HSENWI or THEINNI is better known by the Burmanized name of Theinni. The northern part of North Theinni is a mass of hills, in the valleys between which are numerous tracts under rice cultivation. The southern portion has much more flat land, along the line of the Nam Tu, its tributaries the Nam Yao and the Nam Nim, and the Nam Yek flowing into the Salween. This was formerly thickly populated, and still remains the most valuable portion of the State. Both north and south of the Nam Tu there are many peaks which rise to 6,000 ft., and several over 7,000 feet. The northern portion (about 4,000 ft.) might be called a plateau. It has large, grassy, upland downs. This part of the State has fallen almost entirely into the hands of the Kachins. The Shans are found in the Nam Mao (Shweli or Lung Kiang) valley, and in the Nam Tu and other valleys in the southern part of the State. South Theinni is bisected by the huge mass of Loi' Ling, nearly 9,000 ft. above sea-level. Apart from this it con sists of broken hill-country or downs, the latter chiefly in the eastern half of the State. It is watered by numerous streams, of which the chief is the Nam Pang, an affluent of the Salween. Con siderable deposits of coal, or rather of lignite, exist in both North and South Theinni, but have as yet been little worked. Gold is washed in many of the streams in a fitful way. No valuable tim
ber exists to any considerable extent. Pine forests cover some of the ranges, but, as elsewhere in the Shan States, varieties of the oak and chestnut are the commonest forest trees. The climate as a whole is temperate. The average rainfall is about 6o in. yearly. It has regained much population since the British occupation in 1888, and especially since the opening of the Mandalay Lashio Railway and the Burma Corporation's mine and smelting works.
Hsenwi, the capital of North Hsenwi, stands near the north bank of the Nam Tu. The ruins of the old capital lie at a short distance, and show it to have been a large and well-built town. Miing Yai is the capital of South Hsenwi, with a population of about 2,000. The races found in Hsenwi comprise Shans, Kachins, Chinese, Burmese, Lihsaws, Wa, Palaungs and Yanglam. The Shans and Kachins predominate, and are nearly equal in numbers. LASHIO, the chief town of the northern Shan States, lies in the state of North Hsenwi, situated in 22° 56' N. and 45' E. at an altitude of 3,100 ft., on a low spur overlooking the valley of the Nam Yao. It is the terminus of the Mandalay-Kun Long railway and of the government cart road from Mandalay, from which it is 178 m. distant.