The purpose of this paper is to discern from the local perspectives the meaning of assimilation and Westernization. The chapter reports on a number of interviews conducted in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. This is a Dai autonomous region with a number of other ethnic people, such as Aini, Lahu, Bulang, etc., sharing it. The interviews are primarily with education officials and with ethnic village school teachers, especially those in one-teacher schools in the remote mountains. The interviews suggest that assimilation for the purpose of development and marketization have not yet created citizenship as expected. On the other hand, the government is much behind in appreciating the ways ethnic people understand the process of assimilation. Only one thing is certain. That is, the scene of Chinese borders occupied by Xishuangbanna will look different as time goes on. While Dai ethnicity will be continuously redefined through mandarin programs and schooling practices, the meaning of assimilation into Han will similarly become more and more diversified.