1.
County-level city
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A county-level municipality, county-level city, or county city is a county-level administrative division of mainland China. County-level cities are governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions. Most county-level cities were created in the 1980s and 1990s by replacing counties, a county-level city is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is an entity. County-level cities are not cities in the strictest sense of the word, since they usually contain rural areas many times the size of their urban and this is because the counties that county-level cities have replaced are themselves large administrative units containing towns, villages, and farmland. To distinguish a city from its actual urban area, the term 市区 shìqū. In France, an equivalent of a city is an agglomeration community. For example, in New South Wales such a unit may often be called a city, city of Blue Mountains is made of a number of towns. Another example would be municipal government in the Canadian province of Ontario and this agglomeration includes all of the townships in the county of Kent, with cities and towns like Wallaceberg, Thamesville, Dresden, Wheatley. This amalgamation as it is referred to, was controversial when it was forced upon the constituents through provincial legislation. Today, instead of each city having its own mayor and city councillors, as of January 2017, there are 360 County-level city in total, A sub-prefecture-level city is a county-level city with powers approaching those of prefecture-level cities. Examples include, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Tianmen and Jiyuan, administrative divisions of China Counties of the Peoples Republic of China Prefecture-level city List of cities in China
2.
Country
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A country is a region that is identified as a distinct national entity in political geography. Sometimes the word countries is used to both to sovereign states and to other political entities, while other times it refers only to states. The word country comes from Old French contrée, itself derived from Vulgar Latin contrata and it most likely entered the English language after the Franco-Norman invasion during the 11th century. Areas much smaller than a state may be called by names such as the West Country in England, the Black Country, Constable Country. In many European countries the words are used for sub-divisions of the territory, as in the German Bundesländer. The modern Italian contrada is a word with its meaning varying locally, the term country is frequently used to refer to sovereign states. There is no agreement on the number of countries in the world. There are 206 sovereign states, of which 193 states are members of the United Nations, all are defined as states by declarative theory of statehood and constitutive theory of statehood. The latest proclaimed state is South Sudan in 2011, the Kingdom of Denmark, a sovereign state, comprises Metropolitan Denmark and two nominally separate countries—the Faroe Islands, and Greenland—which are almost fully internally self-governing. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a state, comprises four separate countries, Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao. The degree of autonomy of non-sovereign countries varies widely, some are possessions of sovereign states, as several states have overseas territories, with citizenry at times identical and at times distinct from their own
3.
Provinces of China
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Provinces, formally provincial-level administrative divisions or first-level administrative divisions, are the highest-level Chinese administrative divisions. There are 34 such divisions, classified as 23 provinces, four municipalities, five autonomous regions, the Peoples Republic of China claims sovereignty over the territory administered by the Republic of China, claiming most of it as its Taiwan Province. The ROC also administers some offshore islands which form Fujian Province and these were part of an originally unified Fujian province, which since the stalemate of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 has been divided between the PRC and ROC. Note that every province has a Communist Party of China provincial committee, the committee secretary is in effective charge of the province, rather than the nominal governor of the provincial government. The government of each province is nominally led by a provincial committee. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, second-in-command is the governor of the provincial government, the Peoples Republic of China claims the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including Penghu, as Taiwan Province. The territory is controlled by the Republic of China, a municipality or direct-controlled municipality is a higher level of city which is directly under the Chinese government, with status equal to that of the provinces. In practice, their status is higher than that of common provinces. The governor of each region is usually appointed from the respective minority ethnic group. A special administrative region is an autonomous and self-governing subnational subject of the Peoples Republic of China that is directly under the Central Peoples Government. Each SAR has an executive as head of the region. The regions government is not fully independent, as policy and military defence are the responsibility of the central government. Notes,1, as of 20102, per km23, km24, Abbreviation in the parentheses is informal 5, Since founding in 1949, however, the PRC has never controlled Taiwan. Taiwan currently administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, the subject of whether or not Taiwan is part of China is often debated, with no clear conclusion. The Ming Dynasty kept the system set up by the Yuan Dynasty, however. By the time of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644 there were 18 provinces, in addition, there was a zongdu, a general military inspector or governor general, for every two to three provinces. Outer regions of China were not divided into provinces, military leaders or generals oversaw Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Mongolia, while vice-dutong and civilian leaders headed the leagues, a subdivision of Mongolia. The ambans supervised the administration of Tibet, in 1884 Xinjiang became a province, in 1907 Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang were made provinces as well
4.
Yunnan
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Yunnan is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country. It spans approximately 394,000 square kilometres and has a population of 45.7 million in 2009, the capital of the province is Kunming, formerly also known as Yunnan. The province borders Vietnam, Laos, and Burma, Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with high elevations in the northwest and low elevations in the southeast. Most of the lives in the eastern part of the province. In the west, the altitude can vary from the peaks to river valleys as much as 3,000 metres. Yunnan is rich in resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of plants in China. Yunnans reserves of aluminium, lead, zinc and tin are the largest in China, the Han Empire first recorded diplomatic relations with the province at the end of the 2nd century BC. It became the seat of a Sino-Tibetan-speaking kingdom of Nanzhao in the 8th centuryAD, Nanzhao was multi-ethnic, but the elite most-likely spoke a northern dialect of Yi. The Mongols conquered the region in the 13th century, with local control exercised by warlords until the 1930s, as with other parts of Chinas southwest, Japanese occupation in the north during World War II forced another migration of majority Han people into the region. These two wave of migration contributed to Yunnan being one of the most ethnically diverse provinces of China, major ethnic groups include Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai and Miao. The Yuanmou Man, a Homo erectus fossil unearthed by railway engineers in the 1960s, has determined to be the oldest-known hominid fossil in China. By the Neolithic period, there were settlements in the area of Lake Dian. These people used tools and constructed simple wooden structures. Around the 3rd century BC, the area of Yunnan around present day Kunming was known as Dian. The Chu general Zhuang Qiao entered the region from the upper Yangtze River and he and his followers brought into Yunnan an influx of Chinese influence, the start of a long history of migration and cultural expansion. In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang unified China and extended his authority south, commanderies and counties were established in Yunnan. An existing road in Sichuan – the Five Foot Way – was extended south to present day Qujing
5.
Prefectures of the People's Republic of China
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Prefectures, formally prefecture-level divisions as a term in the context of China, are used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China. There are 333 prefecture-level divisions in China and they include 17 prefectures and 283 prefecture-level cities. Other than provincial level divisions, prefectural level divisions are not mentioned in the Chinese constitution, the prefectural government is an administrative branch office with the rank of a national ministerial department and dispatched by the higher-level provincial government. The leader of the government, titled as prefectural commissioner, is appointed by the provincial government. The prefectures working committee of the committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference is a part of the prefectures committee of the CPPCC. This means that the working committee of CPPCC is a branch of the provincial committee of CPPCC. The same is valid for provincial CPPCC, which are sections of the national CPPCC. Prefectures are administrative subdivisions of provincial-level divisions, the term prefecture was developed from the former Circuit, which was a level between the provincial and the county level during the Qing dynasty. Consequently, in 1932, provinces were subdivided into several prefectures. At one point, prefectures were the most common type of prefecture-level division, today they have been mostly converted into prefecture-level cities, and the trend is still ongoing with only 8 prefectures remaining in China. Prefecture-level cities are municipalities that are given prefecture status and the right to govern surrounding counties, in practice, prefecture-level cities are so large that they are just like any other prefectures, and not cities in the traditional sense of the word at all. Prefecture-level cities are the most common type of division in mainland China today. Leagues are the prefectures of Inner Mongolia, the name comes from a kind of ancient Mongolian administrative unit used during the Qing Dynasty in Mongolia. To preempt any sense of Mongolian unity or solidarity, the Qing Dynasty executed divide, Leagues had no true ruler-ship, they only had conventional assemblies consisting of banners. During the ROC era, the leagues had an equivalent to provinces. Leagues contain banners, equivalent to counties, after the establishment of the provincial-level Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 1947, leagues of Inner Mongolia became equal to prefectures in other provinces and autonomous regions. The governments of the league, is the branch office dispatched by Peoples Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The leader of the government, titled as league leader, is appointed by Peoples Government of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
6.
Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture
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Xishuangbanna, Sibsongbanna, or Sipsong Panna, shortened to Banna is a Tai Lü autonomous prefecture in the extreme south of Yunnan, China. The prefectural seat is Jinghong, the largest settlement in the area and one that straddles the Mekong, Sipsongpanna is a Tai Lü compound consisting of sipsong twelve, pan township and na rice paddy. The Yunnan provincial government of the newly established Republic of China sent troops in 1913 to oust the rebels, the Second Sino-Japanese War saw the heavy bombardment of Xishuangbanna by Japanese troops and a simultaneous influx of Pan-Taiist propaganda from Japans ally, Thailand. According to Hsieh, this reduced the appeal of a broad pan-Tai identity among the Dai Lue, during the final phase of the Chinese Civil War, many remnants of the Kuomintang fled from Communists forces into Burmas Shan State from Xishuangbanna. The Communists took control of the prefecture from Kuomintang loyalists in 1952, on January 23,1953, the PRC established the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Region and ended the native-chieftain system. That year, the Peoples Congress of Xishuangbanna created the New Tai Lue alphabet, based on the Tai Tham alphabet, Xishuangbanna was made an autonomous prefecture in 1955, but lost some territory on the creation of Jingdong Yi Autonomous County and Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County. Land reform started in earnest in January 1956, destroying the power of the village headmen, state-owned rubber plantations accounted for most of the regions wealth during the early PRC period. Xishuangbanna also received an influx of educated youth during the Down to the Countryside Movement of the Cultural Revolution, during this period Buddhist temples in Xishuangbanna were used as barns, only being restored to their original purpose in 1981. Shao Cunxin, former head of the Chieftains outer council and chief of Meng Peng, was the chief of the prefecture from 1955 to 1992. Xishuangbanna governs one county-level city and two counties, references, Xishuangbanna Gov, Citypopulation. de Yunnan Urban Populations. The prefecture has an area of 19,700 km2, Xishuangbanna is the home of the Dai people. The region sits at a lower altitude than most of Yunnan and it is fast becoming a sought after tourist destination. Xishuangbanna harbors much of the biodiversity of Yunnan, which much of the biodiversity of China. Its tropical climate and its remoteness until recent times accounts for this, passiflora xishuangbannaensis is a recently discovered passiflora species that is endemic to Xishuangbanna. With censuses in the year 2000 Xishuangbanna had 993,397 inhabitants with a density of 50.43 inhabitants per km². According to the 2000 national census, Dai people make up the plurality at 29. 89%, the Han and Dai lived mostly around the mountains and played a socially dominant role, while the non-Dai ethnic minorities lived in the basins and were politically disenfranchised. The Dai used to be called the Baiyi, and until a 1936 Guomindang reform, the PRC government decided that regardless of radical, the term Baiyi is pejorative, and adopted Dai instead. Ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna,2000 census In Jinghong City and Menghai County, the Jizuo 吉坐 are the largest Hani ethnic subgroup in Jinghong
7.
Time in China
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The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08,00, despite China spanning five geographical time zones. The official national standard time is called Beijing Time domestically and China Standard Time internationally, daylight saving time has not been observed since 1991. The special administrative regions maintain their own authorities, with standards called Hong Kong Time. These have been equivalent to Beijing time since 1992, in addition, a second time standard is used in Xinjiang, two hours less than the Beijing Time, which is called Ürümqi Time or Xinjiang Time. In 1912, the Republic of China established five standard time zones, namely Kunlun, Sinkiang-Tibet, Kansu-Szechwan, Chungyuan, and Changpai. The unified time zone policy was adopted by the Communist Party of China or the Central People’s Government some time between 27 September 1949 and 6 October 1949, the date is unknown. However, recent research suggests that the policy was most likely adopted on 27 September 1949, daylight saving time was observed from 1986 to 1991. In 1997 and 1999, Hong Kong and Macau were transferred to China from the United Kingdom and Portugal, although the sovereignty of the SARs belongs to China, they retain their own policies regarding time zones for historical reasons. Due to their locations, both are within the UTC+08,00 time zone, which is the same as the national standard — Beijing time. Xinjiang Time, also known as Ürümqi Time, is set due to its location in the westernmost part of the country. The time offset is UTC+06,00, which is two hours behind Beijing, and is shared with neighbouring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, timezone usage within Xinjiang is roughly split along the divide, with most ethnic Han following Beijing time. Some local authorities are now using both time standard side by side, the coexistence of two timezones within the same region causes some confusion among the local population, especially when inter-racial communication occur. Some ethnic Han in Xinjiang might not be aware of the existence of the UTC+6 Xinjiang Time because of language barrier, regardless, Beijing Time users in Xinjiang usually schedule their daily activities two hours later than those who live in eastern China. As such, stores and offices in Xinjiang are commonly opening from 10am to 7pm Beijing Time and this is known as the work/rest time in Xinjiang. Hong Kong maintains its own time authority after transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the Hong Kong Time is UTC+08,00 all year round, and daylight saving time has not been used since 1979. Greenwich Mean Time was adopted as the basis in 1904, before that, local time was determined by astronomical observations at Hong Kong Observatory using a 6-inch Lee Equatorial and a 3-inch Transit Circle. Macau maintains its own time authority after transfer of sovereignty in 1999, the Macau Standard Time is the time in Macau
8.
Telephone numbers in China
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Land lines and mobile telephone numbers have different structures, land lines use area codes, while mobile phones do not. Land line phone numbers in cities have 8 digits after the two digit area code, whereas in other areas no less than 7 digits after a three digit area code. Mobile phone numbers have 11 digits without area codes, dialing a land line from another land line within the same area does not require dialing the area code. When making a long distance call from a land line phone, the trunk prefix 0 must be dialed first, followed by the area code. Calling a mobile phone from a land line requires the addition of the 0 in front of the phone number if they are not in the same area as well. Mobile to land line calls require the 0 and the area code, Mobile to mobile calls does not require the 0. The 0 is never needed when dialing from outside mainland China, the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are not part of this numbering plan, and use the country codes +852 and +853, respectively. In addition, the PRC numbering plan reserves space for Taiwan, PRC claims Taiwan and several islands off Fujian which are under the control of the Republic of China. Currently phone numbers in these areas are under the international calling code of +886. In mainland China, mobile numbers have 11 digits in the format 1xx-xxxx-xxxx. As the fourth digit was introduced later, thus it is 0 for all old numbers, in further extensions, non-139,138,130 numbers were introduced. The fifth to seventh digit sometimes relates to age and location, even earlier, before GSM age, mobile phones had numbers starting with 9. Those numbers were eventually translated into 1390xx9…, where xx were local identifiers, Mobile service providers can be identified by the first three or four digits as follows, * Formerly China Unicom Note,170 and 171, are allocated to Mobile virtual network operator. Beijing –10 These are area codes for the municipalities of Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing, all of these cities have upgraded to an 8-number system in the past decade. The Peoples Republic of China reserves code 26 for Taipei, capital of Taiwan, which it unilaterally claims sovereignty over, all telephone numbers are 8-digit in these areas. Additionally, numbers starting 400 are shared-pay numbers, the provincial capital, Shenyang, and Tieling, Fushun, Benxi, uses code 24. The provincial capital of Nanjing uses code 25, all telephone numbers are 8-digit in Jiangsu. All area codes with prefix 6 were assigned in recent years and this prefix was reserved for Taiwan during the cold war years
9.
Tropical savanna climate
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Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories Aw and As. This latter fact is in direct contrast to a monsoon climate. In essence, a savanna climate tends to either see less rainfall than a tropical monsoon climate or have more pronounced dry seasons. There are generally four types of tropical climate,1. Distinct wet and dry seasons of relatively equal duration, most of the regions annual rainfall is experienced during the wet season and very little precipitation falls during the dry season. A lengthy dry season and a short wet season. This version features seven or more dry season months and five or less wet season months, there are variations within this version, On one extreme, the region receives just enough precipitation during the short wet season to preclude it from a semi-arid climate classification. This drier variation of the savanna climate is typically found adjacent to regions with semi-arid climates. On the other extreme, the features a lengthy dry season followed by a short. However, regions with this variation of the climate do not experience enough rainfall during the wet season to qualify as a monsoon climate. A lengthy wet season and a short dry season. This version features seven or more wet season months and five or less dry season months, a dry season with a noticeable amount of rainfall followed by a rainy wet season. Tropical savanna climates are most commonly found in Africa, Asia, the climate is also prevalent in sections of Central America, northern Australia and southern North America, specifically in sections of Mexico and the state of Florida in the United States. Most places that have this climate are found at the margins of the tropical zone. Similarly, the Caribbean coast, eastward from the Gulf of Urabá on the Colombia – Panamá border to the Orinoco river delta and this condition extends to the Lesser Antilles and Greater Antilles forming the Circumcaribbean dry belt. The length and severity of the dry season diminishes inland, at the latitude of the Amazon river—which flows eastward, East from the Andes, between the arid Caribbean and the ever-wet Amazon are the Orinoco river llanos or savannas, from where this climate takes its name. Sometimes As is used in place of Aw if the dry season occurs during the time of higher sun and this is the case in parts of Hawaii, East Africa, Sri Lanka and coastal regions of Northeastern Brazil, for instance. The difference between summer and winter in such locations is usually so slight that a distinction between an As and Aw climate is a quibble
10.
