Manyuan Village—a place you want to visit but worry about the crowds

Xishuangbanna seems to be a hot destination all year round 🔥. The hotel shuttle service told us that everyone from the north is heading south. They used to go to Sanya, but now they come to Xishuangbanna. Remember the mushroom house 🍄🏠 from "Back to Field"? You'd never guess, it's here too. 🚙From after the October 1st Golden Week holiday until December, Xishuangbanna is considered the off-season. Prices, which can be 10 times higher during peak season, are much more reasonable at this time. Our family of four hired a car (CNY 300) to spend a day exploring Manyuan Village and Dai Park. With elderly parents and a child, we weren't rushing to check off every scenic spot. Instead, we focused on strolling through the villages, buying local specialties, and enjoying the local cuisine. Manyuan Village is a well-developed tourist village. Just like Lijiang Ancient Town, some people love its bustling atmosphere, while others find it too commercialized. I really recommend traveling during the off-season; the benefits are numerous. ✅CNY 40 for a roast chicken, roasted for an hour, so tender we ordered another one. The older generation kept saying how great the value was and that we should have ordered one each. 🍚Rice costs CNY 10. ✅CNY 20 to visit the mushroom house, and there weren't many people. If you enjoy checking in at popular spots, it's a good choice. ✅CNY 15 for pottery making (without kiln firing). Adults can buy boxes of pomelo for CNY 5 or watermelon for CNY 10, sit on the hammocks under the stilt houses, and watch the kids play with clay for an hour. Super cost-effective.