Day Trip to Mae Salong, Thailand’s Beautiful Yunnanese Village

By Mark Wiens 33 Comments
Yunnanese food in Thailand
A beautiful village with delicious Yunnanese food

When I heard about a small, ethnically Chinese village, located northwest of Chiang Rai town, I was intrigued…

…But when I heard there was delicious Yunnanese food available, that’s when Ying and I decided we HAD to visit immediately.

ดอยแม่สลอง
View of Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง) from the temple

Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง)?

The official name of Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง) has now been changed to Santikhiri (สันติคีรี), so if you look it up on Wikipedia, that’s what they refer to it as.

However, locally, it’s still known as Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง), and the road signs still all use Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง), so I’ll stick with that name throughout this article.

Mae Salong is located in the northwestern region of Chiang Rai province, in a area called Mae Fah Luang, which is right along the border of Myanmar.

At the end of the Chinese Civil War, a group of Chinese, who wouldn’t succumb to defeat, lived nomadic lives in Myanmar. Eventually they found their way to the hilltops of Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง), where they set up a village.

The Thai government allowed them to stay in Thailand, as long as they fought for Thailand.

Today, the village still exists, and it’s still very Yunnanese Chinese.

I’m not an expert when it comes to history, so if you’re interested, you can read much more about the story of Mae Salong here on Wikipedia.

Day trip to Mae Salong
Driving to Mae Salong

Ok, now let’s get into the day trip we took to Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง)…

You can get to Mae Salong by a series of buses and rot songthaews (local pickup trucks), but the easiest way  to get there is to either take your own motorbike or car.

Ying and I decided to rent a car, which we arranged through our hotel in Chiang Rai (highly recommended if you’re looking to stay somewhere nice and quiet). That way, we could drive in a bit more comfort (I’m getting older!) and what I was really happy about, was that we could stop whenever we pleased.

From Chiang Rai town, at first you have to drive north through the city (towards Mae Sai) for about 30 minutes or so until you reach the turnoff to Mae Salong.

Chiang Rai tea plantation
Arriving at Choui Fong (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง) tea plantation in Chiang Rai

Tea stop at Choui Fong (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง)

After making the turn off the main Mae Sai highway, and following the signs for Mae Fae Luang, you’ll come to a famous tea plantation known as Choui Fong (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง).

We decided to make a quick stop, since it was right along the way, to use the bathroom, to see the tea fields, and to get ourselves some tea!

tea farm in Chiang Rai
View from Choui Fong tea farm

The views of the tea fields and the mountains in the background (the mountains are where Mae Salong is), were beautiful.

The Choui Fong (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง) tea farm is a set up a little on the touristy side, with vans of tourists that stop by, but it definitely is worth a stop, especially if you’re taking your own transportation (rather than a public bus).

things to do in Chiang Rai
Walking around the tea fields for a few moments

You can walk around the tea fields at first, and then make your way to the gift shop and cafe for some refreshment.

green tea frappaccino
Green tea frappaccino

Ying went to the cafe and ordered a green tea frappaccino and asked for it to be not too sweet.

I had a little taste, and it was actually quite good, nice and strong on the green tea flavor, and not too sweet (but I’m not huge on fancy drinks, I just like normal steeped tea).

tea in Thailand
I’m drinking some of this tea right now… and it’s marvelous

I went to the Choui Fong (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง) gift shop and had a tea tasting session.

The tea was all exceptionally wonderful, and I ended up buying three bags of tea. When I work, blogging and making videos, I drink a lot of both coffee and tea, so I’m always on the lookout for both.

I’m pretty happy with my selection of tea, which I’ve already been drinking. The yellow bag of Choui Fong (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง) is probably my favorite.

Prices – For 3 bags I spent about 400 THB, but they have many different prices and qualities

day trip to Doi Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง)
13 more km. to Doi Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง)

Back on the road…

After a 30 minute worthwhile break at the tea farm, and feeling nicely refreshed, we got back on the road, and followed the signs for Doi Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง).

By this time, the road was becoming more and more curvy, and we started to climb in elevation. The views also started becoming more and more beautiful as we climbed higher into the hills.

day trip to Mae Salong
Downtown Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง), Thailand

Arriving in Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง)

From the tea farm, it took us about 1 hour to reach Mae Salong (so direct from Chiang Rai town, without stopping at the tea farm, it took about 1.5 – 2 hours to drive there).

