Under the Ancient Tea King Tree, Copying Sutras

Today, let's step into the softest Dai secret realm in Xishuangbanna—Manyuan Village! 📍Located in Menglun Town, Mengla County, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province, hidden in a mountain hollow north of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, about a 1.5-hour drive from Jinghong city center. It is not a trendy check-in spot but the only living village in China that fully preserves the "Dai traditional stilted architecture cluster + original Southern Buddhism faith + millennium-old palm-leaf scripture heritage." It has been recognized by UNESCO as an "Outstanding Case of Cultural Heritage Protection in the Asia-Pacific Region." The village has no cement roads, only quiet paths paved with bluestone and bamboo planks; hundreds of Dai stilt houses built along the mountain, with bamboo and wood structures, gable roofs, carved door lintels, each featuring "peacock feather patterns" on the eaves and "elephant trunk arch" window frames; the most stunning is its "breath of green"—century-old banyan trees, betel nut, sand ginger, and wild ginger flowers surround the houses, vines hanging like curtains, and the whole village floats in emerald hues in the morning mist; at the village entrance stands the 2,800-year-old "Tea King Tree," its canopy like a cover, aerial roots hanging to the ground forming a forest, beneath which lie palm-leaf scripture fragments copied by Dai elders—when the wind blows, the leaves rustle as if the entire forest is chanting sutras. Itinerary: 1-day Manyuan Village · Slow Reading of Palm-Leaf Scriptures | Temple visit + Sutra copying + Rainforest herb gathering + Bamboo house tea session Total budget: 396 RMB (strictly controlled under 400 RMB) Transportation | ¥60 From Jinghong Bus Station take a shuttle to Menglun (2h) ¥35 | From Menglun take a motorcycle taxi to Manyuan Village (20 minutes) ¥25 ✅ Admission | ¥0 ✅ Village free entry | Only the "Palm-Leaf Scripture Learning Center" inside the Buddhist temple charges a material fee of ¥20 (includes palm leaves, iron pen, palm oil ink) Highlights | Be a palm-leaf scripture copier! ✅ Morning quiet study at the temple (8:30–10:30): At Manyuan Main Buddhist Temple’s "Scripture Hall," learn from an old monk to identify palm-leaf textures and use an iron pen to carve "Namo Original Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha" (the carved grooves are slightly recessed, ink seeps into fibers, preserving for a thousand years) 📜 ✅ Noon rainforest herb gathering (11:30–12:30): Follow a Dai medicine grandmother into the village’s back mountain to identify and pick sand ginger, chicken blood vine, wild ginger flowers, and learn to steam "Dai Awakening Balm" in bamboo tubes ✅ Afternoon bamboo house tea session (14:30–16:00): Sit on the second floor of a century-old bamboo house, brew Menghai ancient tree Pu’er tea in a clay pot, paired with roasted lemongrass dried fish, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, and wild honey yuzu jam 🍵 ✅ Evening tree guarding at the village entrance (17:00–18:00): Sit quietly under the 2,800-year-old Tea King Tree, listen to the wind through the aerial roots, watch the sunset gild the palm-leaf scriptures, and receive a hand-rubbed "Tea King Tree Bark Pattern" bookmark Meals | ¥336 Lunch: "Grandma’s Bamboo House Stove" — sour bamboo shoot chicken + sticky rice ¥58 Afternoon tea (included) | Additional purchases: Palm-Leaf Scripture Experience Class ¥20 | Dai Medicine Balm Making Kit ¥25 | Lemongrass Dried Fish ¥18 | Sticky Rice Banana Leaf Wrap ¥12 | Honey Yuzu Jam ¥16 | Menghai Ancient Tree Tea Sample Gift Box ¥28 | Tea King Tree Bark Pattern Rubbing ¥10 | Wild Ginger Flower Sachet ¥12 | Bamboo Weaving Basket (for herb gathering) ¥15 | Dai Brocade Pattern Notebook ¥12 | Clay Pot Tea Set Rental ¥20 ✅ Total expense breakdown: Transportation ¥60 + Meals ¥336 = ¥396 (balance ¥4 can be exchanged for a replica bookmark of a palm-leaf scripture fragment) ✅ Must-choose time: Arrive before 8:30 AM | Temple is quietest | Monks’ morning chanting still ongoing | Best for empty shots | Avoid afternoon tourist crowds Essentials: Long-sleeve mosquito protection, soft-soled cloth shoes (bamboo ladders are steep and slippery), plain cotton-linen clothes (required for sutra copying purity), thermos (for self-brewed tea), cash (only cash accepted in the village) Hidden gem: Bring an excerpt from the "Palm-Leaf Scriptures · Medicine Volume," and inside the third bamboo pillar on the east corridor of the temple, find the Qing Dynasty Dai hand-carved characters "Sand Ginger Treats Malaria" (requires flashlight angled lighting to identify) When the iron pen scratches the palm leaf, the rustling sound resonates with the forest waves, I suddenly understand—the so-called millennium wisdom is not in lofty books, but in a leaf, a herb, a wisp of smoke, an elder’s drooping eyelids, quietly breathing.