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The Shan Hills (Burmese: ရှမ်းရိုးမ, Thai: ฉานโยมา; Shan Yoma), also known as Shan Highland is a mountainous area that extends through Yunnan to Burma and Thailand. The area is made up of numerous mountain ranges separated by intermontane basins or narrow valleys. The ranges in the area are aligned in such a way that they link to the foothills of the Himalayas further to the northwest. The highest point is Loi Leng, at 2,673 m high.[1] Other peaks are 2,565 m Mong Ling Shan,[2] 2,565 m Doi Inthanon and 2,563 m Loi Pangnao. All are ultra prominent peaks of Southeast Asia.[3]Geologically in the Shan Hills and their southern subranges, layers of alluvium are superimposed on hard rock.[4]Karstic ranges are common, for large tracts of the hills are limestone. The Shan Hills are an important silver and ruby mining area.The name of the range is derived from the Shan State and its peoples, said in its turn to be derived from the word "Siam",[5] that occupies most of the Shan Highland area.The area of the Shan Highland is a combination of hill ranges, steep river valleys and a few elevated plains, also known as the Shan Plateau. The area is the primary source of Burma's sapphires, rubies and other gems, for which the country is famous; it is also a principal source of lead, silver and zinc. The high plain averages about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in elevation, and is sparsely populated.[6]The Shan Hills straddle central eastern Burma and northwestern Thailand. They rise steeply from Burma's central plain and stretch for hundreds of kilometres eastwards into Thailand's northwest. The average elevation is around 1,000 m. The surface of the system is cut across by steep river gorges, part of the drainage basins of the Chao Phraya, the Irrawaddy, the Sittaung and the Salween or Thanlwin River which cuts across the plateau in a north/south direction.[7]In British colonial times, the main hill station in Burma, Pyin Oo Lwin known in English as Maymyo, was built in the western region of the Shan Hills. Located at 1,000 m above sea level and about one-hour drive from Mandalay, it was one of the retreats for colonial officials escaping the heat of the Burmese summer. Pyin Oo Lwin is still famous for its botanical gardens and, like all British hill stations, has samples of colonial architecture. Presently the Inle Lake near Yawnghwe is one of the tourist attractions of the Shan highlands.[12]The Taunggyi Bird Sanctuary, established in 1906 as the Taunggyi Wildlife Reserve was redesignated as a Bird Sanctuary in 1989.[13]Owing to the insurgency and the activity of the Tatmadaw in the area many local people living in the mountainous areas of the Shan Hills have moved across the border into Thailand where they live in refugee camps.[14]Despite the ongoing insurgency, the Shan Hills is the area of Burma which accounts for most of the national potato production.[15]On 24 March 2011 a severe magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck in Tarlay, Tachileik Township, located in the Daen Lao range area on the eastern part of the hill system. It killed more than 70 and injured more than 100 people. 390 houses, 14 Buddhist monasteries and 9 government buildings were damaged.[16][17]