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Chiang Mai is Thailand’s principal northern city. Chiang Mai is the pro-vincial capital of a largely mountainous province, also called Chiang Mai, which is some 20,000 square kilometres in area. |
| Chiang Mai city is 700 kilometres north of Bangkok, was founded in 1296, and is located in a fertile valley some 300 matres above sea level. Chiang Mai was the capital of Lanna Thai (Kingdom of One Million Ricefields), the first independent Thai kingdom within the fabled Golden Triangle. Chiang Mai flourished as a major religious, cultural and trading centre until 1556 when a Burmese invasion reduced it to a vassal state. The Burmese were expelled in 1785, whereupon Lanna Thai once again became part of northern Thailand. Many lowland Thais regard Chiang Mai city and province as being something of a national Shangri-la, thanks to its beautiful women, distinctive festivals, historic temples dating from the 1300s, arresting scenic beauty, temperate fruits such as apples peaches and strawberries, and a crisp, invigorating cool season climate. |
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| The people of Chiang Mai enjoy one of the most distinctive cultural identities in the whole of Thailand. Largely farmers and artisans, they have their own lilting dialect, their own customs, their own festivals, their own architectural traditions, their own indigenous handicrafts, their own dances and their own distinctive cuisine. Hilltribes also lend a great deal of character and colour to the crisply beautiful mountainous landscape. |  |
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Chiang Mai celebrates many annual festivals. Three are particularly lively and lovely. They are the Flower Festival, the first Friday and weekend of every February, Songkran, 13-15 April each year, and Loi Krathong on the full-moon night of the twelfth lunar month, generally in November. |
Chiang Mai
2 Responses
November 19th, 2008 at 7:48 am
[...] Chiang MaiMany lowland Thais regard Chiang Mai city and province as being something of a national Shangri-la, thanks to its beautiful women, distinctive festivals, historic temples dating from the 1300s, arresting scenic beauty, temperate fruits … [...]
November 19th, 2008 at 8:03 am
[...] Chiang MaiMany lowland Thais regard Chiang Mai city and province as being something of a national Shangri-la, thanks to its beautiful women, distinctive festivals, historic temples dating from the 1300s, arresting scenic beauty, temperate fruits … [...]