The main gateway is Xishuangbanna Gasa International Airport, just north of Jinghong, with direct flights from Kunming, Chengdu, and several other Chinese cities. The Kunming flight takes about an hour.
The high-speed railway from Kunming, opened in late 2021, has changed how most travellers arrive: 3 hours 30 minutes through a chain of tunnels and viaducts to the Xishuangbanna station 15 km west of Jinghong. The line continues south to Vientiane in Laos.
By road, Jinghong is roughly 600 kilometres from Kunming along winding mountain highways — the journey by sleeper bus takes around 12 hours and passes through dramatic mountain scenery. Faster express buses do the route in less time on improved roads. There are also bus connections to Laos via the Mengla border crossing.