New Mandala

 
Last week I posted about the Sino-Thai “tree of friendship” planted by Thailand’s Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in the Yunnanese border town of Jie Gao.  That tree is part of a large Dai-Jingpo cultural park that is situated a few hundred metres back from the Sino-Burmese frontier.
Today, I follow that initial post about the cultural [...]

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In Kachin (Jinghpaw, Jingpo) areas of northern Burma and southwestern China there are many grand Manau grounds, replete with their distinctive poles.  As I continue my series of posts on the Yunnan Fringe I will be providing information and analysis on the Manau culture of a border county in western Yunnan. 
 
The pictured Manau posts are part of what is called the [...]

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Riding the elevator up to my hotel room I must admit I did a double take.  The sign was written in Thai but there I was in a town in Yunnan.  Confused, I read on…

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One of the border towns in southwestern Yunnan, the trading outpost of Jie Gao, saw a visit from Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in March 2003.  This was part of a five-day country-wide tour of Burma.  At the time, there was a report of resentment on the Shan side of the border resulting from heavy-handed Burmese security operations. 
As [...]

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Thanks to everyone who has written to me about my recent foray to Yunnan.  Over the coming weeks I hope to regularly post my reflections and material from this trip.  As always, your thoughts and comments are most welcome.
I will start with the border.
In small towns dotted along the Sino-Burmese frontier, the line between the [...]

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In Southeast Asian Studies at the ANU there is a long history of research and exploration in those parts of southern China that are most closely tied to their Southeast Asian neighbours. 
Over the past few weeks I have been fortunate to spend some quality time in the borderlands of southwestern Yunnan.  This short trip, generously [...]

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