Pǔ'ěr (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: Sīmaó) in 1950 after the Communist Revolution. In 2007, the original name of Pu'er was restored. By doing so, it has had an effect the size of the official Pu'er tea (普洱茶), a major regional product, production area. The urban administrative center of Pu'er is Simao District, which is also the former name of the city itself. A major downturn in the price of tea in 2007 caused severe economic distress in the area. The price of Pu'er has since recovered and Pu'er tea still contributes much to the income of the area.