Mengla

Mengla is one of Yunnan's least populated areas with large forests, many of them primeval, still covering the mountains, especially between Mengla and Menglun. Mengla county has a long border with Laos' Phongsali province in the east and south and southwest, and a shorter western border with Burma marked by the Mekong. To the west of Mengla is Laos's Phongsali province. In the south once lay the Dai principality of Kengcheng, To the east of Mengla is Laos' Phongsali Province, an area purchased by the French to increase their holdings in Indochina. The border area to Laos is very porous and with the right guide it is possible to undertake adventurous treks into the border area. The population of Mengla County, outside the few towns, is Dai in the valleys along the rivers, but Yao and Aini dominate the hills. In the far south of the county, along Nanla River, are settlements of one of Yunnan's smallest ethnic groups, the Kemu. The Kemu are not recognised as a separate minority, but are classed as Lahu, even though they are heavily influenced by the Dai and their villages are hard to distinguish. The hill groups have traditionally practised swidden farming, but are now facing increasing economic and political pressure to abandon the practice. Having long lost out on the profits of the lowland cash-crops such as wet rice and sugarcane and on access to education and medical services, these groups belong to the most impoverished people of China. While Mengla County remains one of the most ecologically diverse regions, even jungle areas declared forest reserves, where logging and farming is banned, are at risk by invasive species. Some of these, most importantly Chinese cardamom, are deliberately planted to turn the protected forests into a kind of farmland. On the other is local knowledge of plants is diminishing.