The Shan

Pindaya Cave

Pindaya, 45 kilometers from Kalaw, is the site of ancient caves and a boulevard of some of Myanmar's biggest banyan trees.The caves are about of 200 million years old and since ancient times they have been places of worship, There are 8,094 Buddha images made out of wood, marble, alabaster, brick, cement and lacquer, enshrined in the niches and corners of winding caves. The limestone cave is 490 feet in length. The numerous stalactites and stalagmites in the caves are given names such Fairy Princess Loom, and Posts for tying horses and elephants.

Wish-Fulfilling Bamboo Reed Phaya

This is located in Mong Nung Village over 50 miles north of Kyaington in eastern Shan State. Upalan (Ashin Maha guru Nanda) started the building in AD 1118 and completed it in 1120 in pursuance of a dream he had.

The pagoda was built of bamboo strips and gilded, but it seemed as though it was built in gold. The posture of the Buddha image here is cross-legged, both hands upturned with eyes downcast. According to the study of the posture of Buddha, it is read as Jana Mudra or Yoga udra or Thamadi Mudra.



Inle Phaungdaw Oo

Thirty 30 kilometers south of Taunggyi is Inle lake, famous for its unique leg-rowers, floating villages and colourful markets. The Phaung-Daw-Oo pagoda (pagoda on the big raft) is enshrined with five Buddha images which are celebrated in an annual festival in Thadingyut (October). It is also a famous tourist attraction.



Mywe Daw Kakku Relic Pagoda

The location of the pagoda is at the Relic Village, Kakku Village-tract, in Taunggyi. Although it contained relics of Gautama Buddha, the name refers to Kakkusana Buddha, the first of the Buddha world.





Inlay Lake (Wetland) Sanctuary

The famous Inlay Lake (Wetland) Sanctuary is located among Nyaung Shwe, Pinlaung and Peh Kon Townships of Southern Shan State in the eastern part of Myanmar at an elevation of over 2,950 feet. The Lake covers an area of 642.32 square miles. You can reach there by car, by air or by train depending on your choice of transport. If you go by car, you can drive from Yangon to Nyaung Shwe, that is 430 miles. If you want to fly, you can do it from Yangon to Heho, 335 miles by air, then drive from Heho to Nyaung Shwe, 14 miles by car. If you prefer train, Yangon via Thazi to Shwe Nyaung is 320 miles along the track then drive for 10 miles from Shwe Nyaung to Nyaung Shwe.



Inlay Lake (Wetland) Sanctuary was established in 1985 with the aims to conserve and protect natural vegetation, wetland birds and fresh water fishes in Inlay Sanctuary and to conserve geological features and scenic beauty of mountain areas.

Among the vegetative types growing in the area, Oryza granulate, Dalbergia spinosa, Hypericum prunizolium, Coladium spp, Desmodium oblongum, Enhydra zluctuans, Panicum sarmentosum grow on the natural floating islets. Salix tetrasperma, Ficus spp, Crataexa nurvala, Mitragyna parvizolia, Salmalia malabarica syn, Bombax malabaricum are found in shallow water or on the shores. Moreover, Inlay Lake (Wetland) Sanctuary is home to 37 species of birds, 27 species of wetland birds, 14 species of migratory birds, and 40 species of freshwater fishes, otter and turtle.

At present, the Ministry of Forestry of the Union of Myanmar has been carrying out programmes for the protection of land and wetland birds, conservation of their natural habitat and refuge, and construction of bird watch-towers. By visiting Inlay Lake (Wetland) Sanctuary, you surely can experience the world-renowned wetland ecosystem nearly 3,000 feet above sea level, enjoy the scenic beauty of the Shan plateau, research on various types of birds, study endemic fish species such as Ngapweh (Chaudhuria caudata) and Ngaku-Shinpa (Silurus bumanensis), and marvel at the traditional agriculture practiced by the lake-dwellers.

Taunggyi (Myanmar) News

Taunggyi is the state capitol of Shan. Facilities here are better than in Nyaung Shwe. Hotels are expensive and poor quality, not suitable for travelers. Only reason to come here is to change T/C's or make international telephone calls.
Pickups from Shwe Nyaung arrive W from the town market (the big building). At the NE corner of the market, you will find a Sony shop where 2 big streets meet. For convenience, we call it Sony intersection.

i	Tourist Information MTT: Taunggyi Hotel, From Sony shop walk S for 20min.
B	Bank: From Sony walk S 5 min, on the E side. 9-14:00 T/C to FEC Com. $2
H	Pharmacy: Many around market‚­
M	Post/Telephone Office: From Sony walk S 15min. The telephone office is just N from PO.(Walk back a little) Very cheap International phones but the quality is low. We tried a few times , but all failed so far. 3min cost (direct/no operator) to: Japan 96k/160k, USA 159k/265k, Europe 114k/190k, Australia/NZ 129k/215k This price has not changed though the price in Yangon and Mandalay has gone up. It seems to me staff have not realized or nobody has bothered to change the price board. It may be that it's not possible to phone from here and they don't want to admit it. Whenever we tried the line was always busy. You can make international calls from some shops - 500k/3min.

