Things to do in Pu'er
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Pu'er
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: dry, cool, sea of clouds on Jingmai and coffee harvest from November to March.
Spring tea picking and Water Splashing in mid April, with peak demand on Jingmai and in Dai areas.
Hot shoulder month, relieved in Mojiang by the Twins Festival on 1 to 5 May.
Worst for mountain roads: heavy rain, landslip risk, mosquitoes and mist that can erase the views.
Clearing, golden shoulder month as the rains retreat and before the winter cloud season.
What's on
- Dai Water Splashing Festival mid April, around 13 to 15 April
Dai New Year across Menglian and Jingmai Dai villages, with splashing, markets and processions.
- Mojiang International Twins Festival 1 to 5 May
Twin parades, Hani face blackening blessings and long street banquets in Mojiang, home of twins.
- Spring tea season March to April
First flush picking on Jingmai and across the tea mountains, with the freshest raw tea to taste in Simao.
- Coffee harvest and coffee markets November to March
Cherry picking, mills running, new crop cuppings and weekend coffee cultural markets in Simao.
Best things to do in Pu'er
Jingmai Mountain Tea Forest Cultural Scenic Area
The UNESCO old tea forests of Jingmai, where tea trees grow tall under forest canopy above a sea of clouds.
Nuogan Ancient Village
A Dai stilt house village wrapped in old tea forest, best at dawn when cloud fills the valley below.
Wengji Bulang Old Village
A Blang village of the first tea cultivators on Jingmai, with an old temple and fire pit tea roasting.
China Pu-Erh Tea Exhibition Garden
A vast terraced tea garden where you can pick, pan fire and press tea and learn how Pu'er is made.
Pu'er Tea Horse Ancient Road Relic Park
The in city Tea Horse Road site that explains the caravan trade before you visit Nakeli or Jingmai.
Nakeli Village
A lived in Tea Horse post village with a century old horse inn, bluestone street and stream side teahouses.
Pu'er City Museum
A free central museum on Pu'er ethnic cultures, the Tea Horse Road and tea itself. Go before the villages.
Daijiaxiang Ancient Buildings
A lane of old houses, teahouses and coffee shops in converted buildings in Simao surviving old core.
Where to stay in Pu'er
Simao Old City and Daijia Alley
first trip, tea buyers, all round base
Walk to Daijia Alley, Simao Old Street, tea shops and local restaurants, and ride cheaply everywhere else.
Meizi Lake and south Simao
calm, families and a splurge night
Lake walks and resort calm in the city, with the Songtsam lodge in tea country to the south.
Sun River
families doing the forest park
The park is your morning activity and the manor is a destination in itself, 28 km from the city.
Jingmai Mountain villages
tea trips and dawn sea of clouds
Family homestays in Nuogan and Wengji run by tea growers, with home cooked meals ordered ahead.
Think twice about
- Pu'er Tea Horse Ancient City (Chama) as a sole base
A rebuilt tourist development with tourist food, a taxi ride from every real meal and tea shop in Simao.
- Highway and station fringe hotels, Simao
Car dependent and often street noisy, with no saving that justifies it when central Simao rooms are cheap.
- Jinghong, Xishuangbanna as a Pu'er base
A different prefecture hours away on mountain roads. Base in the place you are actually visiting that night.
Best restaurants in Pu'er
Songtsam Lvgu Puer
The closest thing Pu'er has to a splurge dinner, refined Yunnan and tea country dishes at the Songtsam.
Red Panda Manor Pu'er
The manor western restaurant, the family splurge dinner on the night you stay at Sun River.
Manhanshao Dai Shouzhua Fan
Dai hand grabbed rice, a shared tray of rice, roast meats, pineapple rice and grilled fish with herbs.
Lao Jiangchuan No. 8 Stone Pot Fish
Stone pot fish cooked at the table with wild mushrooms in season, a defining Yunnan restaurant meal.
Lancan Lahu Tuguo Ji
Lahu clay pot chicken, hearty and herbal, from cooks of Lancang, one of Pu'er under sung cuisines.
Zhengzong Yangji Pu'er Suan Cu Mi Xian
Pu'er own breakfast noodle, rice noodles in a sharp sour vinegar broth with pickles and herbs.
