Pu'er (Chinese: 普洱) is a prefecture-level city in southern Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. The name Pu'er dates back to 1729, but was changed to Simao (Chinese: 思茅; pinyin: Sīmáo) in 1950 after the Communist Revolution. In 2007, the original name of Pu'er was restored. This change had an effect on the size of the official Pu'er tea production area, a major regional product. The urban administrative center of Pu'er is Simao District, which is also the former name of the prefecture-level city itself. A major downturn in the price of tea in 2007 caused severe economic distress in the area.