Xishuangbanna Nationality Culture Park

Xishuangbanna Nationality Culture Park is located on the bank of the Liusha River near Jinghong City in southern Yunnan Province. It was built in 1987 and has an area of 667,000 square meters (about 165 acres). The park is at once a tropical garden and a showcase of regional folkways. This fusion of flora and ethnic culture epitomizes Xishuangbanna, widely recognized as a beautiful and wizardly land.

The park is divided into south and north sections. The south section includes three tourist zones: a plants specimens zone; a tropical fruit zone and a sunbathing and swimming zone. The plants zone has more than ten kinds of rare plants including palms, arecas and amomum fruit. In the tropical fruit zone, there is 55 mu (about nine acres) of coffee and an orchard of over 600 mu (about 99 acres). Trees of coconut; grapefruit; mango; lichee; jackfruit and carambola are flourishing. These trees contribute to the park's pleasant, temperate year round climate. There is a dedicated area where visitors can pick the fruit when it is in season. Just north of the orchard is a zoo with elephants and a variety of tropical birds.

The north section exhibits the traditional houses and customs of six ethnic minorities - the Dai; Hani; Yao; Jinuo; Blang and Lahu. These minorities living in Xishuangbanna conduct a variety of activities allowing visitors to learn their characteristics and customs. Among the activities are the water splashing festival; Dai wedding rituals; cockfighting; dragon boat races; bamboo fireworks and bamboo rafting, to name a few. There are four outdoor dance halls where visitors can watch different ethnic dances. Included are the Dai Peacock Dance; the Jinuo Tom Tom Dance (using a drum 1.5 meters long with an eighty centimeters diameter) and the Lahu Trichord Dance (featuring anywhere from four to 400 dancers). Other ethnic minorities in Yunnan conduct dance programs as well. These usually take place on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.