Coming to Xishuangbanna, we have to mention the religion and worship in Xishuangbanna. Xishuangbanna is close to Laos, Burma, Thailand and other places, by its influence, the building has a typical Thai-Burma style, and still retains a large number of pole and rail structure of the wooden building, the main ethnic minority for the Dai, believing in Southern Buddhism, so every Dai teenagers have to go into the temple to practice for a period of time to learn the culture of etiquette, of course, if you think that they are practicing successfully, you can return to secularism at once. Common young monks on the street riding a motorcycle rampage, or simply give the girl an umbrella to offer attentiveness, and the lay disciples are no different, which is the famous eighteen monsters of Yunnan, "monks can also fall in love". It is because everyone has a relationship with Buddha, as the Buddhist scriptures preach abstaining from killing, making the Buddhist culture very close to biodiversity. As soon as a Dai boy is born, his parents will plant ten iron knife wood by his house, and after his son gets married, he will cut down some iron knife wood branches for firewood year after year. This has preserved a large area of tropical rainforest.

Dai temple

Dai village

Because of the belief in Buddhism, there is reverence in the heart, so the Dai people have been in harmony with nature **** place, and seek fairness, called the "pitting, cheating and trafficking can not be stolen, eat, drink, whore and gamble can not be smoked," that is, you can not steal can not be smoking cigarettes. Because stealing is in the case of others do not know, it is not fair, the other is face-to-face dry, fooled deserved, who let you recognize the ability to poor. Banna is close to the famous Golden Triangle, but the locals stay away from drugs, because they know that people smoke on the end. All the restaurants here in Xishuangbanna will put a few sticks of water pipe in front of the door, customers can take it to smoke on a meal. Water pipe bag is very distinctive, generally made of a very thick bamboo, about one meter high, so the eighteen monsters in Yunnan, said "holding a bamboo tube as a smoke bag.

The Carefree Tree

The Bodhi Tree

The Brahmaputra Tree

The Buddha and many plants have an unbreakable bond in many parts of Banna, because Sakyamuni was born under the Carefree Tree, became enlightened under the Bodhi Tree, and finally attained nirvana under the Brahmaputra Tree, so it is the three kinds of sacred trees, which can never be cut down. At the same time, Buddhist scriptures stipulate that monasteries must plant the five trees and six flowers, plants that are related to Buddha. The five trees are: Bodhi Tree, Sugar Palm, Banyan Tree, Ironwood, and Bay Leaf Palm; and the six flowers are: Earth Spring Lotus, Burmese Cinnamon Flower, Yellow Ginger Flower, Egg Flower, Manjusri Orchid, and Water Lily. Among them, the leaves of Bay Leaf Palm are processed and used to write scriptures to record civilization, so the civilization of Dai is also called Bay Leaf Civilization.

The Dai people generally do not pay attention to the protection of traditional architecture, as long as they have money they will renovate the original temple, so you almost do not see the old temple buildings, because they believe that they have to dedicate the best to the Buddha, because of this, the Dai people and the Buddha-related things they never use money to measure. In the 1980s, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden to look at a walled temple of an eggplant, decided to spend money to buy down, the results of a few times are not close, and finally the Chinese Academy of Sciences people think that there are people do not love money? So the price increase to 20,000 yuan plus a tractor, the Walled City in the elders immediately convened all the villagers to discuss, and finally made a decision: money and things will one day run out, is out of body, and our gods, faith will be permanently exist, the loss of the sacred tree is the same as the loss of the soul of the trust, the heart has no place to put it is unable to see their ancestors after death, not to mention the Buddha, the tree is absolutely can not be sold.

Sugar Palm

Bay Leaf Palm

Banyan

Manjushri

Water Lily

Water Lily

Ginger Flower

For the rainforest plants, we must have a deeper understanding of their connotations in the hearts of the Dai people, such as the egg flower. Egg flower is the national flower of Myanmar, oleander family plants, with red, yellow and white colors. In the hearts of the Dai people, the egg flower has the following connotations: First, Buddhism in the five trees and six flowers in a flower, and the Buddha has a destiny, so for the Dai family who believe in Southern Buddhism, this is the sacred tree, is the worship of the thing; Second, the flower of the ceremonies: like the important leaders of the Southern Buddhist countries to visit, wear a string of white egg flower hanging around their necks, that represents the Dai people to meet the guests of the highest etiquette. Third, the love thing: Dai people are long and relatively black, the night girls and boys dating, the girl in the head must wear a few white egg flowers, which at night is a sign, a signal, can let the guy in the dark immediately found the girl, at the same time the egg flower fragrance, but also let the girls and boys talk about love when the spirit of relaxation and a more pleasurable mood. Fourth, can be used as a vegetable; Fifth, botanical mystery: we know that the oleander family of plants, in addition to the egg flower in addition to the rest are poisonous, why only the egg flower non-toxic it? Botanists still can not explain.

