Shopping in Xishuangbanna
Local Specialties and Souvenirs
Small Bean Coffee小粒咖啡
Xishuangbanna's small bean coffee is a variant of the Arabica species, domesticated through long-term cultivation, commonly known as Yunnan small bean coffee with over a hundred years of cultivation history. Xishuangbanna is one of the core producing areas of Yunnan small bean coffee. High-quality geographical and climatic conditions provide an ideal environment for coffee growth, and the unique natural conditions give Yunnan small bean coffee its special flavor — strong but not bitter, aromatic but not pungent, with a slight fruity note.
Dai Brocade傣锦
Dai brocade is a traditional handicraft made by the Dai people, featuring bright colors, diverse patterns, and a strong ethnic style. It can be made into curtains, quilt covers, handkerchiefs, and more. The craftsmanship of Dai brocade is highly rigorous in pattern organization, with exquisite weaving, unique designs, vibrant colors, and durability. The design makes full use of dynamic combinations of dots, lines, and surfaces to give the patterns a rhythmic beauty. Colors are mostly matched in red and black, red and gold, brown and black, red and green, yellow and blue, etc.
Dai brocade has a rich variety of patterns, each with specific meanings in color and design. For example, red and green colors commemorate ancestors; peacock patterns symbolize good luck; elephant patterns symbolize bumper harvests, and so on. These colorful patterns with profound meanings are derived from real life but go beyond it, implicitly demonstrating the wisdom of the Dai people and their yearning and pursuit of a better life.
Fruit Jerky水果干
Xishuangbanna is rich in tropical fruits, including bananas, pineapples, mangoes, plums, star fruits, sugar apples, jackfruits, dragon fruits, and more. Due to the hot climate, the Dai people often process many fruits into jerky for preservation.
Dai Paper傣纸
Xishuangbanna's oldest papermaking technique — Dai paper, known as the "Paper of Rainforest Guardianship."
Tea Horse Road Pu'er Tea茶马古道普洱茶
Xishuangbanna has been a crucial node on the Ancient Tea Horse Road since ancient times, and its Pu'er tea boasts a long history and global reputation. The region’s unique climate conditions give the tea leaves a distinct aroma and flavor. Each Pu'er tea leaf embodies the spirit of mountains and waters, releasing a rich tea fragrance when brewed. Purchasing Pu'er tea is not only a tribute to Xishuangbanna’s tea culture but also a gift of health and peace for yourself and loved ones.
Rainforest Mystery Baijiu (Chinese Liquor)雨林秘境牌白酒
As a rising "business card" of Xishuangbanna, Rainforest Mystery Baijiu reflects both the local natural environment and ethnic cultural heritage. Brewed with natural water from the tropical rainforest and unique fermentation techniques, this liquor blends rich plant essences and pure air. It offers a mellow taste with a unique fragrance, as mysterious and captivating as the Xishuangbanna rainforest. Widely loved locally, it has become a must-buy souvenir for tourists. More than just a bottle of liquor, it’s a way to savor nature and experience local culture.
Handicraft Pottery手工陶器
Xishuangbanna’s pottery-making craftsmanship has a thousand-year history, with those produced in Jinghong particularly renowned for their unique texture and handiwork. These pottery pieces retain ancient craftsmanship in design while incorporating modern aesthetics, forming a distinct artistic style. Each handcrafted pottery item is a one-of-a-kind artwork, both practical and highly collectible.
Daily Articles Shopping
Starlight Night Market（Xingguang Yeshi星光夜市）
Here’s a lively night market that wraps up Southeast Asian charm, gathers all kinds of creative goods from the region, and boasts stunning looks — the Mekong Ganbai Night Market. The Mekong River is called the Lancang River within China’s borders, and for geography novices, this might be the only thing they know about the Lancang. Nestled in Gaozhuang Xishuangjing, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, this market is more commonly known as the "Starlight Night Market."
The Starlight Night Market is a beauty to behold. When night falls and the lights twinkle, they form several streets glowing like starry rivers, akin to the luminous tentacles of jellyfish stretching into the distance, quietly enchanting in the night. To put it plainly, the Mekong Starlight Night Market is the largest and most distinctive night market in the Greater Golden Triangle region. Even men will feel its overwhelming allure at first sight — it’s huge, breathtakingly beautiful, and brimming with goods. "Dazzling" doesn’t do it justice; if the whole market were an ocean, it’d be a vast, endless sea of treasures.
From delicious foods to folk handicrafts, the market blends Southeast Asian culture seamlessly. A staff member told me it’s now a signature brand of Gaozhuang Xishuangjing. In other words, visiting Xishuangbanna without stopping by the Starlight Night Market is like missing the whole point.
The market brings together creative vendors from Yunnan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and beyond. Unique handicrafts are top draws for visitors, offering a real taste of the Ganbai culture along the Mekong River. Food stalls are always packed — trying one of everything could keep you fed for days! Tropical fruits like coconuts, durians, passion fruits, and mangoes are must-haves. Colorful regional clothing appeals to every girl’s taste, while decorative trinkets and hand-carved artworks showcase exquisite craftsmanship. And let’s not forget the necklaces, earrings, and other jewelry that make any girl’s eyes light up — there are a hundred reasons to splurge here.