The village is quite small, but it’s big enough, and receives enough tourism (mostly in the high season of December I think) to have a number of restaurants, and quite a few little tourist souvenir stalls.

The village is at an elevation of 1130 meters, not too high, but high enough to have fresh mountain air, and cooler weather. We went in September, so it wasn’t too cold, but I’ve heard that it can get very cold during winter.

restaurants in Mae Salong
First, we went straight for Im Pochana Restaurant (ร้านอิ่มโภชนา)

Lunch at Im Pochana Restaurant (ร้านอิ่มโภชนา)

As soon as Ying and I arrived to Mae Salong, our minds were on one thing only: lunch.

There are a number of restaurants as you drive through the village, some of them serve Yunnanese style food.

We chose to go to a restaurant called Im Pochana Restaurant (ร้านอิ่มโภชนา), a restaurant that’s sort of at the far end of town, situated on top of the hill, just after the Mae Salong market.

ขาหมูน้ำแดง
Yunnanese Braised Pork Leg (ขาหมูน้ำแดง) – Incredibly good

Yunnanese Braised Pork Leg (ขาหมูน้ำแดง)

Probably the most famous food to eat at Mae Salong, and one of the main reasons why I was most interested in visiting this beautiful little village, was to eat their version of Yunnan style braised pork leg.

In Thailand, braised pork leg is extremely popular throughout the country, but normally in Bangkok, and even in Chiang Mai, it’s prepared quite sweet for me, which I’m not always a fan of, so I don’t eat it frequently.

The version at Im Pochana was far from sweet (I’m not even sure if there was any sugar involved), and it was braised to perfection, seasoned with mild spices like cinnamon and star anise. Incredible.

The pork was so tender and so flavorful – every bite was worth the drive.

Price – 150 THB – plus it was huge, an amazing deal for so much pork!

braised pork
Mantou with braised pork

Instead of being served with rice, like you’ll normally find at any Thai khao kha moo stall, in Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง), it’s typical to eat braised pork leg with mantou (หมั่นโถ), Chinese steamed buns.

The mantou was just a hint sweet, and it was so fresh and so airy fluffy. Along with bites of tender pork, and dipped into the pork braised broth, it was an outstanding combination.

Talk about comfort mountain food!

Mae Salong day trip
Yunnan fried noodles (ผัดหมี่ยูนนาน) in Thailand

Yunnan fried noodles (ผัดหมี่ยูนนาน)

But actually, even as much as I loved the braised pork leg, probably my favorite dish that we ate in Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง) was this plate of Yunnanese style fried noodles.

The yellow noodles were soft, and stir fried with egg, onions, carrots, and maybe a bit of cabbage.

I could tell the noodles were stir fried on a very high fire, because it had that wonderful smokey flavor, and the egg was just slightly charred.

This plate of noodles was outstanding, just like versions I had in China.

Price – 60 THB

Mae Salong, Thailand
Tea salad (ยำใบชา) in Mae Salong

Tea salad (ยำใบชา)

Quite different from laphet thoke in Myanmar, this tea leaf salad wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to get, but nevertheless it tasted pretty good.

I guess since Mae Salong is such a dominant tea growing region, residents have started experimenting with different dishes to prepare with them.

This tea leaf salad wasn’t exactly Yunnanese, I don’t think, but more of a modern Thai salad, a can of tuna, mixed with onions, carrots, tomatoes, slices of lemongrass, and a good handful of fresh green tea leaves mixed in.

I did love its freshness, but the dressing was a tad too sweet, but it did have nice sourness from lime juice.

Price – 100 THB

Stuffed and happy, we continued to walk around and explore the village of Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง).

Santikhiri
Main road in Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง)

Mae Salong Village (ดอยแม่สลอง)

Walking through the main road in Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง) it’s almost hard to believe you’re still in Thailand – it feels like you crossed the border into southern Yunnan.

Many signs are written in both Chinese and Thai, and walking along the road, you’ll hear more Chinese being spoken than Thai.

Mae Salong
Produce vendors on the side of the road

Nursing my stomach full of braised pork, I walked slowly through the center of town, enjoying the pleasant fresh air, the lack of traffic or hassles, and just thoroughly enjoying myself.

The village reminded me of Chengyang village in China, and even some of the souvenirs that the old ladies offered me, were similar.

trip to Mae Salong
Sunflowers and seeds at the market

At first I thought these were some kind of beehives for honey, but upon closer inspection, I could see they were entire sunflowers, filled with seeds.

