ONE of the best areas to be in April is a little-known corner of China bordering Burma and Laos, a land lush and tropical, with a devilish name: Xishuangbanna.
Inhabited by Buddhist Dai people, Xishuangbanna is more like Thailand than China, a remote part of Yunnan province that was largely isolated until the 1950s. Now it is famous throughout China for its beautiful sarong-clad women, its tropical fruits and flowers and, above all, for its New Year water-splashing festival, held (as in Thailand) in mid-April.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists head for Jinghong, the capital, at this time of year, flying in from Kunming. In the old days, festivities lasted for weeks (they still do in more remote villages) but in Jinghong there are now three official daysof activities, with dragon-boat races on the Mekong river, fireworks and giant sky-rockets, banquets of Dai delicacies and a riotous climax when everyone throws water on each other in a ritual new year blessing.
But though Jinghong is a pleasant enough town, with wide streets lined with palm trees, its New Year popularity destroys its charm. Only outside Jinghong do you find the true land of the Dai and the true religious spirit of the ''Poshui Jie'' festival.
It is here, in the villages, that you also have the chance of seeing a mysterious dance, unique to the Dai and performed only on special occasions. Before the festival broke, I decided to head into the country in search of the Peacock dance.
One of the best ways to explore Xishuangbanna is by boat down the wide, brown Mekong River towards Menghan, the ''Olive Plains''. In fact, the area is now covered largely by rubber and fruit trees. There are rice paddies, too, and hills of tea, and once there was even gold in the river.
