Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Produce Market
MARKET
( 5am-5pm)
This riverside market specialises in colourful heaps of Chinese fruit and
local vegetables. Many of the latter arrive by canoe and are then lugged up the rear stair-
way on shoulder poles. At dawn, this creates an unforgettable spectacle with boats glid-
ing in across shimmering golden water backed by a rising sun.
Directly southwest is the architecturally drab
main market
(
8.30am-5pm)
.
Hsu Taung Pye Zedidaw
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
This gilded 'wish-fulfilling' pagoda is the town's most eye-catching religious building,
sitting on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River at the north end of Zaw John (Strand) Rd.
Opposite its stupa, a 98ft-long
reclining buddha
and nearby standing equivalent were
funded by a Japanese soldier who served here in WWII, in part to commemorate 3400 of
his comrades who died.
Kachin State Cultural Museum
MUSEUM
(Yon Gyi St; admission $2; 9am-4pm)
Displays Kachin and Shan costumes and the usual
assortment of instruments, farming tools and ethnological artefacts. There are English
captions.
Aung Ze Yan Aung Paya
PAGODA
Just east of the airport, this pagoda is noteworthy for its arcing ranks of around 1000
little buddhas sitting in the grounds.
Tours
Snowland Tours
TOURS
( 23499;
snowland@mptmail.net.mm
; Wai Maw St)
Two blocks east of the station, this help-
ful agency with English-speaking staff can book flights and arrange customised tours.
Festivals & Events
Lisu New Year
CULTURAL
Started in 2011, this big three-day bash unites Lisu folks from all across Kachin State
and Xishuangbanna (China) in a very colourful, if comfortably slow-moving, fair. The
event is entirely untouristy, unless you count the many costumed Lisu villagers snapping
photos of one another - varied regional Lisu costumes being markedly different.