I wanted to buy them, but on second thought, that would have been pretty messy to eat in the car. But I do love sunflowers seeds, and this is about as fresh as they come.

tea in Mae Salong
Mae Salong is a tea drinkers paradise

Tea drinkers paradise

Mae Salong is an absolute tea drinkers paradise.

The main street is filled with tea stores, where you can buy great quality local teas for good prices, and get plenty of tea samples if you’re so inclined.

Mae Salong Coffee Shop
Mae Salong Coffee Shop

Before you buy any tea, many of the sellers will be happy to give you a taste test of whatever you’d like.

I had a great time walking around, and many of the local people in Mae Salong were friendly and inviting.

However, since I had already bought quite a supply of tea at Choui Fong, I didn’t taste any tea, but instead went to the single coffee shop, called Mae Salong Coffee Shop, and ordered a coffee, which was good too.

Thailand travel guide
Mae Salong is a wonderful place to relax

From the center of Mae Salong we got back into the car and followed the signs for the temple.

temple in Mae Salong
Temple (พระบรมธาตุเจดีย์ศรีนครินทราสถิตมหาสันติคีรี จ.เชียงราย) in Mae Salong

Temple (พระบรมธาตุเจดีย์ศรีนครินทราสถิตมหาสันติคีรี จ.เชียงราย)

Yes, that’s the name in Thai, it’s quite a length name, and it goes something like this: Phra Brama Do พระบรมธาตุเจดีย์ศรีนครินทราสถิตมหาสันติคีรี จ.เชียงราย

You could probably walk from Mae Salong town to the temple, but it would take quite a while as it’s basically located on the top of the hill.

So having the car, we drove and arrived in a few minutes. But even in our little Toyota Vios, it was huffing and puffing to get up the hill.

The temple kind of reminded me of a combination of Tibetan style like in Gangtok mixed Thai style.

Mae Salong day trip from Chiang Rai
View of the village on our Mae Salong day trip

One of the main reasons to visit the temple, is to take in the beautiful view of the village, and the surrounding mountains and hills.

day trips from Chiang Rai
Enjoying the fresh cool air

The breeze was cool and fresh, and the scenery was gorgeous.

Some have called Mae Salong the Switzerland of Thailand, and while I don’t think it’s quite that, it is very beautiful and very fresh.

Doi Mae Salong Thailand
Visiting the beautiful village of Mae Salong

Here’s the full video of the day trip:

(If you can’t see the video, watch it here: http://youtu.be/UsU9kvJaa2I)

Conclusion

Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง), also known as Santikhiri (สันติคีรี), is a small village in the northwestern hills of Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, on the border of Myanmar. The village is home to an ethnically Yunnanese Chinese community, and it hardly feels like Thailand when you’re there.

I took a day trip from Chiang Rai town to Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง), and first stopped at the Choui Fong (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง) tea plantation before continuing to the beautiful village of Mae Salong.

Along with enjoying the beautiful views and mountain fresh air, my highlight of the trip was our Yunnanese lunch feast at Im Pochana Restaurant (ร้านอิ่มโภชนา) – I’m still dreaming about it!

Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง) makes a wonderful day trip from Chiang Rai, but there are also plenty of guest houses to stay at if you want to stay for a few days and soak up the fresh air and get extra relaxation.

I thought Mae Salong was absolutely beautiful, both for the views, and for the uniqueness of being in Thailand, but in a Chinese village.

It’s a wonderful place to visit.

How to get to Mae Salong (ดอยแม่สลอง)

Though you can get there by public bus and rot songthaew (local truck transportation), by far the easiest, quickest, and most convenient way is to have your own transportation. For a motorbike, it’s a bit of a long haul, but possible, but we chose to rent a car.

Car Rental

Renting a car was pretty affordable at only 1,000 THB per 24 hours (and only 3,000 THB for deposit, which we got back once we returned it), and I think we spent about 500 THB roundtrip for petrol. We arranged the car rental through our hotel in Chiang Rai.

Choui Fong Tea Farm (ไร่ชาฉุยฟง) 

Address: 97 Moo 8 Pasang, Maechan, Chiang Rai 57110
Phone: 66 53 771563
Open hours: 8 am – 5 pm daily

ที่อยู่ 97 หมู่ 8 อ.แม่จัน เชียงราย 57110
โทร. 053-771563
เปิดบริการทุกวัน 8:00 – 17:00 น.

