Chiang Mai is an old city or we can say that it’s “new city” and just celebrated its 700th anniversary a few years ago, in 1996. The city was founded as the capital of the kingdom of Lanna in 1296 by King Meng Rai. From then, Chiang Mai not only became the capital and cultural core of Lanna Kingdom, it was also the center of Buddhism in northern Thailand. King Meng Rai was very religious and founded many of the city’s temples, which are still important today.