Page 58 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

56 Yangon and around
1
Yangon and around

Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, still sometimes referred to by its old colonial
name of Rangoon, is a city of startling contradictions. Decades of economic and
cultural isolation are still very much in evidence, exemplified by the old
downtown district with its endless streets of decaying colonial buildings, erratic
electricity and sardine-packed rustbucket buses. The international chains and
logos which are steadily consuming many other cities in the region are
conspicuous by their almost complete absence, and the fabric of downtown
city life – a dense honeycomb of pavement cafés, ramshackle markets and
soaring stupas – looks, in places, strangely untouched by the modern world.
And yet the winds of change are already gusting through the city, with streams of
late-model Japanese cars flooding the city streets, along with a rapidly growing number
of swanky hotels, formica-clad local fast-food joints, illuminated billboards and shops
flogging the latest smartphones, tablets and other digital accessories. All of which gives
the strange impression of a city divided in time: at once thoroughly modern but also
several decades out of date – which is perhaps the essence of the place’s peculiar appeal.
For visitors, Yangon is very much a city of two halves. The old colonial city – or
downtown Yangon, as it’s often described – remains far and away the most absorbing
area in this rapidly expanding megalopolis, a fascinating urban landscape of
picturesquely decaying colonial architecture dotted with gilded Buddhist pagodas,
Hindu and Chinese temples, mosques and markets. North of here stretch the endless
suburbs of modern Yangon, a largely featureless urban sprawl dotted with a sequence of
florid Buddhist shrines and the sylvan Inya and Kandawgyi lakes. Pride of place goes to
the stupendous Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the world’s most spectacular Buddhist
temples, while it’s also worth searching out some of the other pagodas and supersized
Buddha statues that dot the area.
Brief history
A relative newcomer by Burmese standards, Yangon is a largely colonial creation,
although its roots run deep into early Burmese history. A fishing village named Dagon
was established here in the early eleventh century by the Mon, then the dominant
power in Lower Burma, although it remained a relative backwater despite the presence
of the revered Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya, founder of the
Konbaung dynasty (see p.364), seized control of Dagon, renaming it Yangon and
diverting trade here from nearby Thanlyin, previously the major port hereabouts. The
British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), but returned
it to the Burmese in 1827 following the conclusion of hostilities.
Yangon’s sudden and unexpected rise to national pre-eminence occurred following
the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, during which the British recaptured the city
(along with the rest of Lower Burma). The formerly modest town was selected as the site
of the new capital of British Burma thanks to its location at the meeting point of the

Yangon’s colonial heritage p.63 Walking tours in downtown Yangon
The four Buddhas and eight planets of p.87
Shwedagon p.74 Yangon hostels p.89
The Circle Line p.83 Yangon street food p.93
Cabbies of conscience p.86 Yangon festivals p.96

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