XishuangBanna Shopping
Xishuangbanna shopping has a wide choice of local products due to its tropical monsoon climate. It is reputed as "Kingdom of Plants and Animals, so there are plentiful products like some tropical fruits and rare medicinal herbs, etc. It is also the birth place of ancient tea trees, you can buy some selected Pu'er tea products. You can also purchase some local silver ornaments, handicrafts and Dai Pottery. Shopping in Xishuangbanna will be a happy ending of your Yunnan Travel.
What to Buy in Xishuangbanna?
Tropical Fruits
Xishuangbanna is paradise for tropical fruits, where people can enjoy fresh fruits all year round, such as banana, pineapple, mango, plum, grapefruit, carambola, sweetsop, jackfruit and passionflower. The biggest fruit there is jackfruit, which may weigh more than 30 kilograms. Another peculiar fruit is passionflower (also known as “fruit with a hundred kinds of fragrance”). Fruit of passionflower is delicate and juicy. There are also dried fruit products available in stores and markets, they are the best choice for taking away.
Silver Ornaments and Jewelry
Ethnic people in Xishuangbanna like wearing silver ornaments such as hairpin, earring, chaplet, bracelet, armlet, plastron, anklet, finger ring and waistband. The two main streams of the silver ornaments are Dai style and Hani style. The traditional silver ornaments used to be hand-made but now factories are set up to produce local golden, silver ornaments and jewelry according to national standard. You should buy them in licenced stores, particularly when you are buying Jewelries.
Rare Medicinal Herbs
As the Kingdom of Plants, Xishuangbanna is home to rare medicinal herbs. among which, Xiejie (Sanguis Draconis), also known as Qilingsha in Chinese, is the most famous. It is used in the Chinese medicine to treat injuries from falls, fractures, contusions and strains, to relieve the pain from rheumatism and to treat some gynecological diseases.
Puer Tea
Xishuangbanna is the home of China's famous Puer tea.The six most major Chinese Puer tea mountains are all located in Xishuangbanna. The Xishuangbanna broad-leaf tea can be made into black tea and green tea. The former looks fresh and watery and fragrant while the latter looks fine and thin with crystal green color in the water. The most noted categories of the Puer Tea include: Nanno Pekoe, Yunhai Pekoe, Ganglu Tea, Fuxiang Tea, Xuanyun Tea. You can buy Puer tea in stores and teahouses. Jinglan "Tea City" and Gaozhuang Xishuangjing(告庄西双景) are the places dotted with tea shops and tea houses.
Local Handicrafts
Most of Dai, Hani, Laku, and Jino people wear their ethnic costumes in daily life. They weave cloth by themselves, and have the tradition of embroidering the clothes of their own styles. Therefore, brocade and embroidery with local ethnic characteristics are also favored by visitors, particularly the Dai Brocade. Hand-made Dai clothes and Hani clothes as well as the specially designed bags are highly recommended.
Hand-made Paper of Dai People
The Dai people in Jinghong city have made paper by hand for more than 1,000 years. The raw material is the bark of paper mulberry. Since no chemical agents are added in the paper making process, the paper produced is not only good in fiber toughness, but it is durable, corrosion-resistant and mothproof. Besides being used for transcription for Temples, it is also widely used in folk activities and daily life. In 2006, it was listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list and the first batch of Yunnan intangible cultural heritage protection list. The hand-made paper can be bought in Manzhang Village, Mengyang Town, and you can also experience the making process of the paper.
Read More:
- Dai Brocade
- Slow-wheel Pottery Making Skills
- Traditional Pottery-making Craft of Dai
- Xishuangbanna Souvenirs and Local Specialities
Where to Buy in Xishuangbanna?
Besides the shopping malls, night market is a good choice to go shopping and taste local food. Many kinds of handcrafts such as Dai pottery, silver ornaments and jewelry, tropical fruit and rare medicinal herbs can be found both in the downtown and scenic areas. Folk Crafts Streets also have Thai products.
Popular Shopping Places
Jinlu Commercial Street (金鹿商业街)
Located in the center of Jinghong City, it is home to many large department stores and specialty stores. It has perfect surrounding facilities and advantageous geographical location. Due to its proximity to scenic spots such as Manting Park and its convenient transportation, it is popular among local people and is relatively prosperous.
Shawan Commercial Center (沙湾商业中心)
Shawan Commercial Center is near the Jinlu Commercial Center. It is the center of the old downtown area, and is still the most favored shopping place for local people. Daxing Supermarket is located nearby, lots of shops, food stores and restaurants, cinema make it a popular shopping site.
Caifu (Fortune) Commercial Center (财富中心）
It is a new arising commercial center in Jinghong City, attracting local people with its novel recreational facilities. It also has various stores, restaurants, cinema, etc.
Xishuang 12 City Commercial Center (西双十贰城商业中心)
It is a thriving commercial center along the Lancang River, near the Songkran Square and Riverside night market. All these regional advantages make it a popular busy place among local and tourists.
Shopping Malls
- Wal-Mart Shopping Plaza(沃尔玛购物广场)
Add: Floor B1， Bingang International, No. 4, Menghai Road, Jinghong City (景洪市勐海路4号滨港国际B1层)
Tel: (0691)2190612,(0691)2190606 - Daxing Supermarket (大兴量贩)
Add:No. 51, Mengle Avenue, Jinghong City(景洪市勐泐大道51号)
Tel: (0691)2140385 - RT-MART (大润发)
Add: No. 2, Menghai Road, Jinghong City (景洪市勐海路2号)
Tel:(0691)2190612,(0691)2190606 - Wada Plaza(万达广场)
Add: Middle Section of South 7th Road, Wanda Tourism and Vacation Zone (万达旅游度假区南七路中段)
Tel: (0691)2756666
Tea Shopping Centers in Xishuangbanna
There are lots of tea houses and tea shops in Xishuangbanna, but no exclusive tea markets, the following ones are relatively concentrated tea shopping centers. Besides, there are also many tea houses in Gaozhuang Xishuangjing Scenic Area.
- Jinglan International Tea Shopping Center (西双版纳景兰国际茶城)
Add: No. 7, Menglong Road, Jinghong City (景洪市勐龙路7号) - Menghai Tea Shopping Center (勐海茶城)
Add: Menghai County (勐海县) - Jinghong City Shopping Center (景洪市茶博园)
Add: No. 2, Menghai Road, Jinghong City (景洪市勐海路2号)
Shopping Streets and Markets
- Folk Handicraft Market (民族工艺品市场)
Add: No. 1, Zhuanghong Road, JInghong City (景洪市庄洪路1号)
Tel: (0691)2756666 - Mangong Composite Market (曼贡综合市场)
Add: Puti Avenue, Jinghong City (景洪市菩提大道) - Thai Street (泰国街)
Add: No. 5008, Xijiangyuan Commercial Buiding, Century Empak (世纪金源禧江苑商铺5008) - Ganbai Street (赶摆街)
Add: Gaozhuang Xishuangjing Scenic Area, Jinghong City (景洪市告庄西双景)
Night Markets
- Gaozhuang Night Market (告庄夜市)
Add:Gaozhuang Xishuangjing Scenic Area, Jinghong City (告庄西双景景区) - Daijiangnan Night Market (傣江南夜市)
Add: Daijiangnan Food Street (傣江南风情美食街) - Jinghong Night Market (景洪夜市街)
Add:Mengla Road, Jinghong City (景洪市勐腊路) - Songkran Square Night Market (泼水广场夜市)
Add:Menghai Road, Jinghong City (景洪市勐海路)
