Shan people

The Shan (Tai Yai), 5 to 6 million people and Myanmar's largest minority, umbrella all Tai speakers of the Shan hills and beyond. Theravada Buddhists with Tai folk religion beneath, they farm valley rice, tea and opium pasts under sawbwa princes whose mussel-shell courts once rivalled Ava. Successive Burmese, British and junta regimes ruled, taxed and burned the hills; Shan armies, ceasefire and rebel alike, still hold much of the east. Taunggyi markets, Kyaing Tong temples and the Poi Sang Long novice parades keep Tai custom bright. Five to six million Shan fill the eastern hills. Ten percent of Myanmar speaks Tai dialects. Umbrella Tai groups share the festivals. Theravada monks bless every Shan New Year. Folk religion still heals beside the temples. No census since 1935 has counted the Shan fully. Burma's nation still debates the Shan place. Shan script schools, exile radios and the tea houses of three countries keep one umbrella people dry.