xishuangbanna is a combination of han, minority,
burmese, vietnamese, and laotian culture
(as it borders the three).

burma lies on the other side of the rainforest's mountain.
vietnamese candy is sold in the marketplace.
thai architecture fills the streets and Buddhist temples.
most people speak/have learned mandarin.
& many of the women wear tropical dresses and
bright flowers in their hair.

vietnam?
i walked past a boy emptying a box of trash here.
a group of farmers yelled at him and told him to,
"dump your trash on someone else's land!"
fish farm

english+mandarin+local language

we found an outdoor market:

whole fried fish & pineapple rice wrapped in banana leaves
(i ate that for dinner at the feast later that day)

"gei wo xiao yi xiao!" i told the little girl.
she shrieked in laughter and shook her head.
her grandma(?) thought it was the funniest thing in the world
and told her to smile at the camera.

then i almost sat on a tiny almost transparent gecko.
later, i found a few baby praying mantis"es" on my arm.