Former casino hub Mong La struggles to reinvent itself as gamblers disappear... "The once famous transvestites that lined Mong La?s market square have gone, and so, too, the East European prostitutes. Renowned in past years as Burma?s premier gambling and entertainment center, the city has now dimmed the lights on what was thought—only a few years back—to be a nonstop party. A neon sign that lights up what was formerly the town?s leading casino still entices would-be gamblers with the large illuminated words ?oh! That?s wonderful.? Only the LT Casino no longer accepts paying customers. ?It hasn?t been open for a year,? a guard at the front gate told me in Chinese. Hard times have fallen on this formerly prosperous city in northeastern Shan State, near the border with China. In September 2003, Beijing began to curb Mong La?s fledgling casino industry after the relative of a Chinese official reportedly lost more than US $100,000 in a single visit to the town. Alerted to the city?s excesses in gambling, prostitution and drugs, the Chinese government amassed troops on the border between Shan State?s Special Region 4 and the Yunnan province border with Burma. All Chinese citizens were ordered to return, visas to the area were heavily restricted and no Chinese were permitted to stay overnight in Mong La on the threat of strict punishment..."