{"id":1574,"date":"2026-02-20T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574"},"modified":"2026-02-20T08:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:00:45","slug":"this-doesnt-look-like-china-at-all-%f0%9f%87%a8%f0%9f%87%b3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574","title":{"rendered":"This Doesn\u2019t Look Like China At All \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8m1IqhrOTOg\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>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\u2019t expect at all. This is Xishuangbanna \u2014 a region in Yunnan province along the Mekong River \u2014 and within minutes of arriving, it felt completely different from the version of China I had in my head.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>This wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to join me as I travel through China and beyond : http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@DavidGTravels\/add?sub_confirmation=1<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcbb In China you want a VPN, I use Surfshark VPN, you get a discount using my link: https:\/\/get.surfshark.net\/SH4Cz<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc40Watch next:<br \/>\n\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3More videos from China \u2192 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiTJbkK7U370q6Y8VhXniqS5<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf0fMore videos from Asia \u2192 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiRJ9O3rcanCE3pmKhZgS8TX<br \/>\n\ud83d\ude80 Check out all the videos from my current round-the-world trip here \u2192 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiR1AMmoUEsLJuxrUQb1ielF<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf0eThe best budget destinations 2026 \u2192 https:\/\/youtu.be\/xtKHrwNJyGQ<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf0fThe cheapest cities for 2026 \u2192 https:\/\/youtu.be\/o7wJ4dzwr2M<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf0dVideos about other great places to visit: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiQY4ZAFy6Lc6nzYTG924cRZ<br \/>\n\ud83e\udd57Videos about traveling for the world&#8217;s best food: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiRhRFlnUI16-Vo-o2FeM8b5<br \/>\n\ud83d\udcb8 More travel tips and hacks to save money \u2192 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiSyjUh9srpeM8Dz9kV59w14<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf0e More travel videos from around the world \u2192 https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLlHFWceWhDiT1IRpAGBoPx1fJjVRGlOmf<\/p>\n<p>00:00 China isn&#8217;t one thing<br \/>\n00:50 Local park that surprised me<br \/>\n03:21 Feels like Southeast Asia<br \/>\n03:48 Dance competition<br \/>\n04:44 XIshuangbanna Market<br \/>\n08:21 Trying local food for lunch<br \/>\n09:44 Luckin Coffee<br \/>\n11:21 Mekong River (Lancang Jiang)<br \/>\n15:09 Night market and traditional treatements<br \/>\n17:28 Nighttime in Xishuangbanna (This is China?!)<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I think of China, I picture massive cities. Skyscrapers. High-speed trains. Something dense, structured, uniform. But in southern China, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Doesn\u2019t Look Like China At All \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 - Travel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I think of China, I picture massive cities. Skyscrapers. High-speed trains. Something dense, structured, uniform. But in southern China, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Travel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T08:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ytb_thumb-69.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/\",\"name\":\"Travel\",\"description\":\"Discover How To Travel Efficiently!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ytb_thumb-69.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ytb_thumb-69.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":360},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574\",\"name\":\"This Doesn\\u2019t Look Like China At All \\ud83c\\udde8\\ud83c\\uddf3 - Travel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T08:00:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T08:00:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"This Doesn\\u2019t Look Like China At All \\ud83c\\udde8\\ud83c\\uddf3\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This Doesn\u2019t Look Like China At All \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 - Travel","og_description":"When I think of China, I picture massive cities. Skyscrapers. High-speed trains. Something dense, structured, uniform. But in southern China, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574","og_site_name":"Travel","article_published_time":"2026-02-20T08:00:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ytb_thumb-69.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/","name":"Travel","description":"Discover How To Travel Efficiently!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ytb_thumb-69.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ytb_thumb-69.jpg","width":480,"height":360},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#webpage","url":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574","name":"This Doesn\u2019t Look Like China At All \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 - Travel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2026-02-20T08:00:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T08:00:45+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=1574#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"This Doesn\u2019t Look Like China At All \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}