Culture 

A people known as the Tai are from the area of Asia, including Thailand, Laos, and northeastern Myanmar. The name for the Tai ethnic group of Myanmar is "Shan." The Shans migrated into Myanmar from China, to the north, many centuries ago, and settled in the valleys.

 

Codes of conduct:

One should remove the shoes before entering a Shan home. Traditionally this applies to small shops, and at Shan Buddhist temples and monasteries. Shans treat the monks with respect, especially older monks or those known for their strict self-discipline.

Visitors to homes, or even offices or shops, are served tea.

It is polite to address Shan’s with honorific name, most often Sai for men and Nang for women.

It is considered improper to lose one's temper or show much emotion in public, but the Burmese are a very friendly and outgoing people.

The Burmese and other Buddhists follow the Buddhist custom of not touching a person on the head, since spiritually this is considered the highest part of the body.

Burmese people generally do not engage in public and display affection, even among married couples, and it is generally considered distasteful and should be avoided

 

Clothing:

The typical garment of the Burmese is the Indian lungi or longyi, a sarong worn by both men and women. Shan men wear baggy trousers, usually made of indigo-dyed homespun fabric. Called koon, the trousers have a huge waist-band which is gathered and knotted in front.

Women wear sarongs, called phasin, which are cotton or fancy embroidered silk sewn in a tube and wrapped tightly at the waist. There are traditional jackets and blouses to go with these, but younger people wear them with T-shirts and denim jackets for a mix of old and new.

Large conical bamboo or straw hats called kup provide shade for Shan men and women working in the fields or walking in hot sunlight. Shan men and women often wear large turbans wrapped from long lengths of cotton