The province of Yunnan and especially its Southern tropical area abounds in biodiversity and ethnic communities with a rich tradition of making use of the properties of herbal medicine. This is also the birth place of the thousands of years old Puer tea. Puer, a small town of Xishuangbanna, produces this brand and the tea roads, on which the tea was brought into neighboring countries, had been as famous as the silk roads.

The tea tree is still growing in the mountain forests of Xishuangbanna. Some trees have reached Babylonian age and are attracting visitors.

Aini woman in her medical garden

The Dai peoples (傣族) of Xishuangbanna are known for their colorful culture but also for their traditional medicine. The Dai Hospital in Jinghong is the only place where Dai medicine is standardized, used and sold.
The Dai Hospital is also a good place for getting treated with steam baths of local medical herbs, for acupuncture, excellent massage or to ask the advise of an experienced Dai Doctor.

Many traditional medical herbs are collected in the misty mountain forests of Southern Yunnan. Even the famous Puer tea is an inhabitant of the mountain forest of sub-tropical South China.

Some herbal medicine species are very rare and due to increasing demand in alternative treatment they are getting closer to extinction.

Among the rare medicinal herbs are species with spectacular flowers.