Im Pochana Restaurant (ร้านอิ่มโภชนา) in Mae Salong

Address: Highway 1089, Mae Fa Luang, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Phone: 089-637 5290
Open hours: 8:30 am – 8 pm daily

ที่อยู่ 1089 (ระวังสับสนกับร้านน้องอิ่มโภชนา) แม่สลองนอก , แม่ฟ้าหลวง , เชียงราย 57110
โทร. 089-637 5290
เปิดบริการทุกวัน : 08:30 – 20:00

Hope you enjoyed this post and that it is helpful. Have you been to Mae Salong? Do you have any extra tips or suggestions?

Would you like to visit Mae Salong?

33 comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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  • High Rated Gabru

    3 years ago

    Good job Mark!!!

  • jane magnerot

    3 years ago

    i have been there twice. Lovely Place . first time 2011 with motorbikes together with my two sons. It was christmastime and we bought small pakets from the local shops. Lovely!! The second time 2013 togeter with my partner – local buses. Fresch air, hilltribes, wieves and totally a Lovely experince. I loved it

  • Nischay

    3 years ago

    Whatever you mention in this Particular article about Thailand’s Beautiful Yunnanese Village ; that all information are Truly usefulhow to hide mutual friends in facebook

  • Christian

    5 years ago

    Is the tea Farm at Mae Chan netter than the 101 tea company at Mae Salong?

  • Sue M

    5 years ago

    Wow…sounds like a great trip to make for a day trip. The views are spectacular.
    Apart from renting a car, is it safe and convenient to hire a local driver to bring a party of 3 to the MAe Salong and all those wonderful stops you made along the way?

  • Mike

    6 years ago

    My girlfriend and I did this trip today exactly as you guys had described it and it was fantastic thank you for the review a little bit tricky finding the restaurant and certainly if you’re driving a car very tricky to figure out where to park but one of the pretty workers there with the dyed blonde hair (noticeable the color of choice for that area) let us park right in front parallel to the entrance of the restaurant. Definitely not the Switzerland of Thailand, as there are more shacks and stray dogs and chickens, and then there are moms driving (racing) either with two kids on the scooter with her, sans helmet, or one handing a baby while driving with the right…oh my! Really it’s strangely beautiful driving through these parts like turning the clock back 500 years. Again, thanks for the idea, and the fried noodles was my favorite while my girlfriend Nok ate all the fat (and the large portioned dish was easily 50/50 meat to fat on the braised pork – soft and delicious with a tinge of secret spice… Lovely!

  • Martin Bower

    7 years ago

    We just wanted to say thank you for the info on Mae Salong. It’s not a place we would gave even heard about if it wasn’t for you. We’ve just spent two awesome days there and it’s been one of the highlights of our 3 months in Thailand. Cheers Mark

  • Martin Bower

    7 years ago

    Just booked 2 nights at Mae Salong inspired by your video. It looks beautiful. Can’t wait to tuck in to the braised pork. Nom nom.

  • Jeffrey

    8 years ago

    Hey just thought I’d let you know that the Thai writing you have ดอยแม่สลอง says Doi Mae Salong (which is the full name of the place anyway). Just thought you might be interested. I went here last year. Beautiful mountain views up in the north.

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Hey Jeffrey, thanks for pointing that out, appreciate it. Glad you made it here!

  • Jean-François Des Lauriers

    8 years ago

    We went to Mae Salong yesterday, based on your recommendation. Heaven on Earth! We stopped at the Choui Fong Tea Plantation on the way. A bit crowded, but then we had a perfectly clear and sunny day, which no doubt inspired others to head up the mountains for some cool breezes.
    We had a bit of difficulty finding the Im Porchana restaurant, but I asked a few people in the village and they pointed me in the general direction. They all seemed to think I was funny though, pointing in the direction of evey restaurant in the area, so I came to the conclusion that “Im Porchana” is probably the name of the pork leg dish. But then, the resto of that name has a duck on its sign. Four of us ate: 2 pork legs, one ginger chicken, mixed greens, 4 steam buns, one yellow noodles for a total of 620 bahts, or $24 Canadian.
    Didn’t see the tea salad on the English language menu, but we had more than enough to eat anyway. Tried the mulberry wine. Sweet but not too much, plus it works well with this type of food.
    We tried to find the turn off for the temple but never did. Wish you had left a photograph of the intersection.
    Thank you for this blog Mark. I don’t thing we would have found these places without it.

