Xishuangbanna, China's enchanting tropical borderland
Tourism, mainly domestic, is today a major driver of the local economy. It tends to be seasonal due to weather patterns, with midsummer often bringing high humidity and rain. But during northern China's cold winters, "Banna" is warm and dry, attracting many visitors. The region's hottest months are actually April and May, with temperatures dropping due to summer rains. Although it's around 45 minutes' flight time southwest to Jinghong, the drier landscapes around Kunming soon give way to scenes of green where dense tropical mountain ridges are interspersed with tea plantations and banana groves. Jinghong's Xishuangbanna Gasa Airport is Yunnan's second largest, having expanded in response to the growth in tourism. Extensive holiday resorts have developed near the airport — my first journey featured a stay in such a location beyond the main urban area. On a later visit, I much preferred staying in an older downtown riverside hotel where Premier Zhou Enlai had been a guest in 1961. I loved its traditional bamboo furnishings and the views from the French-style latticed windows of my bedroom towards the Lancang River. A statue commemorating his visit stands in Manting Park, one of Jinghong's several exotic gardens.
