The country of Myanmar, or Burma, has a long history of coups, wars, and rebellions. Currently, the Burmese military maintains control over the various ethnic groups, who wish to have equal opportunity and position in government and commerce. Agriculture is the driving force in the Shan economy. Rice is the major subsistence and cash crop. Other crops include tea, soybeans, peanuts, coffee, and cotton.
People living near larger villages or towns grow vegetables to sell in the market.
Because farming is not mechanized, farmers raise cattle and buffalo to draw their heavy wooden plows. Shan farmers live in villages of ten to five hundred or more households clustered along roads, or on riverbanks. Unlike many ethnic peoples, the Shan do not have clans or appear to attach importance to family lines. Marriages, which are monogamous, are based on the couple's mutual consent. Newlyweds usually live with the bride's parents for the first two or three years, or until they can set up their own home.