The Water Splashing Square（Poshui Guangchang泼水广场)
The Water Splashing Square is located within the Xishuangbanna Dai Ethnic Garden, an ideal venue to experience the Water Splashing Festival.
With a rich cultural atmosphere, the square serves as the traditional annual festival site for the Dai people, attracting numerous tourists with its lively ambiance and cultural heritage. During the Water Splashing Festival, people splash water on each other to convey blessings, symbolizing good luck and happiness. This cultural event not only strengthens ethnic cohesion but also provides visitors with a platform to deeply understand Dai culture. The square is equipped with facilities, including performance stages, rest areas, changing rooms, etc, offering convenient services to tourists. Additionally, it has professional lifeguards and medical support.
1. The "Ten-Thousand-Person Water Splashing Square" is situated in the 4A-level scenic spot "Dai Ethnic Garden". As there is no public bus access to the scenic area, visitors can only reach it by car. You can purchase one-day tour products including traffic tickets and entrance tickets on the Ctrip APP, or buy only traffic tickets on the local official tourism WeChat account "Banna Hao Xing(版纳好行)".
2. The Dai Ethnic Garden is a lightly commercially developed Dai tribal area, where the Dai residences off the main streets remain almost authentic. In Dai houses, the first floor is not used for living but serves as a living room or garage (almost every family has a car) because tropical regions have more mosquitoes and wild animals gathering in low-lying areas. Bedrooms are on the second floor, and visitors must take off their shoes before going up. Each family has a yard for growing vegetables or raising chickens and ducks, and each yard has its own characteristics—some use succulent plants as fences, while others hang QR codes on their star fruit trees for visitors to pick star fruits自助 (self-service) after scanning the codes, with no one supervising.
3. Along the way to the Ten-Thousand-Person Water Splashing Square, the delicate and beautiful tropical plant landscapes on both sides are full of charm. The "Water Splashing Festival" in the afternoon will be held here. To facilitate tourists of all ethnic groups and those visiting at different times to understand the Water Splashing Festival more intuitively and deeply, there are daily performances simulating the grand occasion of the festival. Visitors can rent Water Splashing Festival clothes from shops to participate, or watch from the teahouse on the second floor (which requires a fee), or watch for free by standing on the roadside. When the performance team passes by, they will sprinkle water on the audience—the act of splashing water means sending blessings.
Gaozhuang Xishuangjing告庄西双景
Gaozhuang Xishuangjing is home to multiple markets, such as the Mekong Starlight Night Market. When night falls, tens of thousands of lanterns and neon lights light up, creating a stunning scene. The market brings together creative vendors from Yunnan, China, as well as Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, with over 3,000 stalls in total. Here, you can find unique products like Thai aromatherapy, Laotian woodcarvings, Vietnamese rattan weaves, and Dai-style handmade paper lanterns, along with ethnic-style clothing, handcrafted silver jewelry, tropical fruit jerky and more. The food options are also abundant, including Lao iced coffee, Thai papaya salad, Vietnamese rice rolls, and Dai-style barbecues.
The Ethnic Handicrafts Street民族工艺品街
The Ethnic Handicrafts Street features small shops but a wide array of goods, including Thai food, jade, ethnic handicrafts, and ethnic costumes. Clothing with ethnic patterns is particularly popular here, and prices are relatively affordable.
The Xishuangbanna Ethnic Tourism Shopping Mall西双版纳民族旅游购物商场
The Xishuangbanna Ethnic Tourism Shopping Mall is located at No. 64 Mengle Avenue, Jinghong City. As an indoor mall, it houses numerous shops selling Thai and Vietnamese foods, shoes, clothing, and various local specialties like ethnic handicrafts and jade. It’s a great place to buy unique goods and souvenirs, but remember to practice bargaining skills when shopping.
RT-Mart大润发
RT-Mart (Xishuangbanna Shiercheng Commercial Center Store) is located at Xishuangbanna Shiercheng, south of the New Bridge Head, No. 2 Menghai Road, Jinghong City. As a large-scale supermarket, it offers a full range of products, including food, daily necessities, and special local products. The deli section features various Yunnan snacks, while the bakery offers pastries with Xishuangbanna flavors. The special products section has items like Pu'er tea, tropical fruit jerky, Yunnan bean products, and local handicrafts. It's an excellent place to buy daily necessities and travel souvenirs.
Aiganbai Agricultural Specialties Market爱赶摆农特市场
With a relatively large scale, the market offers a variety of local agricultural products, specialty snacks, and handicrafts at affordable prices, allowing visitors to experience a strong atmosphere of local life.
Mangong Comprehensive Service Center曼贡综合服务中心
Located in the Manlongfeng Community of Jinghong City, this indoor comprehensive market features uniformly arranged and clean stalls, selling vegetables, fruits, dried groceries, small daily goods, and various local specialties at low prices.
Jinghong Farmers' Market景洪农贸市场
Fruits sold by street vendors outside the market are relatively cheap, while the market itself offers a wide range of goods to meet daily shopping needs.
Xishuangbanna Farmers' Market西双版纳农贸市场
Adjacent to the Ethnic Gymnasium and Tropical Zoo, the market is fully stocked with fruits, vegetables, meat, cooked food, live poultry, fresh fish, and seafood. However, prices may be slightly higher than those at Jinghong Farmers' Market.