Chinese language
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Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language, the varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Min, and Yue. Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms, all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese is a form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six languages of the United Nations. The written form of the language, based on the logograms known as Chinese characters, is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is the spoken language and official in Hong Kong and Macau. It is also influential in Guangdong province and much of Guangxi, dialects of Southern Min, part of the Min group, are widely spoken in southern Fujian, with notable variants also spoken in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asia. Hakka also has a diaspora in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Shanghainese and other Wu varieties are prominent in the lower Yangtze region of eastern China, Chinese can be traced back to a hypothetical Sino-Tibetan proto-language. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty, as the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have sought to promulgate a unified standard. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, the earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty
11.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
12.
Thai language
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Thai, also known as Siamese or Central Thai, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people and the vast majority of Thai Chinese. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family, over half of the words in Thai are borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language, Thai also has a complex orthography and relational markers. Spoken Thai is mutually intelligible with Laotian, Thai is the official language of Thailand, natively spoken by over 20 million people. Standard Thai is based on the register of the classes of Bangkok. In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages, Isan, the language of the Isan region of Thailand, a collective term for the various Lao dialects spoken in Thailand that show some Siamese Thai influences, which is written with the Thai script. It is spoken by about 20 million people, Thais from both inside and outside the Isan region often simply call this variant Lao when speaking informally. Northern Thai, spoken by about 6 million in the independent kingdom of Lanna. Shares strong similarities with Lao to the point that in the past the Siamese Thais referred to it as Lao. Southern Thai, spoken by about 4.5 million Phu Thai, spoken by half a million around Nakhon Phanom Province. Phuan, spoken by 200,000 in central Thailand and Isan, Shan, spoken by about 100,000 in north-west Thailand along the border with the Shan States of Burma, and by 3.2 million in Burma. Lü, spoken by about 1,000,000 in northern Thailand, and 600,000 more in Sipsong Panna, Burma, nyaw language, spoken by 50,000 in Nakhon Phanom Province, Sakhon Nakhon Province, Udon Thani Province of Northeast Thailand. Song, spoken by about 30,000 in central and northern Thailand, Elegant or Formal Thai, official and written version, includes respectful terms of address, used in simplified form in newspapers. Rhetorical Thai, used for public speaking, religious Thai, used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks. Royal Thai, influenced by Khmer, this is used when addressing members of the family or describing their activities. Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts, street and Elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations. Rhetorical, religious, and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum, many scholars believe that the Thai script is derived from the Khmer script, which is modeled after the Brahmic script from the Indic family. However, in appearance, Thai is closer to Thai Dam script, the language and its script are closely related to the Lao language and script
13.
Lao language
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Lao, also referred to as Laotian, Thai Noi, is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand. The Lao language serves as an important lingua franca as the country of Laos consists of ethnic groups. Spoken Lao is mutually intelligible with the Thai language, Lao, like many languages in Laos, is written in the Lao script, an abugida. Although there is no standard, the Vientiane dialect has become the de facto standard. Oral history of the migrations is preserved in the legends of Khun Borom, Tai speakers in what is now Laos pushed out or absorbed earlier groups of Mon–Khmer and Austronesian languages. These Tai peoples are classified by the Lao government as Lao Loum or lowland Lao, Lao and Thai are also very similar and share most of their basic vocabulary, but differences in many basic words limit inter-comprehension. The Lao language consists primarily of native Lao words, because of Buddhism, however, Pali has contributed numerous terms, especially relating to religion and in conversation with members of the Sangha. Due to their proximity, Lao has influenced the Khmer and Thai languages. Formal writing has an amount of foreign loanwords, especially Pali and Sanskrit terms, much as Latin. For politeness, pronouns are used, plus ending statements with ແດ່ or ເດີ້, negative statements are made more polite by ending with ດອກ. The following are formal register examples, many consonants in Lao make a phonemic contrast between labialized and plain versions. The complete inventory of Lao consonants is as shown in the table below, hence, final /p/, /t/, and /k/ sounds are pronounced as, and respectively. * The glottal stop appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel, All vowels make a phonemic length distinction. The vowels are as shown in the table, Diphthongs are all centering diphthongs with falling sonority. There are six tones in unchecked syllables, that is. The number of tones is reduced to four in checked syllables. The only consonant clusters allowed are syllable initial clusters /kw/ or /kʰw/, any consonant may appear in the onset, but the labialized consonants do not occur before rounded vowels
14.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
15.
Tai peoples
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Tai peoples refers to the population of descendants of speakers of a common proto-Tai language, including sub-populations which no longer speak a Tai language. Some 8-10 million people in Northeast India descend from Ahom people but may have intermarried with others, additional tens of thousands in India speak Tai languages. Aside from India, Tai peoples can generally be identified through their language, speakers of the many languages in the Tai branch of the Tai–Kadai language family are spread over many countries in Southern China, Indochina and Northeast India. Unsurprisingly, there are terms used to describe the distinct Tai peoples of these regions. In China, Southwestern Tai peoples are called by the very large umbrella term Dai people, distinguishing them from the speakers from the Tai branch of Tai–Kadai. Endonyms outside of China vary greatly, most common are variants of Tai, which may be taken to mean human, afterwards, the language was then heavily influenced by local languages from Sino-Tibetan, Hmong–Mien, or other families, borrowing much vocabulary and converging typologically. Peoples speaking Tai languages migrated southward over the mountains into Southeast Asia, linguistic heritage is not synonymous with genetic heritage, because of language shift where populations learn new languages. Tai people tend to have high frequencies of Y-DNA haplogroup O2a with moderate frequencies of Y-DNA haplogroups O2a1. However, it is believed that the O1 Y-DNA haplogroup is associated with both the Austronesian people and the Tai, Y-DNA haplogroup O2a is found at high frequency among most Tai peoples, which is a trait that they share with the neighboring ethnic Austroasiatic peoples. Listed below are various lesser-known Tai peoples and languages, Bajia 八甲 -1,106 people in Mengkang Village 勐康村, Menga Township 勐阿镇, Menghai County, Yunnan, who speak a language closely related to Tai Lü. They are classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Dai people, in Menga Town, they are located in the village clusters of Mengkang 勐康, Hejian 贺建, and Najing 纳京. Zhang reports that there are 218 households and 816 people in a total of 14 villages, another group of Bajia people in Manbi Village 曼必村, Menghun Town 勐混镇, Menghai County, Yunnan has recently been classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Bulang people. Tai Beng 傣绷 - over 10,000 people in Yunnan Province, in China, they are located in Mengaba 勐阿坝, Mengma Town 勐马镇, Menglian County, Mangjiao Village 芒角村, Shangyun Township 上允乡, Lancang County, Cangyuan County, Gengma County, Ruili City. Han Tai -55,000 people in the Mengyuan County, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan, many Han Tai also speak Tai Lu, the local lingua franca. Huayao Tai -55,000 people in Xinping and Mengyang Counties and it may be similar to Tai Lu. Lao Ga -1,800 people mostly in Ban Tabluang, Ban Rai District, Uthai Thani Province and their language is reportedly similar to Lao Krang and Isan. Lao Krang -50, 000+ people in the provinces of Phichit, Suphan Buri, Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Phitsanulok, Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Pathom and Nakhon Sawan and their language is similar to Isan and Lao. Tai Krang is not to be confused with Tai Khang, a Tai-speaking group of Laos numbering 5,000 people
16.
