Jingmai Mountain and beyond: exploring Yunnan off-the-beaten-path

In 2023, Jingmai Mountain was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its ancient tea forest cultural landscape. Read my travel guide to learn how to explore this wonderful part of Yunnan.

Most people planning a trip to Yunnan (here is my guide) focus their itinerary on the northern part of the province towards Dali, Lijiang, or Shangri-La. A few head south to visit the beautiful Yuanyang Rice terraces or Xishuangbanna. However, very few venture west in Pu’er, mainly because they are unaware that this area exists.

Some of you might actually have heard the word Pu’er, especially if you enjoy drinking tea. Pu’er is the name of a variety of black tea that originates in this part of China. But Pu’er is also the name of the area’s main city, originally Simao and later “rebranded” to promote tourism. Pu’er tea originates in the Jingmai tea forests, not too far from the city.

Best time to visit

The best time to explore Jingmai Shan is spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November). Temperatures hover between 15 and 25°C, offering cool, misty mornings perfect for sunrise hikes and photography. Spring coincides with the tea harvest, which will allow you to witness farmers hand-picking tender leaves and participate in tea-processing workshops. Winter is also ok for photography because you can often see the sea of clouds in the valleys below.

The Shankang Festival, held in Spring, honours the Blang people’s tea ancestors with offerings and folk performances. Around the 15th of April, you can also attend the Water-Splashing Festival, the Dai ethnic group’s New Year’s festival.

I recommend avoiding the summer monsoon (June-August), when heavy rains and low visibility make exploring the area difficult.

Autumn is good, as the monsoon clouds retreat, revealing clear blue skies and golden-hued landscapes. From September to November, temperatures remain mild (10-22°C), creating ideal conditions for trekking through ancient tea forests or along the Tea Horse Road remnants. In any case, avoid all the national holidays.

How to get to Jingmai Mountain

Getting to Jingmai can be tricky since there is no direct transportation. You first have to get to Xishuangbanna or Pu’er. You can get there by train (use Trip to book your ticket). Once you arrive, the best option is to join a private tour or hire a local driver. Please send me a DM on Instagram for the contact information of a trusted local company. If you are looking for some more ideas for your itinerary in Yunnan, check out this page.

Understanding the geography of the area

The UNESCO-listed core zone encompasses several traditional villages and 31,000 hectares of ancient tea forests. The exact number of villages varies widely according to the source. Some say 8, others 9, and others 14.

The villages of Wengji and Nuogang are the most beautiful and best preserved.

Where to stay and for how long

This is a tricky question because it depends on how much time and how much you want to explore. In general, you can spend two nights in Jingmai and then continue on to Ximeng or Yuanyang, or stay longer and sleep in different villages. I spent a couple of nights in this local guesthouse.

How to explore Jingmai Mountain

These are some of the villages worth visiting. Ideally, you’ll start your trip in Xishuangbanna or Pu’er and then drive from one village to the other.

Wengji Ancient Village (翁基古寨)

Wengji is one of the two best villages in Jingmai. When you first step inside, it seems like you are walking onto a movie set. This centuries-old Blang (the local ethnic group) village is located on a mountainside, with a Buddhist temple at the back and a valley in front. Renowned for its well-preserved wooden stilt houses, cobblestone paths, and sacred tea trees, the village is surrounded by ancient tea forests.

Wengji is, in my opinion, one of China’s most beautiful villages. If you are lucky (there are higher chances in winter), you might see a sea of clouds in the morning right below the village, overlooking the valley.

Nuogang Village (糯岗村)

Nuogang Village is another pristine Dai ethnic village renowned for its authenticity. Here, weathered wooden stilt houses topped with traditional “ox horn” roofs cluster around a central Buddhist temple. Along with Wengji, this is my favourite village in the area.

Nuogang’s residents have cultivated tea for over a millennium, practising local “forest tea” methods that integrate towering tea trees with native flora like wild orchids and camphor. Walking in the narrow stone pathways past homes where elders hand-roll sun-dried tea leaves is quite a surreal experience, and it’s hard to believe this village is in China.

Ailao (Aileng) Mountain Ancient Tea Forest (哀牢山古茶园)

Ailao is one of the many ancient tea forests in the area. Unlike the cultivated terraces of Pu’er’s Jingmai Mountain, Ailao’s tea groves are ecologically pristine. This type of tea cultivation is unique because local ethnic groups have grown tea plants in the forest, shaded by banyan and other tall trees. Many of these tea trees are very ancient, some over 500 years old, and produce teas with a rugged, earthy character, infused with notes of forest honey and orchid, shaped by the mountain’s mineral-rich soil and cool, humid climate.

Interestingly, tea plants can grow quite tall if not trimmed. The tallest tea tree ever found is 25 m tall and grows somewhere in Jingmai Mountain.

The highlight of the Ailao forest is a small altar called the Tea Spirit Altar, dedicated to Pa Aileng, the local god of tea. The hike is relatively easy, and I recommend it. It will give you insight into how important tea is for the Blang (Bulang) people living in these mountains.

