Dai Houses

Dai houses are the traditional housing of the Dai ethnic group in Xishuangbanna. This kind of building is primarily built of bamboo—the posts, girders, purlins, rafters, doors and walls are all made of bamboo. The Xishuangbanna area belongs to the tropical rainforest climate, and the rainfall is huge. For this reason, the roof of the bamboo house is specially designed to drain rain. The bamboo house is double-layered. This kind of design can prevent humidity. Therefore, the Dai people always live upstairs, and some sundries, livestock and poultry can be kept downstairs.