Maymyo
Pyin U Lwin or Pyin Oo Lwin formerly Maymyo (22° 2'4.38"N 96°27'31.49"E), is a resort town in Mandalay Division in Myanmar, located some 67 kilometers east of Mandalay, and at an altitude of 1070 meters (3510 feet). It was initially a Shan village situated on the Lashio-Mandalay road between Naungcho and Mandalay. During the British colonial occupation, the British, in 1896, developed it as a hill station because of its cool alpine climate, especially during the hot season. The colonial government of Burma would move to Maymyo during the hot season to escape from the high heat and humidity of Rangoon. The name May myo means May Town in Burmese, and comes from the town's first administrator, Colonel May. As a legacy of the colonial period, the town has approximately 10,000 Indian and 5,000 Nepali inhabitants, who served in the British Indian Army (Gurkha Regiment) and settled in Maymyo after the British left, having granted independence to Burma. It was indeed until recently dominated by northern Indian communities. Maymyo was also an important educational centre during colonial times, with the GEHSs (Government English High Schools), such as St. Mary's, St. Michael's, St. Albert's, and Colgate, all based in the town. It is also home to the Defence Services Academy (DSA) and the Defence Services Institute of Technology (DSIT). Maymyo also has a thriving Eurasian community, consisting mostly of Anglo-Burmese and Anglo-Indian communities. Sweater knitting, vegetable plantation, orchards, and cow rearing are the main local businesses, but smuggling from India and China is also significant. There has been a tremedous influx of Chinese immigrants (especially from Yunnan) in recent years. The city is a resort town for visitors from Myanmar's major cities during the summertime. Established in 1915, the National Botanical Gardens and the adjacent Pyin Oo Lwin Nursery are famous attractions of Pyin U Lwin. The beautifully created national garden is unique. A four acre orchid garden is planned here for 2007.
Wherever you go in Pyin Oo Lwin, the natural beauty of this edge of the Shan Plateau is around you. Trees, blossom, flower and fruit farms, stunning landscapes, wide vistas and narrow hidden charms - all surround the visitor without effort. Birds and butterflies dart in and out of the flowering shrubs and bushes along the roads. The bustling markets overflow with vegetable and orchard produce. And everywhere you are in the company of hard working farmers, traders and merchants - many of whom will be happy to practise their English language skills with you, or to teach you a phrase or two of Myanmar or Shan.
Today, Pyin Oo Lwin is particularly noted for four centres of national economic importance. It is the centre of sericulture (silkworm rearing). The Sericulture Research Centre, near the Kandawgyi National Gardens, conducts three distinct roles: the intensive planting and harvesting of mulberry trees (leaves for the silk worms, bark for hand made paper), the rearing of the actual silk worms, and the reeling of the silk from the cocoons. It has a large research centre for indigenous medicinal plants. And it has one of the country's few pharmaceutical production facilities. In addition, Pyin Oo Lwin is the centre of the country's principal flower and vegetable production. The most important flowers grown intensively are chrysanthemum, aster and gladiolus, which are exported to every corner of Myanmar throughout the year. Lastly, Pyin Oo Lwin is the centre of Myanmar's rapidly growing coffee industry. A number of factories in the town process coffee beans for country-wide distribution, with a growing amount now prepared for export.