Southern Yunnan
Ancient tea forests, remarkable stays and time to savour the south
A private villa in Gerard’s tropical garden. Tea with growers on Jingmai Mountain.
Avocado coffee in Menglian. A final retreat above the tea hills, looking towards Myanmar.
Spend thirteen days exploring southern Yunnan with Andrea and René.
Exceptional boutique hotels anchor the journey, with time for their gardens, architecture, kitchens and views. Along the way, we meet the people who grow the tea, make the paper and give these valleys their character.
Settle into the car. We drive, translate, arrange and look after the details. You have time to look, taste and enjoy whatever catches your interest.
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Southern Yunnan brings warmth, tropical greenery and long afternoons to a winter journey. The higher tea mountains can be cool in the mornings and evenings.
Mid April offers another possibility, with the Dai New Year celebrations, dragon boat racing, Water Splashing and lanterns. We arrange festival journeys around the official programme. Chinese New Year and festival dates receive an individual quotation.
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Two nights each at Yourantai, VipaXana, Menglian, Menghai and Bodhi Pasha allow time to settle in. A night in Laodabao and another on Nannuo Mountain bring village life and tea country closer.
We can adapt the length and pace, or include our separate elephant safari with three days and two nights.
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We welcome you at Xishuangbanna airport or railway station in Jinghong and take care of your journey through to your departure transfer.
Please coordinate your flights or train tickets with us before booking so that we can shape comfortable arrival and departure days.
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From EUR 3,600 per person for four guests travelling together and sharing two double rooms.
EUR 5,900 per person for two guests travelling together and sharing one double room.
These prices cover the thirteen day journey described, with Yourantai for the first two nights. Accommodation, personal driving and guidance, all meals, nonalcoholic drinks, the included visits and entrance fees are covered.
The elephant safari, festival dates, room upgrades and individual changes are quoted separately and agreed before booking.
For three or five guests, suites or changes to the itinerary, we prepare an individual quotation. Any adjustments and their price are agreed with you before booking.
A private villa in Gerard’s little paradise
Yourantai and Jinghong
Gerard planted the palms and flowering woodland around Yourantai himself. Today, his garden gives this private villa retreat its distinctive atmosphere, with river views and space to ease into the south. We stay for two nights, leaving time to enjoy the place he has created.
Jinghong adds Dai temples, the Mekong and an evening at the sprawling Starlight Night Market. The food, warm evenings and tropical setting bring a familiar Southeast Asian ease, with a character rooted in local Dai life.
For guests drawn to individual design and village surroundings, M Villa offers another arrival setting. Its South Asian colonial style, location within a Dai village and proximity to the night market give the first days a different rhythm. We discuss the choice with you before booking.
Tea forests, village life and the spirit of the mountain
Jingmai Mountain and VipaXana Abaila
On Jingmai, tea grows beneath the forest canopy, between villages shaped by generations of Blang and Dai families. The UNESCO listed landscape brings together farming, belief and everyday life. The story of the revered Tea Ancestor, Pa Ai Leng, helps explain the care with which people have tended these forests.
Through growers we know, we visit working tea factories and follow the conversations behind a finished cup. What we see depends on the season and the work taking place. There is time to taste, ask questions and understand how families earn their living from the mountain.
Two nights at VipaXana Abaila make the hotel part of that experience. Its considered design and connection to Blang culture give the stay a strong sense of place. Leave an afternoon free for tea and the pleasure of being here.
Avocado coffee and time of your own
Menglian
Coffee and avocado meet in the same glass. In Menglian, that unexpected combination is a good place to begin exploring a region whose farms, cafés and kitchens are finding their own voice.
Two nights allow time for Nayun’s streets and temples, local produce and conversations with growers. A small homestay brings a personal dimension to the stay. We leave room for a slow breakfast, another coffee and an afternoon with very little planned.
A quiet valley with a different voice
Laodabao
Laodabao lies in a quiet valley along our route. Lahu traditions and Christian faith meet here, with a musical culture shaped by village life and church singing.
We stay for one night, making time to explore and meet local hosts. Any musical encounter follows their availability and wishes. The setting invites a slower evening and a closer look at a part of Yunnan whose cultural connections can be wonderfully unexpected.
Where tea changes hands
Menghai, Manzhao and Mengsong
Menghai is a working centre of the Pu’er tea trade. Here, the tea from the surrounding mountains is bought, assessed and sold. We explore that commercial life through local contacts, with time to understand what traders and growers look for in a leaf, a cake or a cup.
Nearby, Manzhao is a Dai village where handmade paper remains a source of household income. Bark fibres pass through skilled hands, wooden frames hold the wet sheets and a craft passed between generations continues to find new uses.
Around Mengsong, we turn to coffee. Yunnan supplies beans to Starbucks China, while local growers and small producers are developing flavours worth discovering at their source. Two nights in Menghai let us spread these visits comfortably across the stay, with Amara as our base.
An evening among the old tea trees
Nannuo Mountain and Mukelan
Nannuo is one of Xishuangbanna’s historic tea mountains, with old cultivated tea gardens and Hani communities whose lives remain closely connected to them. We spend time with local hosts, taste their tea and explore the landscape at an easy pace.