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Hey Jean-François, glad you were able to take a day trip to Mae Salong as well. Thank you for sharing your experience, and glad everything turned out alright and you found some pork leg!

  • Jean

    8 years ago

    I really love this place very much. Is it possible to rent a car with drivers to take to all the places indicated abovementioned. Roughly how much do I need to pay in Thai currency. I understand that there is a museum talking about how the yunanese enter to this place. Please reply.

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Hey Jean, glad you like this area of Thailand as well. Yes, you could rent a car / van with a driver. I think it would typically be around 2,000 – 3,000 Thai Baht per day or so. I’m not sure of any company, but you could ask at the hotel and they should be able to tell you. Hope you have a great trip!

  • Angela

    9 years ago

    Hi Mark, We really appreciated this post and wanted to say thanks! A brief mention in Lonely Planet piqued our interest in Mae Salong and Google brought us here. Your post convinced us to visit last week. 🙂 We loved the fried noodles, the views, and walking through the tea fields of Choui Fong. Thanks again!

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Angela, great to hear from you. So glad you enjoyed your trip to Mae Salong!

  • Ron

    9 years ago

    Hi Mark, I am sitting in my hotel room overlooking the hills and sitting below the beautiful temple in Ames Salong. My belly is full from the wonderful braised pork dinner I finished not to long ago at Imm Pochana. I decided to stay the night so I can try the Yunnan noodles before I go to to Doi Tung. I was in Chiang Rai 2 days ago planning a motorbike trip to Mae Salong but had no idea what was out hear. All I knew was it was all ex KMT Chinese Army migrants. When I googled what to do in the area I came across your article and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thank you Mark for your article and great suggestions. In addition at Choui Fong Tea Plantation I had the best Iced Green Tea and Green Tea Cheesecake in my life. Around mak mak.

    Regards

  • Meng Soon Ngian

    9 years ago

    Hi Mark,
    It was really interesting to read your travel blog to Mae Salong. I intend to drive up from Chiang Mae in rental car but am not sure which direction route I should take. Would you kindly give some advice? Thank you.

  • cam

    9 years ago

    So interested to read your excellent blog and to see the photos. I’ll be heading up that way myself in two weeks and really hope to find a vegetarian version of the noodle dish at Pochana. Thank you.

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Cam, good to hear you’ll be heading to Mae Salong soon… hmmm, how strict of a vegetarian are you? You could ask them to cook the noodles with no egg (mai sai kai), and I know it would still be fantastic. Hope you have a good visit.

  • Karen

    9 years ago

    Hi Mark. I have been following you for sometime now. This is my first comment.
    My husband, daughter and son in law went to Mae Salong a few years ago with our Thai exchange student son. I have very fond memories of our visit. We had the pork too. We also tried deep fried black duck. The memories of that are not so good. I love your photos.
    I look forward to your blogs and Utube vids.

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hi Karen, so glad to hear you visited Mae Salong as well and have good memories of your visit. Oh wow, I didn’t see the black duck on the menu, or I would have probably ordered that too – just out of curiosity. Thank you again for following.

  • Rhishav

    9 years ago

    Great trip Mark! Loved all the pictures. The Pork leg looks delicious but I will give it for the Yunnan fried noodles. It look’s awesome. The Beautiful view of the Mountains or rather Hills were awesome. Really loved it. Keep it up Mark! 🙂

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Thank you very much Rishav, that was definitely a marvelous plate of fried noodles.

  • De’Jav

    9 years ago

    Looks like a great place. The food looks amazing that pork leg oh my gosh yum yum.

  • Trent @ Food Assault

    9 years ago

    This is a great find……my wife was born in Mae Chan and we spent some time there a few years back. I’ve fallen in love with the Northern Provinence and obviously the people 🙂

    That pork leg looks great as do all the photos too of the area.

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Trent, nice to hear that. It was my first time to go past Chiang Mai, and I really enjoyed visiting northern Thailand as well – everything from the people to the food. I’m hoping to go back again and explore more.

  • Suvro

    9 years ago

    13 kms took 1 hour to drive?

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Suvro, I think it was more like 30 km, but I just happen to take a break at that 13 km sign and took a photo.