South of Baoshan the Burma Road makes a grand descent into the Salween River Valley on the five-hour journey to MANGSHI (also known as Luxi ), Dehong's little administrative capital and the site of its airport. Surrounded by Dai and Jingpo villages, the Mangshi region has a reputation for excellent pineapples and silverwork, though the town itself holds only enough to occupy a couple of hours between connections. Hot and grey, the highway runs through as Tuan Jie Dajie , its eastern end marked by a large roundabout and its western end by a narrow, black canal. Just over this canal, Yueyi Lu points north into a jumble of quieter, older streets filled with markets and a fair complement of Buddhist temples raised on wooden piles in the ornate Dai style, many of them being restored.

 

The airport is about 7km south off the highway, where taxis and minibuses to Mangshi, Ruili and Wanding meet incoming flights. Most Mangshi vehicles will set down at the eastern end of Tuan Jie Dajie, either on the roundabout outside the airline office (daily 8.30-11.30am & 1.30-5pm; the bus to the airport leaves 2hr before each flight) or about 1km west at the cluster of depots where long-distance buses and minibuses stop. The airline office has a clean and simple hotel attached (¥30-75), or there are smart rooms at Dehong Binguan (¥30-75), nicely located in large grounds at the top of backstreet Yueyi Lu. The Dehong has a good restaurant , and there are countless shacks serving buns and shapeless curries in almost every lane through the town.