Our night at Mukelan gives the mountain a place of its own in the journey. Thoughtful contemporary design, a forest setting and time to linger over tea make this an especially rewarding stop before we return towards Jinghong.
Tea, art and a view towards Myanmar
Bodhi Pasha
Bodhi Pasha brings the journey to a particularly beautiful close. Architecture, collected art and the private tea museum make it a place in which there is always another detail to discover.
Tea hills unfold towards the mountains of Myanmar. The setting invites a long breakfast, a conversation over tea and time to enjoy the house itself. We stay for two nights, allowing its design, hospitality and surroundings to become part of the journey.
The shape of your journey
Days 1 and 2 in Jinghong
Arrive and settle into Yourantai for two nights. Enjoy Gerard’s garden, river views and time in Jinghong, with Dai culture, the Mekong and an evening at the night market. M Villa is an alternative we can discuss when planning your stay.
Days 3 and 4 on Jingmai Mountain
Spend two nights at VipaXana Abaila. Explore old tea forests, Blang and Dai villages, working tea production and the traditions surrounding the Tea Ancestor.
Days 5 and 6 in Menglian
Stay for two nights at a local homestay. Discover Nayun, coffee, avocado and local food, with plenty of time to relax.
Day 7 in Laodabao
Continue to the quiet valley of Laodabao for Lahu village life, Christian cultural connections and an overnight stay.
Days 8 and 9 in Menghai
Spend two nights at Amara. Explore the local tea trade, handmade paper in Manzhao and coffee around Mengsong, with visits spread across the stay.
Day 10 on Nannuo Mountain
Visit the old tea gardens and local growers, then stay overnight at Mukelan to enjoy the mountain setting.
Days 11 and 12 at Bodhi Pasha
Spend two nights with tea, art, the private museum and views across the hills towards Myanmar. Leave time to enjoy this exceptional retreat.
Day 13 departure
After breakfast, we take you to Xishuangbanna airport or railway station for your onward journey.
April brings another rhythm
Dragon boats, Water Splashing and lanterns
Around mid April, Xishuangbanna celebrates Dai New Year. Dragon boat racing, Water Splashing and lanterns bring the river and streets into the festivities.
We can shape your journey around the celebrations, arranging your Jinghong stays to follow the official programme for that year. The itinerary, accommodation and seasonal price are agreed with you before booking.
Your journey and what it includes
From EUR 3,600 per person for thirteen days and twelve nights.
This price is based on four guests travelling together and sharing two double rooms. The total for four guests is EUR 14,400.
For two guests sharing one double room, the price is EUR 5,900 per person. The total for two guests is EUR 11,800.
Included:
All twelve overnight stays in the agreed double rooms.
Personal driving and guidance by Andrea and René throughout the journey.
Complete route planning, reservations and local arrangements.
A private vehicle suited to your party, with fuel, tolls, parking and agreed vehicle insurance.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner, with nonalcoholic drinks throughout the journey.
The visits, local guidance, tastings and entrance fees included in the itinerary.
Arrival and departure transfers in Jinghong.
Settle in and enjoy the journey. We take care of the arrangements, the driving and the conversations that bring each place closer.
Your own arrangements and purchases:
Guests arrange their travel to and from Jinghong, any required visa and personal travel medical insurance.
Alcoholic drinks, personal shopping and purchases of tea, coffee or other products are paid separately.
The optional elephant safari, festival dates, room upgrades and changes to the itinerary are agreed and priced before booking.
Three days deep in elephant country
A remote extension with local rangers and village hosts
Several hours by road take us into a remote part of southern Yunnan, where villages sit close to the forest habitat of wild Asian elephants. We spend two nights in simple village accommodation and explore with local rangers who know the landscape and monitor the herds.
Their knowledge and monitoring information guide the day’s observation opportunities. We follow their instructions, keep an appropriate distance and work within current permitted access. The elephants move freely, and sightings cannot be guaranteed.
The experience also brings us into village life. Local hosts prepare our meals, and time with Yao guides can open another view of the forest, its produce and the communities living here. Hiring local guides, staying in village accommodation and eating with our hosts directs spending into the places we visit.
This is one of the most unusual experiences we can help arrange in southern Yunnan. We plan it personally with you, around the current situation and your interests.
Add the safari to the journey, or ask us to include it in place of Menglian and Laodabao. The route and quotation are adapted accordingly.
From EUR 700 per person for four guests sharing two double rooms.
EUR 1,250 per person for two guests sharing one double room.
These additional prices cover the separate safari with three days and two nights, including village accommodation, local rangers, our personal driving and guidance, vehicle costs, all meals and nonalcoholic drinks. A safari replacing part of the main journey receives an individual quotation.
Make this journey your own
Your interests help us decide where to linger.
You may wish to spend longer with tea growers, give more time to coffee or add the remote elephant safari.
In a personal video call, we discuss the season, the route, your preferred pace and the places that have caught your interest. We then prepare your individual itinerary and quotation. Any changes and their price are agreed before booking.
Your journey begins with a conversation
We are Andrea and René, the founders of China Serendipity. We live in China, speak Chinese, English and German, and personally design and guide our journeys.
Southern Yunnan has given us friendships, favourite places and countless reasons to return.
Tell us when you would like to travel, who will join you and what interests you. We will begin shaping the journey together.