Xishuangbanna is apparently covered in rubber plantations. This may not be news to all, but the article is informative regardless!

www.chinafile.com/writing-yunnan-rubber-check

" According to a recently released report, land under rubber cultivation in Xishuangbanna nearly tripled between 2002 and 2010 to account for more than a fifth of the area's total land. "

" 'Rubber farmers I interviewed across Mengla county [one of Xishuangbanna's three counties] averaged about $30,000 in annual household income...' "

"By 2010, more than twenty-two percent of Xishuangbanna's land was growing rubber, a calculation that doesn't account for the crop's intrusion into the Xishuangbanna and Nanbanhe Nature Reserves, which Grumbine describes as 'significant.' "

Written by GK's own Chris Horton.

Monoculture always creates disease and I saw a lot of trees dieing because of disease in my most recent visit. Perhaps they can make lots of money in the beginning but it can not last. This is why they are now moving into Laos.