Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the heart of Chinatown, the imposing
Guanyin Gumiao Temple
(aka the Guangdong
Guanyin Temple) is dedicated to Guanyin (the Chinese version of Avalokitesvara, the Bod-
hisattva of compassion), attracting a mainly Cantonese crowd. The original temple was built
in 1823, and destroyed by a fire in 1855 before rising back up out of the ashes in 1864. The
tiled interior is less impressive than the
Kheng Hock Keong
,
but still a fine sight, with red
tables laden with incense pots, flower vases, and assorted fairy-lit shrines.
Kheng Hock Keong Temple
Strand Rd, between 17th and 18th sts • Free • Daily 24hr
The flamboyant
Kheng Hock Keong
Chinese temple (“Temple in Celebration of Good For-
tune”) is the city's largest and most impressive - a wooden temple was first erected here in
1861, replaced by the current brick structure in 1903. Standing close to the waterfront and
docks, the temple is dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu and maintained by the local Hokki-
en clan association, attracting mainly Hokkien and Hakka worshippers. The central altar en-
shrines an image of Mazu within an intricate riot of gold decoration, flanked on her left by
Guan Gong, god of war, and on her right by Bao Sheng Da Di, god of medicine.
Midtown Yangon
The suburbs of
midtown Yangon
immediately north of the old colonial centre are home
to some of the city's leading attractions. Pride of place goes to the stunning
Shwedagon
Pagoda
, Myanmar's greatest Buddhist place of worship, while there are further supersized
Buddhas nearby at the
Chauk Htat Gyi
and
Nga Htat Gyi
pagodas, as well as the
pick'n'mix attractions of the city's sporadically entertaining
National Museum
.
National Museum of Myanmar
Pyay Rd • Tues-Sun 9.30am-4.30pm (last entry 4pm) • K5000 • No photography
Yangon's
NationalMuseumofMyanmar
is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some outstand-
ing artefacts here, although the badly lit rooms and erratic signage don't help, while parts of
the five-storey museum's huge exhibition space are rather lacking in actual exhibits. Explore
selectively, however, and it's worth at least an hour or two of your time.
Ground floor
The ground floor focuses on exhibits from
Mandalay (Yadanabon)
. The undoubted high-
light,andthemuseum'smostcelebratedexhibit,isthesplendid
LionThrone
,inaroomallof
its own. Made for King Bodawpaya in 1816, this was originally one of nine similar thrones,
models of which can also be seen here, but the only one to survive, despite being carted off
to India in 1902 (it was returned by Lord Mountbatten after Independence in 1948).
The adjacent
Yadanabongallery
showcases the artistry of Mandalay's court, with cabinets
full of extravagant and finely worked artefacts including toy-sized wooden models of the