Shen Ji Chou Doufu Zhu Yu
Fish stewed with stinky tofu, a rich fermented local classic on the Wuyi pedestrian street.
Torch Coffee
Pu'er flagship specialty coffee lab, where you can cup local lots and buy beans with origin labelled.
Outdoor things to do in Pu'er
Pu'Er Sun River Forest Park
A subtropical forest park famous for close red panda encounters and a rhino meadow, best in the morning.
Dapingzhang Ancient Tea Forest
The old tea forest open to visitors, walked on village paths between Nuogan, Wengji and Mangjing.
Xiaoaozhi Coffee Manor
A historic family coffee farm where the tour follows planting, picking, processing, roasting and brewing.
Elephant Coffee Manor
A premium coffee manor where you drink its coffee from a fenced viewpoint while wild elephants may pass.
Meizi Lake Park
Simao lakeside park with a plank walk residents use at sunset, an easy flat counterweight to a car day.
Mojiang Tropic of Cancer Symbol Park
A park on the Tropic of Cancer line itself in Hani Mojiang, best as a stop on the Kunming to Pu'er road.
Twins Cultural Park
Mojiang twin culture park with the famous Twin Wells, in the county known as the home of twins.
Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Golf Club
The nearest verifiable course to Pu'er, an 18 hole rainforest course in Jinghong, not in Pu'er itself.
Best hotels in Pu'er
Holiday Inn Express Puer Simao by IHG
The predictable international standard stay in Simao, with new rooms and a reliable breakfast.
Pu'er Deting Hotel (Chashan Branch)
A top scored local boutique hotel near Simao Old Street and Daijia Alley, praised for service and value.
Songtsam Lvgu Puer
Pu'er true luxury lodge, a Songtsam property in tea country with a pool and serious afternoon tea.
PUER MEI ZI LAKE HOTEL & RESORTS
The established lakeside resort hotel at Meizi Lake, with lake walks from the door and a strong breakfast.
Red Panda Manor Pu'er
The family resort by Sun River Forest Park, a destination night rather than a city base.
Is Pu'er expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥280 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥550 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,400 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Jingmai Mountain Tea Forest Cultural Scenic Area: weeks ahead
- Nayun Ancient Town: weeks ahead
- Tea Ceremony Experiences in Pu'er: a few days ahead
- Pu'Er Sun River Forest Park: a few days ahead
- Xiaoaozhi Coffee Manor: a few days ahead
- Elephant Coffee Manor: a few days ahead
- Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Songtsam Lvgu Puer: weeks ahead
- Book Jingmai cloud view homestays weeks ahead for spring tea season and Chinese public holidays, and confirm meals.
- Book Songtsam as soon as dates are fixed, and drivers for Jingmai and Menglian at least the day before.
- Book Mojiang for the Twins Festival and Dai areas for Water Splashing months ahead, as both towns are small.
Is Pu'er safe?
- Travel Jingmai and Menglian mountain roads by day with a local driver, with slack in the rainy season.
- Never approach a wild elephant outside a managed viewing area, and obey local closures and warnings.
- Eat wild mushrooms only in established restaurants, fully cooked and in season, never self picked.
- Carry your passport in border counties, expect ID checks, and do not photograph checkpoints or cross informally.
Pu'er travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Fake aged, fake ancient tree and fake famous mountain Pu'er tea. Taste side by side, buy small samples first.
- Chama Tea Horse Ancient City is a modern development in old style, pleasant but not a historic town.
- Tours bundling Pu'er and Xishuangbanna in two days spend the trip on mountain highways.
- Buy coffee at Torch, a roastery or the farm with farm and process named, not unlabelled bags at viewpoints.
Getting around Pu'er: public transport and more
- Take the Kunming to Pu'er high speed train, about three hours, then taxis and Didi inside small Simao.
- Charter a car and driver through your hotel for Jingmai, Nakeli, Sun River, the Tea Expo Garden and coffee farms.
- Jingmai and Menglian are overnight trips, Mojiang is best as a Kunming to Pu'er stop, and Jinghong is a separate trip.
- Use Amap or Baidu Maps and Trip.com in mainland China, and download offline maps before Jingmai or Menglian.
Who Pu'er suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Pu'er your trip
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