit the Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden. Round-trip transportation can be booked via the WeChat public account (Xishuangbanna Travel), costing 45 RMB per person one way. In the evening, we booked a 7 PM session at Lili Huayu Photo Studio for makeup and photoshoot. Our package was 699 RMB per person, including 15 retouched photos (delivered in 15 days). The results were quite good, and advance booking is required. ● Day 3 Morning: Go to Yao Tiao Makeup Studio for Dai ethnic costume styling, which also requires advance booking. There is only one makeup artist in the morning, so it’s a bit slow. Renting clothes (for one day) plus styling costs 268 RMB per session, highly recommended. Afternoon: Visit Manting Park for photos. The park is crowded with people taking photos, so if you’re not doing a photoshoot, it’s not highly recommended, but the Grand Buddha Temple is still very beautiful. Evening: Attend the Six Nations Music Festival, held inside the Starlight Night Market, starting after 9:30 PM with Dai Di performances. ● Day 4 Morning: Booked a rainforest trek with pick-up and drop-off service. The hike is 6 kilometers and not very tiring, but you need to wade through water. This activity is highly recommended! Afternoon: Return for a massage at Naga Dai-Thai Traditional Massage. The Thai massage involves large movements and can be a bit painful, but it feels very comfortable afterward, highly recommended! ● Day 5: Returning from Kunming. Recommended Pu’er Little Yellow Bull Hotpot near the airport (5 minutes by taxi). If you have time, you can also stop by the Dayi Tea Court near Gate 29 inside the airport for a cup of tea. Both places are quite good. Notes ⚠️ · Our itinerary is quite full, mostly early mornings and late nights. If you’re worried about fatigue, consider trimming it down. · The itinerary is quite trendy and commercialized. If you want to avoid crowds, you can visit nearby ancient villages after your styling session. · It’s hard to get a taxi in Xishuangbanna, so from the airport/station, either self-drive or carpool. There should be public transport during the day, but after 4 or 5 PM, many drivers are reluctant to enter Gaozhuang due to traffic jams. Also, locals do not recommend renting electric scooters in Gaozhuang for safety reasons. 📍Food ● Yunweifang Free-Range Chicken Rice Noodles: Recommended for breakfast. Recommended dishes: Miguan and Ersi, which have a softer texture; rice noodles are slightly firmer. ● Thai Coconut Heaven · Six Nations Cuisine: Thai food, delicious, recommended. ● Qili · Southeast Asian Snacks: Chicken wings and coconut milk grilled chicken are okay, overall average. ● Wantai: Highly recommend the pounded chicken feet, others are average. ● Xiaoyu Dai Flavor BBQ: Delicious, recommended. Their tilapia is the best, not fishy. ● Jianpu Village Dai Flavor Restaurant: Delicious, recommended hand-grabbed rice, two-person set meal is enough. ● Lao Botao Dai Flavor BBQ: Not as good as Xiaoyu BBQ.