Chiang Hung
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Chiang Hung or Keng Hung was one of the states of Shans under the suzerainty of Burma and China. Chiang Hung was inhabited mainly by Tai Lü people, a branch of the Shans or Tai and its capital was the city of Chiang Hung, modern Jinghong. The kingdom, in its most powerful state in the 13th century, covered an area before being overwhelmed by neighboring powers such as the Yuan dynasty, the Lanna kingdom. Chinese dynasties recognized the local leaders as tusi of Cheli, the history of the state can be divided in two periods, Early Period 1180 -1290 Chao Phaya Chueang 1180 -1192 Khai Loeung 1192 -12. In the early 13th century, King Inmueng greatly expanded Heokam territories, the tributaries of Heokam kingdom includes Kengtung, Ngoenyang, Meuang Thaeng, and Xieng Thong, making Heokam the sole leader of Tai kingdoms in the north. The Tai Lü people then began scattering throughout Heokam’s area of influence, however, Heokam then fell to the Mongol invasions in 1292 and became a tributary of Yuan dynasty. The Mongols granted the title Chao Saenwi Fa and the surname of Dao to the Kings of Chiang Hung, the power vacuum in the area was filled by newly formed Lanna kingdom evolving from Ngoenyang state. Mangrai the Great of Lanna put Chiang Hung under Lanna tributary, however, Lanna authority weakened in the early 16th century and Heokam enjoyed a brief period of autonomy until Lanna was conquered by Burmese Toungoo dynasty in 1558. The Burmese under Bayinnaung had already put the area under its control, the Burmese divided Heokam into twelve pans, translated by the Tai Lü people Sipsong Panna. Sipsong Panna served as the battlegrounds between Burma and the Qing dynasty, Heokam faced three centuries of Burmese rule. Today, Nan hosts the largest Tai Lue community in Thailand, also King Kawila of Chiangmai invaded Chiang Hung to get the people. The Tai Lue people and culture therefore surged into Lanna, a dynastic struggle in 1847 brought chaos to Chiang Hung. According to Siamese chronicles King Mahawan of Chiang Hung died in 1847, however, Mahawans uncle Prince Mahakhanan took the throne. Prince Sarawan fled to Dali in dismay and sought supports from Qing dynasty, Sarawan returned and killed Mahakhanan, Mahakhanans son, Prince Nokam, went to Ava to gain supports from Pagan Min. The Burmese invaded and took Chiang Hung - culminating a large Tai Lue emigration into Lanna, Prince Nokam was then crowned but was later killed by his own nobles. Ava then re-installed Sarawan as the king, sarawans brother, Oalnawudh, fled to Luang Prabang and proceeded to Bangkok in 1852. The Siamese nobles then saw this as an opportunity to control over Shan states and Chiang Hung. The Siamese invaded the north but were unable to penetrate the mountainous highlands, in 1855, another attempt was made to march to Chiang Hung but yet failed
17.
Chueang
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Chueang is the legendary hero of the dai people who ruled as first king of the Lü Kingdom establishing a capital at Jinghong. Chueang established the Mueang Ho Kham Chiang Rung, in Chinese Chueang is known as Pa Zhen. The kingdom did not last but formed the base of the Moeng Lü, located in front of the Ayutthaya Royal Palace, Wat Thammikaraja was established by Chueang, the son in law of King Sainam Phung before the Ayutthaya Period. The temple was known as Wat Mukkharat, and the name was later changed to honour of the founder. Although once large and grand, today’s temple is somewhat diminished, however, there are many important formations inside Wat Thammikaraja. The focus point of Wat Thammikaraja is a roofless viharn, with ten brick pillars, inside the temple you will discover a topless chedi surrounded by Angkorian style stucco lions, many which are in good condition, although some of their heads have been chopped off. There is no charge to enter Wat Thammikaraja, according to a local legend, the warrior king of Chueang brought his army from Southern China and defeated the evil chieftain, King Anga. The mighty battle was followed by a mighty feast, at hundreds of gigantic jars of wine were consumed. There is little evidence to say that this fanciful legend does not hold at least a little truth. Major wars have been fought on the plains over the centuries, as Lao, another local tradition states the jars were molded, using natural materials such as clay, sand, sugar, and animal products in a type of stone mix. This led the locals to believe the cave at Site 1 was actually a kiln, later on, his enemy sent two of his soldiers to seek help from Khun Lo of the Kingdom of Sip Song Chau Tai. Upon arrival Khun Lo led his army to fight a battle against Chueang. Chueang was killed on the battlefield in 1192, Chueang had extended his territory far and wide, encompassing Chiang Rung, Chiang Tung, Guangdong, Guangxi, Muang Kaeo, Muang Puan, Muang Sua, Shan and Lavo. As a consequence, these claimed that Chueang is their ancestor. Chueang appears in versions of the Phra Ruang myth. Phra Ruang, the City Father of Lavo, then a subject of the Khmer king, was obliged to send water-tribute to Angkor, instead of using normal jars, he devised big baskets to hold a large amount of water. Later Phra Ruang escaped to Sukhothai and ordained as a monk, the Khmer king sent a warrior after him. The Khmer warrior travelled underground and emerged at the temple where Phra Ruang was sweeping the ground, upon seeing the monk and not knowing Phra Ruang, the Khmer warrior asked where he could find Phra Ruang
18.
Lan Na
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The Lan Na or Lanna Kingdom, also known as Lannathai, was an Indianized state centered in present-day Northern Thailand from the 13th to 18th centuries. The Pali chronicles refers to the kingdom as Yonarattha or Yonkarattha or of Bingarattha, in the Chinese History of the Yuan it is called Pa-pai-si-fu, mentioned first in 1292. The cultural development of the people of the Northern Thai people had long before as successive kingdoms preceded Lan Na. As a continuation of the kingdom of Ngoenyang, Lan Na emerged strong enough in the 15th century to rival the Ayutthaya Kingdom, however, the Lanna Kingdom was weakened and became a tributary state of the Taungoo Dynasty in 1558. Lan Na was ruled by successive kings, though some enjoyed autonomy. The Burmese rule gradually withdrew but then resumed as the new Konbaung Dynasty expanded its influence, taksin of the Thonburi Kingdom finally conquered Lan Na in 1775 and broke it down into a number of tributary kingdoms. In 1262, Mangrai moved the capital from Ngoenyang to the newly founded Chiang Rai – naming the city after himself, Mangrai then expanded to the south and subjugated the Mon kingdom of Hariphunchai in 1281. Mangrai moved the capital several times, leaving Lamphun due to heavy flooding, he drifted until settling at and building Wiang Kum Kam in 1286/7, staying there until 1292 at which time he relocated to what would become Chiang Mai. He founded Chiang Mai in 1296, expanding it to become the capital of Lan Na, claimed territories of Mangrais Lan Na include modern northern Thailand provinces, Kengtung, Mong Nai, and Chiang Hung. Around 1311, Mangrai died and was succeeded by his second son Grama and he soon retired to Chiangrai and appointed his son Saen Phu as the Uparaja of Chiangmai. Mangrais youngest son, ruler of Mong Nai returned to claim the throne, Saen Phu and his brother Nam Thuem fled to their father in Chiangrai. Nam Tuam succeeded in driving out their uncle, restoring Saen Phu onto the throne in 1322 or 1324, Saen Phu founded the city of Chiang Saen in 1325 or 1328, before he died in 1334. His son Kham Fu replaced him but reigned only few years, before he was succeeded by his son Pha Yu, there he fortified the city and built Wat Phra Singh. Theravada Buddhism prospered in Lan Na during the reign of religious Kue Na who established the dhatu of Doi Suthep in 1386, Kue Na promoted the Lankawongse sect and invited monks from Sukhothai to replace the existing Mon Theravada that Lan Na inherited from Haripunchai. Lan Na enjoyed peace under Saenmuengma, the only disturbing event was the failed rebellion by his uncle Prince Maha Prommatat. Maha Prommatat requested aid from Ayutthaya, borommaracha I of Ayutthaya sent his troops to invade Lan Na but was repelled. This was the first armed conflict between the two kingdoms, Lan Na faced invasions from the newly established Ming Dynasty in the reign of Sam Fang Kaen. The Lan Na kingdom was strongest under Tilokkarat, Tilokkarat seized the throne from his father Sam Fang Kaen in 1441
19.
Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in Northern Thailand. It is 700 km north of Bangkok and is situated amongst the highest mountains in the country, the city sits astride the Ping River, a major tributary of the Chao Phraya River. Chiang Mai means new city and was so named because it became the new capital of the Lan Na kingdom when it was founded in 1296, succeeding Chiang Rai, the former capital founded in 1262. Chiang Mai gained prominence in the sphere in May 2006. Chiang Mai was one of three Thai cities contending for Thailands bid to host the World Expo 2020, ayutthaya, however, was the city ultimately chosen by the Thai Parliament to register for the international competition. Chiang Mai has positioned itself to become a Creative City and is considering applying for Creative City status with UNESCO, Chiang Mai was one of two tourist destinations in Thailand on TripAdvisors 2014 list of 25 Best Destinations in the World, where it stands at number 24. Chiang Mais historic importance is derived from its proximity to the Ping River. While officially the city of Chiang Mai only covers most parts of the Mueang Chiang Mai district with a population of 160,000, the Chiang Mai Metropolitan Area has a population of nearly one million people, more than half the total of Chiang Mai Province. The city is subdivided into four wards, Nakhon Ping, Srivijaya, Mengrai, the first three are on the west bank of the Ping River, and Kawila is on the east bank. Nakhon Ping district comprises the part of the city. Srivijaya, Mengrai, and Kawila consist of the west, south, the city center—within the city walls—is mostly within Srivijaya ward. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296 on the site of a city of the Lawa people called Wiang Nopburi. Chiang Mai succeeded Chiang Rai as the capital of the Lan Na kingdom, Pha Yu enlarged and fortified the city, and built Wat Phra Singh in honor of his father Kham Fu. The ruler was known as the chao, with the decline of the Lan Na Kingdom, the city lost importance and was occupied by the Burmese in 1556. Chiang Mai formally became part of Siam in 1775 by an agreement with Chao Kavila, because of Burmese counterattacks, Chiang Mai was abandoned between 1776 and 1791. Lampang then served as the capital of what remained of Lan Na, Chiang Mai then slowly grew in cultural, trading, and economic importance to its current status as the unofficial capital of Northern Thailand, second in importance only to Bangkok. The modern municipality dates to a district that was created in 1915. It was upgraded to a municipality on 29 March 1935, as published in the Royal Gazette, first covering just 17.5 km2, the city was enlarged to 40.2 km2 on 5 April 1983
20.
Mangrai
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King Mangrai, also known as Mengrai, was the 25th King of Ngoenyang and the 1st King of Lanna. He established a new city, Chiang Mai, as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, in 1259, Mangrai succeeded his father to become the first independent king of the unified Tai city states in northern Lanna and what is now northern Laos. Seeing the Tai states were disunited and in danger, Mangrai quickly expanded his kingdom by conquering Muang Lai, Chiang Kham, in 1262, he founded the city of Chiang Rai as his new capital in the Kok River basin. He also seems to have been operating around this time in the area of Fang in the Upper Kok Valley, in 1287, Mangrai first made peace between King Ngam Muang of Phayao and King Ram Khamhaeng of Sukhothai, who had seduced the formers queen. The three Kings then entered a Strong pact of friendship, while still living in the area of Fang he was visited by merchants from the Mon kingdom of Haripunchai. Hearing of the wealth of that kingdom, he determined to conquer it, as it was thought impossible to take the city by force, Mangrai sent a merchant named Ai Fa as a mole to gain the confidence of its King Yi Ba. In time, Ai Fa became the Chief Minister and managed to undermine the Kings authority, in 1291, with the people in a state of discontent, Mangrai defeated the Mon kingdom and added Haripunchai to his kingdom. Yi Ba, the last king of Hariphunchai, was forced to flee south to Lampang, after defeating the Hariphunchai kingdom, Mangrai decided to relocate his capital, and in 1294, Wiang Kum Kam was founded on the eastern bank of the Ping River. The site was plagued with floods, and a new site was several kilometres to the northwest at the foot of Doi Suthep. Construction of Chiang Mai began in 1296. and it has been the capital of the provinces more or less ever since. A few years later, Yi Bas son, King Boek of Lampang, King Mangrai and his second son, Prince Khram, led the defence against the Lampang army. Prince Khram defeated King Boek in personal combat on elephant-back at Khua Mung, King Boek fled by way of the Doi Khun Tan mountain range between Lamphun and Lampang, but he was caught and executed. King Mangrais troops occupied the city of Lampang, and King Yi Ba was made to further south. King Mangrais eldest son grew tired of waiting and tried to seize the throne and his attempt failed and he was executed, Mangrais second son, Khun Kham, was named to succeed his father. King Mangrai died in 1311 in Chiang Mai, according to tradition, Mangrais death was followed by period of confusion, with six kings ruling in the next eleven years. This could have been if the northern powers had not had their own troubles. Sukhothai to the south had also been weakened, not until the ascension of the Mangrais grandson, Kham Fu, in 1328 did the kingdom achieve the stability it had had during the lifetime of its founder. List of the Kings of Lanna
21.
Mong Mao
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The name of the main river in this region is the Nam Mao, also known as the Shweli River. The chronicle of this region, titled the Mong Mao Chronicle, was much later. Some scholars identify Mong Mao with the Kingdom of Pong, as well as with the kingdom of Luh Shwan mentioned in Chinese chronicles, Mong Mao arose in the power vacuum left after the Kingdom of Dali in Yunnan fell to the Mongol Yuan Dynasty around 1254. The Yuan ruled the region indirectly in what was known as the Native Chieftain System and this kingdom had asserted some unity over the diversity of ethnic groups residing along the southwest frontier of Yunnan. In 1448, a combination of Ming, Xishuangbanna, and other allied forces subjugated Mong Mao, the center of power shifted frequently between these smaller states or chieftainships. Sometimes they were unified under one leader, sometimes they were not. As the Shan scholar Sai Kam Mong observes, Sometimes one of these strove to be the leading kingdom and sometimes all of them were unified into one single kingdom. The capital of the kingdom shifted from place to place, introductory Sketch of the History of the Shans in Upper Burma and Western Yunnan. Jiang Yingliang Daizu Shi, Chengdu, Sichuan Renmin Chubanshe, kazhangjia, Z. Hemeng gumeng, Meng Mao gudai zhuwang shi. In Meng Guozhanbi ji Meng Mao gudai zhuwang shi, the Luchuan-Pingmian Campaigns, In the Light of Official Chinese Historiography. Sai Kam Mong The History and Development of the Shan Scripts, Chiang Mai, crucible of War, Burma and the Ming in the Tai Frontier Zone, by Jon Fernquest
22.
Kengtung
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Kengtung is a town in Shan State, Burma. It is the town of Kengtung Township. Kengtung is located on the National Highway 4 and at the AH2, the city is served by Kengtung Airport and it is home to the Technological University of Kengtung. Formerly located at the crossroads of the trade between China and Siam, Kengtung lost its importance owing to the isolation of the military-ruled Burmese state. The early history of Kengtung is made up of myths and legends, Kengtung, like other major towns in the Shan Plateau, was home to a Shan Saopha. Kengtung was the capital of the Kengtung State, and had a palace, the city was occupied by the Thai Phayap Army from 1942 until the end of the Second World War and became the headquarters of the Saharat Thai Doem territory. After the independence of Burma Kengtung suffered heavily from insurgency and military rule, the headquarters of the regional military command of the Tatmadaw is in the town. The largest, Naung Tung Lake, lies in the part of the city, followed by Naung Kham Lake. The town has an airport which offers domestic flights, Kengtung has a tropical wet and dry/ savanna climate with a pronounced dry season in the low-sun months, no cold season, wet season is in the high-sun months. Temperatures are very warm throughout the year, although the months are milder. There is a dry season and a summer wet season. Kengtung Township Kengtung District Forbes, Andrew, Henley, David, ASIN, B006GMID5 J. G. Scott, Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States. Sao Sāimöng Mangrāi, The Pādaeng Chronicle and the Kengtung State Chronicle Translated, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,1981 The Happy City, a 1959 film on a remote leper colony run by Father Cesare Columbo in Kengtung, Shan State pictures from Kengtung
23.
