Famous High land region of Myanmar or Shan State

        Have you heard about Shan State, which is located in the eastern part of Myanmar and it is the border of China, Laos and Thailand. Shan State is the largest of 14 divisions by land area and it is divided into Eastern, Southern and Northern Shan State. The state is largely rural with many cities and it is inhabited by the caring ethnic group called Shan people and a few other ethnic groups.

Most Shan people speak Shan language and are bilingual in Myanmar (Burmese). The majority of them are Buddhist and their main occupation is agriculture. Because of its fine climate and temperature, Shan state is suitable for planting, so it has been famous for its garden produce of all sort of fresh fruits and vegetables. Another interesting thing is about itinerant market whereyou couldn’t experience in other states. This means people from many small villages travel to other large towns once a week to make business even though large towns have permanent markets. This is how Shan people are innocent and hardworking. There are also some border-trading centers along the Shan State border and neighbor countries. Muse, which is the important trading center between Myanmar and China, is the biggest border-trading center. Mong Hsu Stone Tract, which is located in the eastern Shan state, has produced some of the finest rubies and sapphires in the world and is one of the ruby capitals of the world.  In Northern Shan state, there is also a waterfall called Marnsarm Fall, which is used for hydroelectric power and it generates enough power for many surrounding towns.

            Another unique thing about Shan state is their ways to row boats. Shan people use their leg to swing the paddle instead of their hand. This is one of the main attraction to tourist to Shan state. While standing on the boat, they swing the paddle without holding any thing but the paddle. This seems very difficult for me to balance.

Actually, Shan state is covered with dense evergreen forest, pine, streams and waterfalls, making the country a natural beautiful land and scenery. Because of being surrounded by green high mountains and hills, it has a cold weather and it became a nice place for summer guests. One of the most popular tourist attractions of the world is in the Southern Shan state called Inle Lake. It is unique for floating villages, floating vegetable gardens, silk weaving and its fantastic one legged-rowers. There are also many ancient places and Pindaya limestone cave consists of thousands of Buddha images.

Pi Mai Tai (Shan new year festival), Phaungtawoo Pagoda festival and hot air balloon festival are the most famous festivals in Shan state and they held once a year. Shan people are hardworking in doing business the whole year, however they stop working during these festival seasons. Shan people wear their Shan traditional costumes during the festivals and Shan ladies with pinkish cheeks are really pretty. Shan ladies are famous for their hard working ethic as well as their beauty. But for more detail you can go to Shan state and check it out  :)