This Doesn’t Look Like China At All 🇨🇳

When I think of China, I picture massive cities. Skyscrapers. High-speed trains. Something dense, structured, uniform. But in southern China, right on the border with Laos and Myanmar, I found something I didn’t expect at all. This is Xishuangbanna — a region in Yunnan province along the Mekong River — and within minutes of arriving, it felt completely different from the version of China I had in my head.

On my first full day here, I walk through regular city areas, stopping at the market, in a park, and bumping into open-air activities I would have never expected. As the day goes on, I head towards the Mekong River, trying a local Chinese restaurant, Luckin coffee, getting the lowdown from locals, find myself in a busy night market, and try some Chinese traditional medicine; all before nightfall shows another side of town.

This wasn’t the China I thought I knew. Spend the day with me walking through Xishuangbanna to see what it actually feels like beyond headlines, assumptions, and stereotypes.

Subscribe to join me as I travel through China and beyond : http://www.youtube.com/@DavidGTravels/add?sub_confirmation=1

💻 In China you want a VPN, I use Surfshark VPN, you get a discount using my link: https://get.surfshark.net/SH4Cz

👀Watch next:
🇨🇳More videos from China → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiTJbkK7U370q6Y8VhXniqS5
🌏More videos from Asia → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiRJ9O3rcanCE3pmKhZgS8TX
🚀 Check out all the videos from my current round-the-world trip here → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiR1AMmoUEsLJuxrUQb1ielF
🌎The best budget destinations 2026 → https://youtu.be/xtKHrwNJyGQ
🌏The cheapest cities for 2026 → https://youtu.be/o7wJ4dzwr2M
🌍Videos about other great places to visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiQY4ZAFy6Lc6nzYTG924cRZ
🥗Videos about traveling for the world’s best food: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiRhRFlnUI16-Vo-o2FeM8b5
💸 More travel tips and hacks to save money → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiSyjUh9srpeM8Dz9kV59w14
🌎 More travel videos from around the world → https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiT1IRpAGBoPx1fJjVRGlOmf

00:00 China isn’t one thing
00:50 Local park that surprised me
03:21 Feels like Southeast Asia
03:48 Dance competition
04:44 XIshuangbanna Market
08:21 Trying local food for lunch
09:44 Luckin Coffee
11:21 Mekong River (Lancang Jiang)
15:09 Night market and traditional treatements
17:28 Nighttime in Xishuangbanna (This is China?!)

By the way, this description contains links that I believe you may receive value from. Each purchase or sign up using an affiliate link gives me a small amount of compensation.

Share on: