Get to know Simao District
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Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Pu'er
- Chinese name
- 思茅区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 3,928.00 km²
- Population · 2020 census
- 416,188
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Tea routes and the river
Banjiupo Tea Horse Road (斑鸠坡茶马古道) is a surviving section of the trading routes that shaped Simao. The Lancang River (澜沧江) runs through the district, while the China–Laos Railway (中老铁路) and Kunming–Bangkok road corridor (昆曼大通道) cross it. Older bridges linked the historic town’s trading streets with the Tea Horse Road: Tongshang Bridge (通商桥) and Taiping Bridge (太平桥) were important crossing points in the Qing and Republican periods.
Coffee and local crafts
Simao coffee is described by the district government as aromatic, with a little fruit acidity and a strong flavour without bitterness. Local crafts include reduction woodblock printing (绝版木刻) and Dai brocade (傣族织锦). Local food festivals include those devoted to white flowers and white grass roots.
Sources for this guide
思茅概况-思茅区政府信息公开门户网 · Simao District Government; District Party History Research Office
古城思茅这些古桥你知道几座-普洱党史 · Pu’er Municipal Party History Research Office
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-30.
Explore Simao District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Simao District
Pu'er National Park Xiniuping · 普洱国家公园犀牛坪Pu'er National Park Xiniuping普洱国家公园犀牛坪
Xiniuping (犀牛坪), meaning 'Rhino Flat', is a scenic zone within Pu'er National Park (also known as Sun River National Forest Park) in Simao District, Pu'er, named for a rhinoceros-population reconstruction project.
Read the place guide →
A panoramic view over the tea terraces and hills of the Chinese Pu'er Tea Expo Garden, Pu'er · 普洱市思茅区中华普洱茶博览苑，茶山丘陵全景 Source-recorded photograph date: 2025-01-17 16:22:07.Chinese Pu'er Tea Expo Garden中华普洱茶博览苑
The Chinese Pu'er Tea Expo Garden (中华普洱茶博览苑), in Simao District, Pu'er, is a themed tea-culture park set within a ten-thousand-mu tea plantation.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Simao District covers the centre of Pu'er. Search for 思茅区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Pu'er National Park Xiniuping and Chinese Pu'er Tea Expo Garden are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Pu'er →More in Pu'er
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Photo: Pu'er National Park Xiniuping · 維基小霸王 · CC BY-SA 4.0. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Chinese Pu'er Tea Expo Garden · Liuxingy · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.