Dao Meiying,the Last Dai Princess

TO most Chinese, the word "princess" is only a reminder of the remote past. Yet Dao Meiying, age 66, the last Dai princess is still living in Xishuangbanna Dai Nationality Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Wanting to find the woman behind the ancient title, I rang the doorbell of Dao Meiying's house. A Dai teenager opened the door of the siheyuan, a compound with low buildings around a courtyard. Pots of tropical flowers were neatly arranged in the sun. Hearing the voices