There are more than 12,000 recorded species of trees in the region, making it one of the most biologically diverse areas for trees in the World. Deforestation is ravaging these forests. In 1949, half of Yunnan province was forested, but today it is less than 10 percent. In Burma, forest cover has dropped from 21 percent in 1949 to less than 7 percent today. Sawdust floats through the air like pollen.
Fires crackle in roadside restaurants.
Pianma's tallest structure is a mountain of logs more than 50 feet high. And trucks weighed down with timber trundle through town daily. As such, Pianma is a vantage point to view the mounting appetite of the Chinese economic giant that is emerging and spreading its reach to the rest of Asia and the world. China is the biggest investor in Mongolia, for instance, and buys more than half its cashmere. China has challenged Russia for influence in several Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, where Chinese investments vie with Moscow's and Chinese bicycles, electronic goods and other gadgets are pushing Russia's out.