Back from Xishuangbanna, be very cautious about taking kids during summer vacation!

Just got back from a 6-day trip to Xishuangbanna with my kid, and it wasn’t as tiring as I imagined. As long as you plan each stop’s specific attractions well and simplify the itinerary, it’s totally easy for moms~ So planning is definitely key!! 🙋🏻‍♀ Here’s a reference itinerary for moms: - D1⃣: Xishuangbanna — Check-in at Intercontinental Hotel The hotel is huge and beautiful, like a jungle garden 🌸, no less than Manting Park. The complimentary travel photography from the hotel is very photogenic! There are many children’s activities: rice planting and fish catching 🐟, water fights, water park, releasing water lanterns... The water park has several slides where kids can play all afternoon~ The hotel also has its own peacock garden, and peacocks 🦚 come out for a stroll after 8 am. - D2⃣: Wild Elephant Valley — Little Panda Manor Night Tour Take a walk with elephants at Wild Elephant Valley~ help bathe the elephants, feed them carrots 🥕, be a poop scooper, and get a volunteer certificate as a souvenir~ In the afternoon, checked in at #Little Panda Manor, stayed in a beautiful standalone wooden house, picked mushrooms 🍄, and saw egrets and grey cranes strolling around. At night, went on a night tour with a science teacher, encountered lizards 🦎, stick insects, blind spiders, and in summer, beautiful fireflies 🪲~ - D3⃣: Sun River Forest Park — Starlight Night Market — Intercontinental Hotel The small animals at Sun River Forest Park are free-range, living happily and freely~ petting rhinos, deer, various birds, watching monkeys fight and play, feeding little pandas 🐨 is really healing✨! You can gently touch them. - D4⃣: Manyuan Village A quiet Dai village with few tourists and low commercialization, full of flowers and greenery 🌴, very suitable for a slow and leisurely stroll with kids~ There was a heritage teacher giving full explanations, teaching us Dai language, making Dai pottery, dancing the Elephant Foot Drum dance, picking banana leaves, experiencing the Water Splashing Festival 💦 (and they gave us Dai costumes) super fun bonfire party 🎉 - D5⃣: Jino Mountain Rainforest Trek The whole route is about 6 kilometers, walking and playing along the way, not tiring at all. Led by local Jino people and a science teacher, we caught crabs 🦀, stepped in water puddles, observed chameleons, swung on swings, ate sour ants, learned wilderness survival skills from the guide, recognized hemostatic herbs 🌿, blew bamboo, ate wild fruits, used stones to grind colorful mud for sunscreen, and enjoyed a rainforest feast. - D6⃣: Took parent-child photos 📷 in Dai costumes at the hotel, took the kids to buy some Yunnan specialties, the freshly baked flower cakes were so delicious, highly recommend! - We joined a parent-child group tour, originally just attracted by their accommodation (4 nights at Intercontinental + 1 night at Little Panda Manor). The hotels alone were worth the group fee, ✅ but it also included attraction tickets + private car transfers, with explanations and entertainment activities at each attraction!