of Terminalia and Shorea trees. Rhododendron edgeworthii, of the finest foliage and flowers ranging in colour from white to white flushed pink or pink, sometimes with a yellow blotch, was part of a collection made in 1997 on the Shweli - Salween divide on the Yunnan border with Burma. White-winged wood duck (Cairina scutulata), an endangered species of forest duck, and the sarus crane (Grus antigone) are native to the Shweli river. The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), a crocodilian, was last spotted in 1927. The Irrawaddy dolphin has been known to reach the upper tributaries of the Ayeyarwady including the Shweli. Based on the survey in 2003 and 2006, a total of 49 species of fish were collected in Shweli river and tributaries in China. By the combination of the investigated species and specimens in the museum of Kunming Institute of Zoology, there are a total of 60 species belonging to 8 orders, 19 families, and 44 genera in Shweli river drainage, among which 16 species are endemic to Irrawaddy drainage and 9 species are alien species. On composition, the species of Cyprinidae are dominant, which have 26 species accounting for 43.3% of the total number of species. In the next place, Sisoridae has 11 species, accounting for 18.3% of the total. Towns Ruili (Shweli) Muse Namhkam Momeik Mabein Trade and commerce Muse is connected to Ruili on the Chinese side, and a roaring trade in goods and services was engaged in across the "Gun Bridge", so called because of the armaments transported from China to the military government of Burma. The old bridge was replaced by a new wider one in 2005. Gems especially jade and produce, and illicit heroin, are exported in exchange for cheap motorcycles and household goods from China. More recently, Chinese hybrid rice called sinn shweli has been introduced by the military authorities to the local farmers as part of the opium eradication drive, most of the crop to be exported back to China. The Shweli I Dam was put into operation on the river in 2008. It is the first of three planned dams on the main stem in Myanmar. The river upper in China has abundant hydropower reserves, there are 18 hydroelectric power stations has been built, mostly in Tengchong. And the biggest one in China is Longjiang Dam at Zhefang, Mangshi which operates in 2010. Notes External links Shweli River Google map GeoNames