Toungoo
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Taungoo is a District level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar,220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industry is in products, with teak and other hardwoods extracted from the mountains. The city is known for its areca palms, to the extent that a Burmese proverb for unexpected good fortune is equated to a betel lover winning a trip to Taungoo. The city is famous in Burmese history for the Taungoo Dynasty which ruled the country for over 200 years between the 16th and 18th centuries, Taungoo was the capital of Burma in 1510–1539 and 1551–1552. Kaytumadi new city is the command of the southern command division region of Armed Forces Hanthawaddy United Football Club is based in Taungoo. Taungoo was founded in 1279 in the days of Pagan as part of frontier expansion southwards. After the fall of Pagan Empire in 1287, Taungoo came under the rule of Myinsaing Kingdom, in 1358, Toungoo successfully revolted and became independent until 1367 when it became a nominal part of the Ava Kingdom. Its rulers retained a degree of autonomy, playing larger Ava. In 1470, Ava put down another rebellion and made Sithu Kyawhtin, Sithu Kyawhtins grandson Mingyi Nyo became governor of Toungoo in 1485. Under Mingyi Nyos leadership, the principality grew powerful, in October 1510, Mingyi Nyo formally broke away from Ava and founded the Taungoo Kingdom. Mingyi Nyos successors Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung went on to found the largest empire in the history of south-east Asia, Taungoos stint as capital was short-lived, however. Tabinshwehti moved the capital to Pegu in 1539. The city briefly became capital of a rebellion in 1599 when viceroy Minye Thihathu II of Taungoo declared himself king. In December 1599, Taungoos forces in collaboration with the Arakanese armies aided by Portuguese mercenaries, the rebellious city state remained independent for another 10 years when Natshinnaung ascended the Taungoo throne in 1609. In the following year, King Anaukpetlun captured Taungoo and ended the long line of rulers. Although few visible remains survive, all four sides of the brick city wall remain from the dynastic period. The 9.6 m wide moat has largely dried up, except for a section on the eastern side, by the mid-19th century, Taungoo was governed by a local governor appointed by the Konbaung kings. The Taungoo District consisted of 52 wards, including todays Pyinmana regions, the district was cut in half after the Second Anglo-Burmese War
24.
Mekong
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The Mekong is a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia. It is the worlds 12th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia and its estimated length is 4,350 km, and it drains an area of 795,000 km2, discharging 475 km3 of water annually. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through Chinas Yunnan Province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, in 1995, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam established the Mekong River Commission to assist in the management and coordinated use of the Mekongs resources. In 1996 China and Myanmar became dialogue partners of the MRC, the extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a trade route between western China and Southeast Asia. The English name Mekong derives from a form of Thai. In Thai and Lao, mae nam is used for any major river, as such, Thai and Lao locals often refer to it in English as the River Khong. In Khmer, Mékôngk is itself glossed as mother of water, from mé and taking kôngk as a form of kôngkea. The local names for the river include, Burmese, မဲခေါင်မြစ်, IPA, Chinese, 加果空桑贡玛曲, 扎那曲 and 扎曲 Zā Qū, upper reaches, 澜沧江, 瀾滄江 Láncāng Jiāng, middle and lower reaches, Khmer, មេគង្គ Mékôngk, ទន្លេមេគង្គ Tônlé Mékôngk, ទន្លេធំ Tônlé Thum. Tai of Sipsong Panna, น้ำแม่ของ, น้ำของ, the Mekong Basin has one of the worlds largest and most productive inland fisheries. An estimated two million tonnes of fish are landed a year, in addition to almost 500,000 tonnes of aquatic animals. Aquaculture yields about two tonnes of fish a year. Hence, the lower Mekong basin yields about 4.5 million tonnes of fish, the total economic value of the fishery is between US$3.9 and US$7 billion a year. Wild capture fisheries alone have been valued at US$2 billion a year and this value increases considerably when the multiplier effect is included, but estimates vary widely. An estimated 2.56 million tonnes of fish and other aquatic animals are consumed in the lower Mekong every year. Aquatic resources make up between 47 and 80 percent of protein in rural diets for people who live in the Lower Mekong Basin. Fish are the cheapest source of protein in the region and any decline in the fishery is likely to significantly impact nutrition. Fisheries contribute significantly to a diversified livelihood strategy for many people, particularly the poor and they provide a principal form of income for numerous people and act as a safety net and coping strategy in times of poor agricultural harvests or other difficulties
25.
Pu'er City
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Puer is a prefecture-level city in southern Yunnan province, Peoples Republic of China. The name Puer dates back to 1729, but was changed to Simao in 1950 after the Communist Revolution, in 2007, the original name of Puer was restored. This change had an effect on the size of the official Puer tea production area, the urban administrative center of Puer is Simao District, which is also the former name of the prefecture-level city itself. A major downturn in the price of tea in 2007 caused severe distress in the area. The price of Puer has since recovered and Puer tea still contributes much to the income of the area, association football is the most popular sport in Puer. The largest sports venue in the city is the 15, 000-capacity Puer Stadium and it also shares borders with Vietnam, Laos, and Burma, being the only prefecture in Yunnan to border all three countries. As with much of the province, mountainous terrain dominates its administrative area, elevations range from 376 to 3,306 metres. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 24% in July to 69% in February, asian Highway Network AH3 China National Highway 213 Kunming–Bangkok Expressway Official website Tea, City Share Puer Name
26.
Mengla County
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Mengla County is a county under the jurisdiction of the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, in far southern Yunnan province, China. Meng is a variation of Mueang, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is located in Menglun in Mengla County, covering an area of more than 1000 ha. Over 13,000 species of plants are preserved in its 35 living collections. The last Indochinese tiger in the wild in China is believed to have been killed near Mengla in 2009, the perpetrator is believed to have been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for this. A tiny frog, Raorchestes menglaensis is only known from its type locality, Mengla has a borderline tropical wet and dry climate and a humid subtropical climate. The city has a humid climate with strong monsoonal influences. Summer is long and there is no winter as such, instead, there is a dry season. The coolest month is December, averaging 17.9 °C, while the warmest is June, at 26.4 °C, however, high temperatures reach their peak in April before the onset of the monsoon from the Indian Ocean. Nearest airport is Xishuangbanna Gasa China National Highway 213 Asian Highway Network AH3 Kunming-Bangkok Expressway Mueang Mengla County Official Website
27.
Menghai County
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Menghai County is a county under the jurisdiction of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. Meng is as variation of Mueang, EMBARGO, In once-booming tea region, a bitter reality
28.
Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
29.
Shan State
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Shan State is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total area of Burma. The state gets its name from the Shan people, one of ethnic groups that inhabit the area. Shan State is largely rural, with three cities of significant size, Lashio, Kengtung, and the capital, Taunggyi. Taungyyi is 150.7 km north east of the nations capital Naypyitaw, Shan State, with many ethnic groups, is home to several armed ethnic armies. Other areas are under the control of groups such as the Shan State Army. Shan State is the successor state to the Burmese Shan States. The first founding of Shan states inside the boundaries of Burma began during the Pagan Kingdom in the Shan Hills and accelerated after 1287. The most powerful Shan states were Mong Yang and Mong Kawng in present-day Kachin State, followed by Hsenwi, Hsipaw and Mong Mit in present-day northern Shan State. The newly founded Shan States were multi-ethnic, which included other ethnic minorities as the Chin, the Kachin, the Wa, the Taang, the Lisu, the Lahu, the Pa O. Although Burmanized Shans founded the Ava Kingdom that ruled central Burma, other Shan states, Mohnyin in particular, a Mohnyin-led Confederation of Shan States finally conquered Ava in 1527. In 1555, King Bayinnaung dislodged Shan king Sithu Kyawhtin from Ava, the Shan states were reduced to the status of governorships, but the Saophas were permitted to retain their royal regalia and their feudal rights over their own subjects. Bayinnaung introduced Burmese customary law and prohibited all human and animal sacrifices and he also required the sons of Saophas to reside in the Burmese kings palace, essentially hostages, in order to ensure the good conduct of their fathers, and to receive training in Burmese court life. Burmese kings continued this policy until 1885, when the fell to the British. The reach of the Burmese sovereign waxed and waned with the ability of each Burmese monarch, Shan states became briefly independent following the collapse of the first Toungoo dynasty, in 1599. The Restored Toungoo dynasty under King Nyaungyan and King Anaukpetlun recovered the Shan states, in the middle of the 18th century, the Burmese Konbaung dynastys reassertion of the easternmost boundaries of Burmese Shan States led to a war with China. It made four separate invasions of Burma from 1765 to 1769, the Burmese success in repelling a numerically far superior Chinese force laid the foundation for the present-day boundary between Burma and China. The present-day boundary of southern Shan State vis-a-vis Thailand was formed shortly after, Burma lost southern Lan Na in 1776 and northern Lan Na in 1786 to a resurgent Bangkok-based Siam, ending an over two-century Burmese suzerainty over the region
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Hengduan Mountains
