1920s - 1962
Warlord of Yunnan
room China
From the 1920s through most of the 1940s, Long Yun (pictured here) was known as the "King of Yunnan", controlling what is now the Burma-China frontier during World War Two. This was the period of China's civil war, when the country was divided between the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek, the Communists under Mao Zedong, and dozens of regional warlords.
Long Yun was not an ethnic Han Chinese but Yi (the Yi language is very similar to Lisu and not very different from Burmese). He worked hard to modernize Yunnan, building roads and encouraging new industries. Under Long Yun, the region became an important military theatre, with Chinese armies from Yunnan crossing the Salween to fight the Japanese in Burma.
Long Yun also conceived of a scheme to create a new homeland for European Jews in Yunnan (in the 1930s). The suggested area was around Tengchong (across from Myitkyina). Even Albert Einstein was involved in the discussions but, in the end, the Chinese government decided against it.
Long Yun was overthrown in 1945 by the Chinese Nationalists. Yunnan then came under Communist control in 1949-50. Long Yun went on to serve in various official positions until his death in 1962. One of Long Yun's sons later owned a popular Chinese restaurant in Washington DC.