Trip to the Institute of Tropical Botany
at Xishuangbanna Yunnan

5. We are in a Dai Village

Boss Yang makes a videotape of our visit to this Dai village. Although much of the ancient history of the Dai people has been lost, there are unquestionable links between them and Thailand people. Tribute from the Dai chieftains to the Chinese government began in the second century BC. For 400 years the Bai Kingdoms of Nanzhao and Dali controlled Xishaungbanna. The area became a permanent vassal of China in the 12th century. Chinese control weakened in the 19th century and Britain occupied it with 500 troops. France and Britain then left and used it as a buffer between their colonies.