In the closing years of the nineteenth century, British officer James George Scott, then serving as Deputy Commissioner of Upper Burma, embarked on a journey into the remote Lahu highlands along the China–Burma frontier. At the ridge-top hamlet of Mong Hka (勐卡), he encountered a strikingly unorthodox religious site: a fu yeh, that bore little resemblance to the ornate pagodas of Burmese Theravada Buddhism. The compound, enclosed by a low stone wall, consisted of a modest wooden hall and a courtyard dotted with rough stone platforms and timber sheds, each housing plaques inscribed with Chinese characters. Inside the long, narrow shrine, Scott was struck by the absence of Buddhist statuary. Instead, a central altar featured a spirit tablet with Chinese inscriptions, surrounded by candles, incense, and offerings. Though the site was quiet during his visit, Scott noted that at the Lahu New Year it came alive with processions firing guns, beating gongs, lighting candles, burning joss sticks, and decorating the courts with white umbrellas and tall poles bearing pennants or streamers, while offerings of food, fruit, and flowers were placed on the tables.