Seven hundred-year-old Chiang Mai is at the heart of northern heritage. It is both a modern and ancient city, overlaid with an eclectic cultural stamp called Lanna. Though the word Lanna (ล้านนา, 1 million rice fields) had existed in the distant past, it is in just the last thirty years that with a resurgence in cultural pride, that academics and government have revitalized use of this term. Lanna culture is a colorful combination of various elements brought together from both historic and multi-ethnic contexts. With Chiang Mai being a place of trade along the historic Silk Road, it has been a crossroads for centuries of various cultures that make up the blend that is found here today. Many different peoples still retain their unique languages, traditional dress, and customs in this varied community.