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The Hengduan Mountains are group of mountain ranges in southwest China that connect the southeast portions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. The Hengduan Mountains are primarily large north-south mountain ranges that effectively separate lowlands in northern Myanmar from the lowlands of the Sichuan Basin and these rivers, the Yangtze, Mekong, and Salween, are recognized today as the Three Parallel Rivers UNESCO World Heritage Site. Additionally, some parts of eastern Kachin State in neighbouring Myanmar are considered part of the Hengduan group, the Hengduan Mountains are approximately 900 km long, stretching from 33°N to 25°N. Depending on extent of the definition, the Hengduan Mountains are also approximately 400 km wide under the narrowest definition, the area covered by these ranges roughly corresponds with the historical region known as Kham. The Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests is an ecoregion, in the Temperate coniferous forests Biome. The Hengduan Mountain system consists of mountain ranges, most of which run roughly north to south. These mountain ranges, in turn, can be divided into various subranges. The individual ranges of the Hengduan are separated by river valleys that serve as the headwaters for many of Southeast Asias great rivers. The core of the Hengduan Mountains can be divided into four major ranges, the westernmost primary range of the Hengduan runs north-south between the Salween and Mekong Rivers. The northern half of range, found in the Tibet Autonomous Region, is called the Taniantaweng Mountains while the southern half. A major subrange along this system is the Meili Snow Mountains and their highest peak, moving eastward, the next major subsection of the Hengduan Mountains is the range running between the Mekong and Yangtze Rivers. The northernmost parts of this range are called the Mangkam Mountains, the section is known as the Ninchin Mountains. The Yulong Mountains are a subrange of this system and the highest point here is Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the third primary component of the Hengduan ranges is the section running between the Yangtze and Yalong Rivers. This section is known for almost its entire length as the Shaluli Mountains except for the northernmost subrange that is called the Chola Mountains, the highest point of this entire section is the Genyen Massif. The last, or easternmost, of the Hengduan core ranges is the Daxue Mountains between the Yalong River and Dadu River and this range is dominated by Mount Gongga, the highest peak in the entire Hengduan group as well as the highest peak east of the Himalayas. In addition to the four systems, described above, some adjacent ranges are also sometimes included as part of the Hengduan group. To the east, the Qionglai Mountains and the Min Mountains are sometimes included as part of the Hengduan Mountains as these two ranges from the edges of the Tibetan Plateau. Part of the mountains are within the Nujiang Langcang Gorge alpine conifer, elevations range from 1,300 to 6,000 metres
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Laos
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Present day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao, which existed for four centuries as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Due to Lan Xangs central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom was able to become a hub for overland trade. After a period of conflict, Lan Xang broke off into three separate kingdoms— Luang Phabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three territories uniting to form what is now known as the country of Laos and it briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a civil war ended the monarchy. Laos is a one-party socialist republic and it espouses Marxism and is governed by the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party, in which the party leadership is dominated by military figures. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnam Peoples Army continue to have significant influence in Laos, other large cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse. Laos is a country with the politically and culturally dominant Lao people making up approximately 60 percent of the population. Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other hill tribes, accounting for 40 percent of the population, live in the foothills. It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, East Asia Summit, Laos applied for membership of the World Trade Organization in 1997, on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership. According to the anti-corruption non-governmental organisation Transparency International, Laos remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world and this has deterred foreign investment and created major problems with the rule of law, including the nations ability to enforce contract and business regulation. This has contributed to a third of the population of Laos currently living below the poverty line. Laos has an economy, with one of the lowest annual incomes in the world. In 2014, the country ranked 141st on the Human Development Index, according to the Global Hunger Index, Laos ranks as the 29th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation. Laos has also had a human rights record. In the Lao language, the name is Muang Lao or Pathet Lao. Stone artefacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos, archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC
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Monsoon
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Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally changing pattern, although technically there is also a dry phase. The term is sometimes used for locally heavy but short-term rains. The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the West African and Asia-Australian monsoons, the inclusion of the North and South American monsoons with incomplete wind reversal has been debated. The south-west monsoon winds are called Nairutya Maarut in India, the English monsoon came from Portuguese monção, ultimately from Arabic mawsim and/or Hindi mausam, perhaps partly via early modern Dutch monsun. Strengthening of the Asian monsoon has been linked to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau after the collision of the Indian sub-continent and Asia around 50 million years ago. Because of studies of records from the Arabian Sea and that of the wind-blown dust in the Loess Plateau of China, testing of this hypothesis awaits deep ocean sampling by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. The monsoon has varied significantly in strength since this time, largely linked to climate change. A study of marine plankton suggested that the Indian Monsoon strengthened around 5 million years ago, then, during ice periods, the sea level fell and the Indonesian Seaway closed. When this happened, cold waters in the Pacific were impeded from flowing into the Indian Ocean and it is believed that the resulting increase in sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean increased the intensity of monsoons. Five episodes during the Quaternary at 2.22 Ma,1.83 Ma,0.68 Ma,0.45 Ma and 0.04 Ma were identified which showed a weakening of Leeuwin Current. The weakening of the LC would have an effect on the sea surface temperature field in the Indian Ocean, thus these five intervals could probably be those of considerable lowering of SST in the Indian Ocean and would have influenced Indian monsoon intensity. The impact of monsoon on the weather is different from place to place. In some places there is just a likelihood of having a more or less rain. In other places, quasi semi-deserts are turned into green grasslands where all sorts of plants. The Indian Monsoon turns large parts of India from a kind of semi-desert into green lands, see photos only taken 3 months apart in the Western Ghats. In places like this it is crucial for farmers to have the right timing for putting the seeds on the fields, Monsoons are large-scale sea breezes which occur when the temperature on land is significantly warmer or cooler than the temperature of the ocean. These temperature imbalances happen because oceans and land absorb heat in different ways, in contrast, dirt, sand, and rocks have lower heat capacities, and they can only transmit heat into the earth by conduction and not by convection. Therefore, bodies of water stay at an even temperature
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Wet season
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The rainy season, or monsoon season, is the time of year when most of a regions average annual rainfall occurs. It usually lasts one or more months, the term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the tropics and subtropics, under the Köppen climate classification, for tropical climates, a wet season month is defined as a month where average precipitation is 60 millimetres or more. In contrast to areas with savanna climates and monsoon regimes, Mediterranean climates have wet winters, some areas with pronounced rainy seasons will see a break in rainfall mid-season, when the intertropical convergence zone or monsoon trough moves to higher latitudes in the middle of the warm season. When the wet season occurs during a season, or summer, precipitation falls mainly during the late afternoon. In the wet season, air quality improves, fresh water quality improves, rivers overflow their banks, and some animals retreat to higher ground. Soil nutrients diminish and erosion increases, the incidence of malaria increases in areas where the rainy season coincides with high temperatures, particularly in tropical areas. Some animals have adaptation and survival strategies for the wet season, often, the previous dry season leads to food shortages in the wet season, as the crops have yet to mature. In areas where the rainfall is associated with a wind shift. Further, much of the total each day occurs in the first minutes of the downpour. However, since rain forests have rainfall spread evenly through the year and it is different for places with a Mediterranean climate. This shift in the jet stream brings much of the precipitation to the region. The peninsula of Italy has weather very similar to the western United States in this regard, areas with a savanna climate in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Darfur, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Botswana have a distinct rainy season. Also within the climate regime, Florida and South Texas have a rainy season. Northern Guyana has two wet seasons, one in spring and the other in early winter. In western Africa, there are two rainy seasons across southern sections, but only one across the north. Within the Mediterranean climate regime, the west coast of the United States and the Mediterranean coastline of Italy, Greece, similarly, the wet season in the Negev desert of Israel extends from October through May. At the boundary between the Mediterranean and monsoon climates lies the Sonoran desert, which receives the two rainy seasons associated with each climate regime, the wet season is known by many different local names throughout the world
34.
