Some 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Jinghong down the scenic Mekong River—known as "Láncāng Jiāng" (瀾滄江) before it crosses the border out of China—the town of Ganlanba (Gǎnlǎnbà, 橄榄坝), also known as the "Olive Plains" has been home to generations of Dai, one of China's 56 official ethnic minorities.

After centuries of quietly making a living off of fishing, producing brightly colored textiles and cultivating the rich farmland along the Mekong, the Dai themselves are now a money-making attraction, as streams of Chinese tourists come to experience a theme park-styled version of Dai life complete with daily Dai Water Splashing Festivals (normally a once-a-year event) at the Galanba Dai Minority Park.

The Dai are culturally and linguistically related to the Thai people, and visitors to Galanba and other Xishuangbanna destinations certainly experience a way of life very different from that of the Han culture that typifies much of the People's Republic's territory. It is this very uniqueness, however, that brings the busloads of tourists, and it's the tourists who threaten to turn that uniqueness into something quite typical: a Chinese theme park.

That said, the town outside of the park is still well worth visiting, as it retains much in the way of authentic Dai culture. In Galanba, bamboo homes still line the water, set amid tidy gardens, Dai pagodas and the ever-encroaching jungle. Colorful tropical fruits—coconut, mango, jackfruit and many more—are a staple of a spicy cuisine heavy on fish, rice and chicken.

Known in the Dai language as Menghan, the settlement has a long history rich with Theravada Buddhist lore that includes tales of Guatama Buddha having preached on the banks of the Mekong in the 5th century BC. This tradition is marked by many a shrine and small pagoda, many linked to families and clans who have lived in the region from time immemorial. 

At only 530 m (1,739 ft) above sea level, Galanba sits at the lowest elevation in Xishuangbanna, which means that both the humid tropical heat and the growth of the area's famed fruits and flowers can seem a little more intense than elsewhere in Dai territory. Among the Chinese, the area is as well known for its preserved fruit as it is for its fresh fruit, and visitors should be on the lookout for the former, which can be found in nearly any local market.

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