Mangjing (芒景)

Mangjing is another famous village in the area, renowned for its organic, wild-grown tea trees, some of which are allegedly over a thousand years old. The highlight of the village is one of the gates: a banyan tree located on the main road, quite scenic.

The village itself is not that beautiful, especially compared to the previous two, but since it’s very close by I recommend visiting it.

An activity I highly recommend is tea picking. You’ll have the chance to go down into the plantations and learn how different processing methods produce different types of tea, even though there is only ONE species of tea plant. Message me on Instagram if you’d like to organize this activity.

Other highlights of the area

As I mentioned earlier, many other small villages and ancient tea forests are scattered around the mountain, and the best way to explore them is with a driver. Don’t miss the sacred banyan tree, with dozens of honeycombs hanging from its branches.

Another place I recommend visiting is a small museum called Jingmai Mountain Heritage Exhibition Center (景迈山遗产展示中心), built just outside the UNESCO area.

It is surprisingly interesting and free. The museum has extensive historical information about the area, and you’ll learn about the local tea culture.

There are also some old pictures of the villages, showing how much this area has changed in recent years. Having a driver will allow you to stop when you see something interesting, as happened to me. I had the rare chance to witness the “Raising the Beam” ceremony held during the construction of a Buddhist temple.

This sacred ritual is observed by the local Dai and Bulang people, who blend Theravāda Buddhism with indigenous animist traditions. It marks the installation of the main central beam, which holds deep spiritual significance, representing the stability and sanctity of the religious structure.

Beyond Jingmai Mountain

I recommend setting up some time to explore other areas further north. There are interesting villages and natural sites you probably didn’t know existed in China. The main ethnic groups in that area are Hani, Wa, and Lahu.

Laodabao Village (老达保)

Laodabao is a Lahu ethnic village famous in China for its rich musical heritage. Ragge Chinese music originates from this area. Unlike the tea-focused villages of Jingmai Mountain, Laodabao is renowned for its folk traditions. The village gained fame as a guardian of intangible cultural heritage, with performances blending ancient polyphonic chants, harvest dances, and storytelling through song, practices passed down orally for generations.

While there, I stumbled upon a service in a small wooden church where local Lahu women (including the priestess) chanted in their local language. I had never seen anything like that in China.

Mengsuo Dragon Lake (勐梭龙潭)

Nestled in the heart of Ximeng County, further north of Laodabao, Mengsuo Dragon Lake is a small lake revered by the local Wa people as a sacred dwelling place of water spirits. According to the Wa legend, the lake is home to a benevolent dragon deity who controls rainfall and protects the valley. This belief has preserved the area’s ecological purity for centuries.

What makes this area special, though, is not the lake but the holy site on the mountain facing the lake: Longmoye.

Longmoye Sacred Site (龙摩爷圣地)

This is one of the most unique sites you’ll ever see in China. Known as the “Home of the Dragon God,” this mystical valley is filled with hundreds of weathered bull skulls hanging from cliffs and trees. For centuries, the Wa have come here to pray for good harvests, health, and protection, leaving offerings during festivals. In the past, this area had human skulls since the Wa people were headhunters, but when the communists took over the country, they were replaced with bull skulls.

Visiting Longmoye feels like stepping into a living myth. The Wa believe the spirits of their ancestors reside here, guarding the land and mediating between the human and divine worlds. Local guides share stories of how the skulls “speak” during ceremonies, conveying messages from the spirit realm. While the site is open to tourists, it remains an active place of worship, especially during the Cattle Sacrifice Festival, when shamans lead ceremonies to honor the Dragon God. Longmoye offers a rare glimpse into the Wa’s animist traditions.

Muyiji Sacred Valley (木依吉神谷)

Muyiji Sacred Valley is the spiritual epicenter of the Wa people. Named after Muyiji, the Wa people’s supreme creator god, this lush valley is dotted with towering sacred trees, ancient stone altars, and weathered wooden totems carved with human-like faces representing ancestral spirits. The Wa believe Muyiji breathes life into the land here, and the valley echoes with legends; every boulder, spring, and grove holds a story of divine creation or protection.

In this area, you can also see some ancient and some not-so-ancient carvings on the rocks on the side of the trail.

Final thoughts

The Jingmai area quickly gained popularity after being inscribed on the UNESCO list, and it will likely become more touristy over time. Unfortunately, I saw firsthand how much had changed since the first time I went there many years ago.

The gentrification process has already begun, and there are now many tourists, cafés, and guesthouses. That said, it is still worth visiting this mountain, as long as you understand that you won’t be visiting untouched villages without tourists.

If you plan a trip to China, remember that you’d need a VPN to access the internet, and popular ones like ExpressVPN and NordVPN DO NOT WORK. At the moment, this one is working great. If you prefer an eSIM, this one works well. As for travel insurance, I recommend this one.

If you want to discover another lesser-known part of Yunnan, check my travel guide to Dulongjiang and Western Yunnan. Here is my guide to the Horbnill Valley. Here you can find more pictures I took in Jingmaishan.