Kunming
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Kunming is the capital of and largest city in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Kunming is also called the Spring city due to its weather, the headquarters of many of Yunnans large businesses are in Kunming. It was important during World War II as a Chinese military center, American air base, located in the middle of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, Kunming is located at an altitude of 1,900 metres above sea level and at a latitude just north of the Tropic of Cancer. Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a commercial district, residential. The city has an observatory, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University, Yunnan Normal University. On the outskirts is a bronze temple, dating from the Ming dynasty. Its economic importance derives from its geographical position, positioned near the border with Southeastern Asian countries, serving as a transportation hub in Southwest China, linking by rail to Vietnam and by road to Burma and Laos. This positioning also makes it an important trade center in this region of the nation and it also houses some manufacturing, chiefly copper, though some other chemicals, machinery, textiles, paper and cement take key. Though having a nearly 2,400 year history, its prosperity dates only from 1910. The city has continued to develop rapidly under Chinas modernization efforts, Kunmings streets have widened while office buildings and housing projects develop at a fast pace. Kunming has been designated a special tourism center and as such sports a proliferation of high-rises, Kunming will be the hub and terminus for the Pan Asia High Speed Network using high speed trains to connect China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Because of the establishment of National Southwestern Associated University, Kunming was usually regarded as the bulwark of modern China democracy during The Second Sino-Japanese War, Kunming long profited from its position on the caravan roads through to South-East Asia, India and Tibet. Early townships in the edge of Lake Dianchi can be dated back to 279 BC. Early settlements in the area around Lake Dian date back to Neolithic times, the Dian Kingdom, whose original language was likely related to Tibeto-Burman languages was also established near the area. Dian was subjugated by the Chinese Han dynasty under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in 109 BC, the Han dynasty incorporated the territory of the Dian Kingdom into their Yizhou Commandery, but left the King of Dian as the local ruler. During the Sui dynasty, two expeditions were launched against the area, and it was renamed Kunzhou in Chinese sources. Founded in 765, Kunming was known to the Chinese as Tuodong city in the Kingdom of Nanzhao during the 8th and 9th centuries, Tuodong later became part of the successor Kingdom of Dali. Eventually this changed when Tuodong came under the control of the Yuan dynasty invasion of the southwest in 1252–1253, in 1276 it was founded by the Mongol rulers as Kunming County and became the provincial capital of Yunnan
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Shanghai
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Shanghai is the most populous city proper in the world, with a population of more than 24 million as of 2014. As one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the Peoples Republic of China, it is a financial centre and transport hub. Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China, Shanghai sits on the edge of the mouth of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the eastern Chinese coast. The municipality borders the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north, south and west, as a major administrative, shipping and trading city, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to trade and recognition of its favourable port location and economic potential. The city was one of five treaty ports forced open to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the First Opium War, the subsequent 1842 Treaty of Nanking and 1844 Treaty of Whampoa allowed the establishment of the Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession. The city then flourished as a center of commerce between China and other parts of the world, and became the financial hub of the Asia-Pacific region in the 1930s. However, with the Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries, and the citys global influence declined. In the 1990s, the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, aiding the return of finance. The two Chinese characters in the name are 上 and 海, together meaning Upon-the-Sea. The earliest occurrence of this dates from the 11th-century Song Dynasty, at which time there was already a river confluence. There are disputes as to exactly how the name should be understood, Shanghai is officially abbreviated 沪 in Chinese, a contraction of 沪渎, a 4th- or 5th-century Jin name for the mouth of Suzhou Creek when it was the main conduit into the ocean. This character appears on all motor vehicle license plates issued in the municipality today, another alternative name for Shanghai is Shēn or Shēnchéng, from Lord Chunshen, a third-century BC nobleman and prime minister of the state of Chu, whose fief included modern Shanghai. Sports teams and newspapers in Shanghai often use Shen in their names, such as Shanghai Shenhua F. C. Huating was another early name for Shanghai. In AD751, during the dynasty, Huating County was established at modern-day Songjiang. Today, Huating appears as the name of a hotel in the city. The city also has various nicknames in English, including Pearl of the Orient, during the Spring and Autumn period, the Shanghai area belonged to the Kingdom of Wu, which was conquered by the Kingdom of Yue, which in turn was conquered by the Kingdom of Chu. During the Warring States period, Shanghai was part of the fief of Lord Chunshen of Chu and he ordered the excavation of the Huangpu River. Its former or poetic name, the Chunshen River, gave Shanghai its nickname of Shen, two important events helped promote Shanghais development in the Ming dynasty
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Chengdu
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Chengdu, formerly romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which has served as capital of Chinas Sichuan province. It is one of the three most populous cities in Western China, as of 2014 the administrative area houses 14,427,500 inhabitants, with an urban population of 10,152,632. At the time of the 2010 census, Chengdu was the 5th-most populous agglomeration in China, with 10,484,996 inhabitants in the area including Xinjin County. The surrounding Chengdu Plain is also known as the Country of Heaven and its prehistoric settlers included the Sanxingdui culture. It was the capital of Liu Beis Shu during the Three Kingdoms Era, after the fall of Nanjing to the Japanese in 1937, Chengdu briefly served as the capital of China. It is now one of the most important economic, financial, commercial, cultural, transportation, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is one of the 30 busiest airports in the world, and Chengdu Railway Station is one of the six biggest in China. Chengdu also hosts many international companies and more than 12 consulates, more than 260 Fortune 500 companies have established branches in Chengdu. In 2006, China Daily named it Chinas 4th-most-livable city, the name Chengdu is attested in sources going back to shortly after its founding. The present spelling is based on pinyin romanization, its Postal Map romanization was Chengtu and its former status as the seat of the Chengdu Prefecture prompted Marco Polos spellings Sindafu, Sin-din-fu, &c. and the Protestant missionaries romanization Ching-too Foo. Although the official name of the city has remained constant, the area has sometimes taken other names. The city logo adopted in 2011 is inspired by the Golden Sun Bird excavated from the Jinsha Ruins, archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui and Jinsha sites have established that the area surrounding Chengdu was inhabited over four thousand years ago. At the time of Chinas Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, in the early 4th century BC, the ninth king of Shus Kaiming dynasty relocated from nearby Pi County, giving his new capital the name Chengdu. Shu was conquered by Qin in 316 BC and the settlement refounded by the Qin general Zhang Yi, under the Han, the brocade produced at Chengdu became fashionable and was exported throughout China. A Brocade Official was established to oversee its quality and supply, after the fall of the Eastern Han, Liu Bei ruled Shu, the southwestern of the Three Kingdoms, from Chengdu. His minister Zhuge Liang called the area the Land of Abundance, under the Tang, Chengdu was considered the second most prosperous city in China after Yangzhou. Both Li Bai and Du Fu lived in the city, Li Bai praised it as lying above the empyrean. The citys present Caotang was constructed in 1078 in honor of an earlier, more humble structure of that name erected by Du Fu in 760, the Taoist Qingyang Gong was built in the 9th century. Chengdu was the capital of Wang Jians Former Shu from 907 to 925, the Later Shu was founded by Meng Zhixiang in 934, with its capital at Chengdu
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Luang Prabang
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The centre of the city consists of four main roads and is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong River. Luang Prabang is well known for its numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries, every morning, hundreds of monks from the various monasteries walk through the streets collecting alms. The city was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name and it had also been known by the ancient name of Chiang Thong. It was the capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is part of Luang Prabang District of Luang Prabang Province and is the capital and it lies approximately 300 km north of the capital Vientiane. Currently, the population of the city as a whole is roughly 56,000 inhabitants with the UNESCO protected site being inhabited by around 24,000, Muang Sua was the old name of Luang Prabang following its conquest in 698 CE by a Tai prince, Khun Lo. Khun Lo had been awarded the town by his father, Khun Borom, who is associated with the Lao legend of the creation of the world, Khun Lo established a dynasty whose fifteen rulers reigned over an independent Muang Sua for nearly a century. In the second half of the 8th century, Nan-chao intervened frequently in the affairs of the principalities of the middle Mekong Valley, Nan-chao princes or administrators replaced the aristocracy of Tai overlords. In the meantime, the Khmers founded an outpost at Xay Fong near Vientiane, chanthaphanit, the local ruler of Xay Fong, moved north to Muang Sua and was accepted peacefully as ruler after the departure of the Nan-chao administrators. Chanthaphanit and his son had long reigns, during which the became known by the Tai name Xieng Dong Xieng Thong. The dynasty eventually became involved in the squabbles of a number of principalities, Khun Chuang, a warlike ruler who may have been a Kammu tribesman, extended his territory as a result of the warring of these principalities and ruled from 1128 to 1170. Khun Chuang, a single family ruled over a far-flung territory, at some point, Theravada Buddhism was subsumed by Mahayana Buddhism. Xieng Dong Xieng Thong experienced a period of Khmer suzerainty under Jayavarman VII from 1185 to 1191. By 1180 the Sipsong Panna had regained their independence from the Khmers, however, Xieng Dong Xieng Thong in 1353 became the capital of the Lan Xang kingdom. The capital name was changed to Luangphabang, where it was kept, the capital was moved in 1560 by King Setthathirath I to Vientiane, which remains the capital today. In 1707, Lan Xang fell apart because of a dynastic struggle, when France annexed Laos, the French recognised Luang Prabang as the royal residence of Laos. Eventually, the ruler of Luang Prabang became synonymous with the figurehead of Laos, when Laos achieved independence, the king of Luang Prabang, Sisavang Vong, became the head of state of the Kingdom of Laos. The town was the scene of events during and in the aftermath of World War II
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Jinghong travel guide from Wikivoyage