The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia; stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos; Thailand; and parts of Vietnam; which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals; including the water festival. Despite never having a unified nation-state of their own; the peoples also have historically shared a vague idea of a "Siam" nation; corrupted to Shan or Assam in some places.