Xishuangbanna Shopping
Xishuangbanna shopping has a wide choice of local products due to its tropical monsoon climate. So there are plentiful products like some tropical fruits and rare medicinal herbs, etc. You can also purchase some local silver ornaments, handicrafts and Black Pottery.
What to Buy in Xishuangbanna?
1. Tropical Fruits
A wide variety of tropical fruits, such as banana, pineapple, mango, plum, grapefruit, carambola, sweetsop, jackfruit and passionflower. Fresh fruits are available all year round. 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. It is believed to have the effect of promoting the secretion of saliva or body fluid.
2. Silver Ornaments and Jewelry
Nearly all the minority ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna wear silver ornaments such as hairpin, earring, chaplet, bracelet, armlet, plastron, anklet, finger ring and waistband. 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.
3. Rare Medicinal Herbs
A lot of rare medicinal herbs grow in the forest in Xishuangbanna. Among them, 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.
4. Puer Tea
Xishuangbanna is the home of China's famous Puer tea. The oldest tea tree in Menghai is 700 years old. The six most major Chinese Puer tea fields are all located in Xishuangbanna. In the Ming Dynasty, Puer tea, being sold to the middle and eastern Asia, was one of the most important trading goods in the ancient Tea-Horse Trading Route. 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.
5. Aromatic Herbs
Xishuangbanna is an ideal place for the growth of aromatic herbs. The minority nationalities like the Dai, Hani, Laku, Balang and Jino are fond of the seasoning of Chinese toon, Chinese vanilla and citronella in daily life. They also use the aromatic herbs to adorn their body.
6. Local Handicrafts
Women of Dai, Hani, Laku, and Jino weave cloth by themselves, and have the tradition of embroidering the clothes of their own. Therefore, brocade and embroidery with local ethnic characteristics are also favored by visitors.
7. Arabica Coffee
Arabica Coffee is a peculiar category in Xishuangbanna. The full-bodied coffee has sweet aftertaste, which is quite different from those produced in the tropical Africa.
8. Black Pottery
Black pottery is the traditional handwork product of the Dai minority nationality. Local black pottery wares include earthen jug, jar, vase, smoking set, tea set and so on. They are carved delicately with patterns of primitive simplicity, which makes they perfect souvenirs.
Where to Buy in Xishuangbanna?
Many kinds of handcrafts such as Black Pottery and Silver Ornaments and Jewelry, tropical fruit, flavor and rare medicinal herbs can be found both in the downtown and scenic areas. At the Ethnic Arts and Crafts Street, located in the North Road of Xishuangbanna, tourists even can find Thailand products.
1. Open Fair Market and the Fruit World of Ganlanba
Open Fair Market and the Fruit World in the in Ganlanba, Menghan Town, Xishuangbanna are the good places to go for any specialties, but pay due attention to the Jade products which in many cases are counterfeit articles.
2. Mengla Department Store
Location: Zheng Street, Mengla County
3. Mandou Comprehensive Market in Jinghong
Location: No.6, Mandou Road, Jinghong City
4. Banna Store
Location: No.3, North Minzu Road, Jinghong City
5. Commerce department store in Menghai County
Location: No.32, Xiangshan Ner Road, Menghai County
