Mae Salong

The origins of the Mae Salong community go back to the end of the Chinese Civil War. In October 1949, after Mao Zedong's communist party victory in China, the defeated Kuomintang (KMT) armies led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan, except for the 3rd and 5th Regiments of the 93rd Division, which refused to surrender. Fighting between the communist and KMT troops continued in some remote parts of China, including Yunnan in the south-west. When the communists marched into the provincial capital of Kunming in January 1950, 12,000 troops from the 3rd and 5th Regiments, commanded respectively by Generals Lee Wen-huan (Li Wenhuan) and Tuan Shi-wen, fought their way out of Yunnan and escaped into Burma's jungles. The ending of the Korean War in 1953 was not the end of the KMT's fight against the communist Chinese and Burmese armies, which continued for many years, supported by Washington and Taiwan and subsequently funded by the KMT's involvement in the Golden Triangle's drug trade. Refuge in Thailand In 1961, Tuan led some battle-weary KMT troops out of Burma to a mountainous sanctuary in Mae Salong in Thailand. The Thai government allowed them to stay on the understanding that they would assist in policing the area against communist infiltration. As a result, most of the village's inhabitants today are ethnic Chinese and direct descendants of those KMT soldiers. At the same time, General Lee of the 3rd Regiment established his headquarters at Tham Ngob, north-west of Chiang Mai. The KMT army was renamed "Chinese Irregular Forces" (CIF) and was placed directly under the control of a special task force, code-named "04", commanded by Bangkok. Fierce battles were fought in the mountains of Doi Laung, Doi Yaw, Doi Phamon, and Mae Aabb, and the communist uprising was successfully countered. The bloodiest operation was launched on 10 December 1970, a five-year-long campaign that claimed over lives, many from landmines. It was not until 1982 that the soldiers were able to give up their arms and were discharged to settle down to a normal life at Mae Salong. As a reward for their service, the Thai government gave citizenship to most of the KMT soldiers and their families. Only in the late 1980s, after Khun Sa's army was finally routed and pushed over the border into Myanmar by the Thai military, was the Thai government able to make any headway in taming the region – part of which involved crop substitution plans and giving the area a new name. Santikhiri meaning "hill of peace" was introduced by the Thai government in an effort to disassociate the area from its former image as an established opium zone. Since 1994, Mae Salong has capitalised on its unique history and has developed into a tourist attraction, with its narrow winding streets lined with inns, noodle shops and teashops. As a result, Mae Salong has become one of Thailand's top ten destinations among backpackers today. The former soldiers had settled down, some of them having married ethnic Chinese brides who crossed the border after the fighting stopped, and others having married local Thais. The old soldiers carry on their normal lives peacefully now, but still retain their Chinese identity; the main language spoken remains Yunnanese. Among their local-born descendants, some have adopted a Thai identity and no longer identify with their Chinese ancestry. As of 2007, General Lue Ye-tien, aged 90 and Tuan's former right-hand man, is the leader of the group, after taking over the leadership on Tuan's death in 1980. Mae Salong was chosen as the filming location for the subplot The Fortitude of the Buddha in the 2005 film 3 Needles. Although the narrative is supposed to be set in the rural southern province of Yunnan, director Thom Fitzergald stated that difficulties in obtaining permission from the Censorship Authority resulted in the decision to shoot the segment in Mae Salong instead. The segment, which stars Lucy Liu as a heavily pregnant blood merchant, depicts the blood-selling scandals in China from the 1980s-2000s in which hundreds of thousands of people, mostly rural poor, contracted HIV through government sponsored campaigns to increase blood supplies. The traditional costume of the Akha people features heavily in the segment, however the blood selling scandals mostly impacted rural villagers in Henan province. ==Geography and climate==

Mae Salong is a hilltop village in the Mae Fa Luang district of Thailand's Chiang Rai Province, about from Chiang Rai. Mae Salong is on the highest peak of the Doi Mae Salong range of mountains, at an elevation of 1,134 metres (3,722 ft) above sea level. It has an alpine-like climate, with crisp cool air all year round and chilly in the winter months of November through February. Mae Salong is accessible via two routes – Route 1130 from Ban Basang and Route 1234 from the south, which until being paved were only accessible by pack horses. Now regular minibus services, running from 06:00–13:00, are available from Chiang Rai to Mae Salong. Mae Salong has long been the home of many hill tribes such as the Akha, Yao, Karen, and Hmong that originated from southern China and Myanmar. Each tribe has its own language, and follows animist customs and practices. Living among the native inhabitants are the ethnic Chinese, who form the majority of Mae Salong's estimated population of 20,000. ==Landmarks and attractions==

Mae Salong is noted for its high mountain oolong, a high-grade traditional Chinese tea, which makes up about 80% of all tea production in Chiang Rai. The province produces about of tea a year. The combination of climate and soil conditions at Mae Salong is ideal for growing high quality oolongs ("black dragon" in Chinese). Such teas are cultivated at elevations ranging from 1,200 to 1,400 metres (3,960–4,620 ft). In 2005, Mae Salong was selected by the Tourism and Sports Ministry as an OTOP ("One Tambon One Product") tourism village in recognition of its fine oolong tea. From 28 December to 2 January each year, Mae Salong hosts the annual cherry blossoms festival, which is organised by Mae Salong Nok Tambon Administration Organisation in association with Mae Fa Luang District. The festival celebrates the culture of the hill tribe people from the Chiang Rai area, and includes a handicraft sale, a light and sound show, a parade by the tribespeople, and a beauty contest. General Tuan Shi-wen died in 1980, and was buried in a pagoda-like tomb on a hilltop reached via a 300-metre (984 ft) climb. From the top, there is a panoramic view of the village. Phra Boromathat Chedi is a chedi built on a hill near the village, in honour of the late Princess Mother, Srinagarindra. There is an excellent view of the Myanmar frontier from the top, an area that was off-limits when it was under the control of the warlord Khun Sa. ==See also==