A Yunnan village
Founded by Kuomintang soldiers.
Carlos Adampol Galindo from DF, México — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Valanagut — CC0 · Wichian Ratanatongchai — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wichian Ratanatongchai — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wichian Ratanatongchai — CC BY-SA 3.0
A Chinese village in the mountains north of Mae Hong Son, around a small, quiet lake, founded in the early 1950s by soldiers of China's Kuomintang army who withdrew from Yunnan after the Chinese revolution and settled here with their families. It was called Mae Aw, then renamed Ban Rak Thai, the village that loves Thailand. Its people still speak the Yunnan dialect and keep its food and customs. There are earthen houses in Yunnan style, small guesthouses and restaurants around the lake, and tea plantations on the hills around, as the village is one of Thailand's oolong-growing centres. Visitors sit in tea shops to taste it the Chinese way, and eat Yunnan dishes such as hand-pulled noodles and steamed buns. Early in the morning mist floats on the lake between the houses. Entry is free, and tea is fairly priced. Some Yunnan dishes contain pork, so ask before ordering; there are vegetable and noodle dishes. The village is under two kilometres from the Burmese border, which cannot be crossed here, so keep away from the border posts. The finest months are November to February, with cool misty mornings; March and April are the smoky burning season in the hills. It is about ten minutes from Pang Ung lake, so combine them in one morning, or stay a night in the village to see the mist on the lake at dawn.
Founded by Kuomintang soldiers.
Oolong on the hills.
Among earthen houses.
About 45 km north of Mae Hong Son town, near the Burmese border
Kuomintang soldiers who withdrew from Yunnan founded it in the 1950s and settled here; their descendants still grow tea.