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An Introduction to Myanmar
Len Gao
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"An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the
tinkly temple-bells
On the road to Mandalay..." - Rudyard Kipling, Mandalay
Although to most Americans, 'Mandalay' is just
another luxury Las Vegas hotel, yet in Rudyard Kipling's poem, it
conjures up boundless imaginations of an exotic, peaceful place in an
oriental kindom, where palaces and temples fill skyline, stupas and
pagodas shine, treasures and gems abundant.
Even in the twenty-first century, the real
Mandalay isn't too far from such imaginations. Ox carts still rumble
before the cluster of stupas in the Sandamani Paya (above), and
pedestrains can still quench their thirst with water provided in the
road-side jars (below).
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 Two
gigantic lions guard the stairway entrance leading to the top of the
Mandalay Hill, which forever watched the entire city and the green fields
littered with golden and white pagodas. |
 Local
tourists pose for pictures at the 230-metre summit . There, renovated
facilities include a shrine, an elevator and a flat terrace. Fierce
fighting erupted in 1945 when the British regiments fought to retake the
Hill from the hands of the Japanese army. Today, little trace of the war
is left, tourists and pilgrims prevail. |
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In the nineteenth century, Myanmar fell into the
British Empire and reduced to part of the British India. The British
colonial heritage can still be seen around the capital city of Yangon
(Rangoon in colonial name), like these run-down residential houses
(above) and government building (below).
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 The
British colonists also encouraged migrations from India as well as China.
As a result, a Chinatown was created in the city centre where gold shops
and other business flourish. After many generations, most Chinese have
been assimulated. Yet certain traditions are hard to fade. In Yangon's
Chinatown, a group of Chinese celebrates the Chinese New Year with the
traditional lion dance. |
 Ancestral
temples are also being built to serve multiple functions as religious
temples, ancestral shrines, and unofficial gethering places for people
with the same origins, particularly for the elderly, like this group
enjoying their past time in the Fujian Temple. |
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