In the 1930s Maurice Collis traveled through the Shan states, which later became known as "The Golden Triangle" an area, gaining notoriety as the world's foremost producer of opium. Although he had served for more than twenty years as a colonial administrator in British Burma, he never had the opportunity to visit the Northeastern corner known as the land of Shan people. The Shan are a distinct nation, very different from their fellow-Burmese with whom they are forced to cohabitate because of historical fate. Culturally the Shan are more closely related to the Thai and Lao.
The amalgamation of 33 Shan states were at the time ruled by what the Shan called 'Sao Paw' or 'Celestial Overlords'. Collis toured most of these states and visited a number of Sao Paw. He was struck by both the richness of traditional Shan culture and the sophistication of their rulers.