Mengla County Overview
1. Basic Information
● Chinese Name: 勐腊县
● Area: 7056 square kilometers
● Population: 281700(2010)
● Zip code: 666300
● Dialing code: (+86) 0691
2. Location
Mengla County is located in the southeast of Xishuangbanna Prefecture, bordering Laos to the east and Jinghong to the northwest, with national boundary of 740.8 kilometers, crossing between east longitude of 101°06′-100°50′, north latitude of 21°08′-22°25′.
3. Administrative Division
Mengla County has jurisdiction over 8 towns(Mengla Town(勐腊镇), Mengpeng Town(勐捧镇), Mengman Town(勐满镇), Menglun Town(勐仑镇), Mohan Town(磨憨镇), Mengban Town(勐伴镇), Guanlei Town(关累镇), and Yiwu (易武镇)), 2 townships(Xiangming Yi Ethnic Township(象明彝族乡), Yaoqu Yao Ethnic Township(瑶区瑶族乡)), 4 farm management committees, 7 neighborhood committees, 52 village committees, 529 groups of villagers.
4. Ethnic People
There are 26 ethnic minorities living in Mengla County including Dai, Hani, Yi, Yao, Miao, Zhuang, Lahu, etc. The minority population is 182,200, accounting for 74.3% of the whole population, among which there are 63,200 Dai, 60,900 Hani, 23,200 Yi and 19,400 Yao.
5. Climate and Weather
Mengla county, located in the south of the tropic of cancer, has a subtropical monsoon climate without severe winter and broiling summer. There is a dry season (December thru April) and wet season (May thru October).
6. Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit Menghai is during the dry season (from November to April), when the weather is agreeable and the temperature is mild. If you would like to taste the rich tropical fruit here, traveling during the period from June to September is a good choice.
Try to avoid the peak holidays due to crowded Chinese tourists such as Chinese Spring Festival (usually in late Jan or early Feb.), International Labor Day (May 01 to 03) and National Day (Oct 01-07). Spring Festival and the National Day golden week are the most crowded time for travelling.
7. Things to Do
Surrounded by untouched rainforest, Mengla is the southern gateway to Xishuangbanna. The top attractions in Mengla include Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Wangtianshu Scenic Area and Air Corridor, Nanla River, etc. Also many tea mountains and ethnic villages in Mengla are also favored by many tourists at home and aboard.
8. How to Get to Mengla County?
Mengla County can be accessible by air and long-distance bus. The nearest airport is Xishuangbanna Gasa Airport located in Jinghong City and tourists can fly to Gasa airport and then transfer to Mengla County. Long-Distance Bus is another important way getting to Mengla County, which could be accessible from Kunming, Jinghong, Luang Prabang, etc.
9. History
Mengla has a long history and splendid culture. Cultural relics unearthed from Mengban and Dashujiao prove that as early as the neolithic age, humans beings has lived here. Mengla county was built in 1927, when it was called Zhenyue County.
