recent immigration of many Mainland Chinese to Mandalay Region, Shan, and Kachin States. Ethnic Chinese now constitute an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of Mandalay's population. Huge swaths of land in city centre left vacant by the fires were later illegally purchased, mostly by the ethnic Chinese, many of whom were recent illegal immigrants from Yunnan. The Chinese influx accelerated after the current military government came to power in 1988. With the Burmese government turning a blind eye, many Chinese immigrants in the 1990s settling in Mandalay. In the 1990s alone, about 250,000 to 300,000 Yunnanese were estimated to have migrated to Mandalay. The Mandalay's population from about 500,000 in 1980 to one million in 2008 and the percentage of local Burmese reduced to less than 50. Chinese festivals are now firmly embedded in the city's cultural calendar. The strong influx of Mainland Chinese immigrants into Mandalay coupled with the presence of strong Chinese economic clout resulted the subsequent displacement of indigenous Burmese to the outskirts of the city creating racial tensions between the two communities. There are also substantial Burmese Chinese communities outside of Myanmar, particularly in Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, United States (such as New York City's Henry Street) and Australia. Zhonghe District, near Taipei, Taiwan is home to 40,000 Burmese Chinese (2008), one of the largest communities outside of Myanmar. Notable Burmese Chinese See also China–Burma relations Kokang people Thai Chinese Rangoon Further reading References External links Newidea! Myanmar information website Burma Overseas Chinese Student Association Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (Chinese-language only) Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, R.O.C. Chronology of Chinese-Burmese Relations of The Irrawaddy Home away from Home Governing the Chinese in multi-ethnic colonial Burma between the 1890s and 1920s Twentieth century impressions of Burma : its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources Yeo Cheow Kaw and Rangoon Kian Teik Tong Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent: Biographical dictionary Chinese in Colonial Burma: A Migrant Community in A Multiethnic State Chinese Immigration to Myanmar