Egg flower

Deeper understanding of the connotation of a plant, when you see them again immediately and your previous knowledge of it is not the same, it must be in awe, you can better communicate with nature. The Dai villages all have Zaixin and Zaixin trees, and the Dai people emphasize on the spirit of everything and respect nature, so Zaixin and Zaixin trees are the places for them to worship nature and place their spirits on. The Dai people are different from other ethnic groups in that all kinds of work at home and outside the home are almost entirely undertaken by women, and men smoke, drink tea and bring up children, so the male status of the Dai people is naturally higher than that of women, and the eighteen monsters of Yunnan are said to be "all children brought up by men". Previously, Xishuangbanna minority marriage is also very peculiar, eighteen weird Yunnan said, "back child love". One explanation is: the local boy and girl after the match, the two will live together for a period of time, and then separate, the boy must know whether the girl is pregnant or give birth to a child to be formally married, and then the two began to fall in love with the child on their backs to ensure that there are people after them.

Tree emperor - rosewood tree

Dew tree

Xishuangbanna is full of magic for those who come from afar to sketch, where the moss seals the moss embroidery, green vines such as weaving, and flowers such as waterfalls. The plants in the rainforest are so dense that it's hard to spot the large number of animals hiding in them, and as you walk through the forest, you can hear all sorts of magical birdsong, or suddenly a monkey crosses your path.

Dense forest monkeys

Crab-tailed plantain

Large-flowered aristolochia

Cat's whiskers

When sketching, there are always all sorts of squirrels in the nearby trees, and peacocks in the Botanical Gardens pass by from time to time and often show you their fascinatingly beautiful feathers. Many flowers in the rainforest are even more peculiar, such as cat's whiskers grass flowers like cat's whiskers, tiger's whiskers at the base of the flower will grow dozens of purple-brown filaments, very much like a tiger's whiskers. Giant flowers of Aristolochia that look like bats touch the giant flowers make people a little scary. Any part of the body that falls to the ground can take root and grow into a new plant. Rage like fire fire flower, flame flower, phoenix flower, bright as porcelain, beautiful as a rose porcelain rose for the magical rainforest to add a lot of gorgeous colors.

Elephant's Nose Palm

Porcelain Rose

Golden Jasper Bamboo

Pineapple Honey

There are also many exotic fruits in the rainforest, like the yolk fruit, the fruit is heart-shaped, the inside of the yolk is like an egg yolk, and it tastes sweet and noodle, which is a great reminder of the past. Here is also the world's largest tropical fruit pineapple honey, more than 30 pounds. Walking in the Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, beautiful and gorgeous golden jasper bamboo, tall bamboos, peculiar elephant trunk palm, the king of the palm, the leaves are huge and incomparable king of the lotus, a variety of exotic flowers can be said to be a change of scenery to make people forget to go back and forth. In the garden of exotic flowers, the sentimental dancing grass, shy mimosa, mimosa tree, in your song and your touch as if you can communicate with them, can communicate, people can not help but sigh grass and trees also have feelings.

Singing to the dancing grass

Painters in the town market sketching

Dai Junior

Banna trip is the most memorable thing I am afraid to run into an earthquake, due to the western part of Yunnan is located in the seismic zone, the occurrence of earthquakes is also considered commonplace. 4:07 am on December 4, Menglun earth suddenly rumbled within the guesthouse also from the northeast to the southwest of the shaking violently, three times. Three, people lying in bed as if a piece of floating in the rapids so lonely and helpless, want to move can not move, after the experience of the earthquake know the terrible.

In the Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden, you can communicate with all kinds of plants in nature, and the mind can be purified, so you can enjoy to explore, to discover. In the return of the bus, Xishuangbanna and suddenly the sea of clouds rolled, and suddenly smoke, never easy to completely open her mysterious veil, leaving people endless reverie.