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WELCOME TO CHIANG MAI
HISTORY
Popularly
known as the Rose of the North, Chiang Mai is blessed
with stunning natural beauty and unique indigenous cultural identity.
Founded by King Mengrai the Great as the capital of the Lanna Thai kingdom
by merging the various city-states in the region in 1296. Today Chiang Mai
is the economic, cultural, communications and tourism center of Northern
Thailand.
About
700 kilometers from Bangkok, Chiang Mai is situated on the Mae Ping River
basin some 310 meters above sea level. Surrounded by high mountain ranges,
it covers an area of approximately 20,107 square kilometers. The terrain
is mainly jungles and mountains, parts of which are within national parks
which are still fertile and verdant with plentiful flora and fauna. There
are many sites and locations where tourists prefer to visit to study the
lifestyle of the tribal people who live on high hills.
The hospitality
of Chiang Mai is the epitome of a dignified culture. The people are intrinsically
gentle, and proud of their heritage. The deep rooted culture of Chiang Mai stems
from the fact that the city had long been the capital of the independent
northern kingdom of Lanna Thai, as old as the first capital of Thailand,
Sukhothai, which was founded more than 700 years ago. Chiang Mai's distinctive
arts, crafts, music, architecture, and fascinating traditions have been passed
on down through the centuries.
The enchanting
people of Chiang Mai, however, are themselves to be blessed for giving the town
her special alluring charms. Genteel, soft-spoken and hospitable, they make
visitors feel genuinely welcome. Besides, the girls of Chiang Mai are also
renowned for the fairest complexion in the country. They have been dominating
beauty contests in Thailand since the first one was ever started in the country.
In urban and
rural areas, the age-old traditional ways are carried on unperturbed by the
waves, of cultural revolutions that sweep periodically around the world.
Material
progresses have come to Chiang Mai as a matter of course. In the city, high-rise
commercial buildings may have started to rear their ungainly heights. Modern day's
domestic and international businesses of Chiang Mai are now conducted with
high-tech office machines. Even now, a hilltribe native may have learned to
operate an Automated Tellers Machine, many of which have been installed at the
banks around the city.
However, after
the day's work, the Chiang Mai Businessman returns to his age-old teak house,
with the quaint, V-cross roof struts, to a dinner of sticky rice, which he eats
with bare hand. On the way back, he may drop by the monastery near his home to
inquire about the development in the preparation for the coming, traditional
"Guay Slark" festival, the northern "All Soul's Day" when
all the villagers will bring food over to the monastery for giving to the poor.
Magnificent,
old Buddhist monasteries in the region testify to the deep rooted faith in
Buddhism, which plays a meaningful part in the northern way of life.
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Check
first our preferred travel suppliers for hotels on Chiang Mai:
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Reservations
24 Chiang Mai Hotels
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This to get & let you informed about
all known Discounted deals in Chiang Mai !
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