Transport
A	AIR: Heho Airport 38km W from the town
	Yangon Air Yangon $90 Mandalay $45 Air Mandalay Yangon $100 Mandalay $49
T	TRAIN: Too expensive, too slow, too inconvenient. Not recommended.
B	BUS: Most of the bus companies are located around Sony Shop offering services to Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, etc. The long distance buses to Yangon leave from the bus station at the foot of the hill but all companies provide free transport from their office to the bus station. These leave 1-1.5hr before bus dep. times. Minibuses leave from the offices in town. See transport page for more details.

pickups to Shwe Nyaung W from the market. 30k From Shwe Nyaung to Nyaung Shwe(Inle Lake) take pickup 30k Total 60k 1.5hr

Miscellanious
Market	Regular market operates every day, but the special regional market is held every 5 days. It's reported that prices are usually higher than other regional markets.

Festivals 2003
Apr 13-17	Myanmar New Year: Water throwing festival
Nov 8	The month of Tazaungmon(harvest festival) full moon The largest parade around here is held in Taunggyi. Hot baboons are launched.

Accommodation

Most hotels are found N from Sony Shop. At the '98 research we did not check the hotels in Taunggyi because there's no reason to stay here, and they compare well to hotels in Nyaung Shwe. Please use info below for reference only. Most other hotels are expensive

	h1	New Asia Hotel: N from Sony. closest to Sony T23142 sb cold s$7, d$10, ab HW d$15 bf C4 TV in lobby Rec
	h2	Saung Cherry Hotel: 88/89 Cherry Rd. T22455 sb HW s$7, d$10 C2 Cheap but not so clean

Transport

AIR
A	Heho Airport: 38km W from town.
	Yangon Air Yangon $90 Mandalay $45 Air Mandalay Yangon $100 Mandalay $49

TRAIN
T	Too expensive, too slow, too inconvenient. Not recommend.

BUS

B

Most of the bus companies have offices around Sony Shop. The bus fare listed below is cheaper than one from travel agents in Nyaung Shwe. It seems to me that the agents take 100-300k commission. You better have reservation at least 2 days advance to get good seats because the road upto Thazi is very bad. If you get car sick you must take middle seats and get ready for the pill and ask a sick bag earlier.

Yangon	Eastern State Exp: a/c 1500k 13:00(12:00) Video
	Shwe Kanboza: normal 850k dep12:30(11:30) They have a/c bus(1500k)but at the time of the research they did not have the a/c service. for some reason Yu Thu Aung: a/c 1600k dep12:30(11:00) All take 16hr You can get off in Bago (The time is for departure time for pickup from their office)
Mandalay	mini bus 1000k, dep 5:00, 8hr
Pagan	minibus 1000k, dep 5:00, 8hr
Thazi	The same bus to Mandalay 1,000k, dep5:00,
Nyaung Shwe	pickup truck from W from Market Shwe Nyaung 30k From Shwe Nyaung to Nyaung Shwe30k Total 60k 1-1.5hr
to Bus station	pickup truck from W from Market 10-15k

The Shan In Myanmar

From A.D. 1287 to 1604, the Shan controlled much of northern Burma. This rule ended in 1604 when the Burmese took over the land. In 1886 Burma became part of British India. Years later, in 1922, a new order was established when the British created the Federated Shan States and the Federated Shan States' Council. In 1937 they were given self-government within the British Commonwealth.
The Federated Shan States were made up of 34 states recognized by the British. Traditionally, Shan resided in various territories (states) governed by saophas (princes).
World War II brought hardship, as both the Japanese and the Allies attacked Shan villages, destroying many of them. In 1943, the Japanese captured 32 of the 34 Shan states. The British regained peaceful rule after the war was over, but the sun was about to set on their Empire. The British government no longer had the resources to maintain many of its colonies and decided to begin granting them independence. The question for many Shan leaders was whether to join a union with an independent Burma or to seek their own separate country.
In the end, union with Burma won out. On February 12, 1947, the Burmese nationalist leader Aung San and other ethnic leaders signed the historic Panglong Agreement in the Shan State. This agreement set up guidelines for the governing of ethnic minority groups in the Union of Burma, including the Shan, and gave the Shan State the right to secede from the Union after ten years. Only months after the signing of the agreement, however, Aung San and a number of the other leaders were assassinated, leaving the budding nation in a state of chaos. In order to promote unity, Sao (prince) Shwe Thaike was given the post of the first President of the Union of Burma, which formally achieved its independence in early 1948.
Yet soon afterward the Nationalist Chinese army, fleeing the Communists, invaded the Shan states, and the fighting continued until a civil war erupted. A Shan nationalist movement developed, and the Burmese government became uneasy as the date given by the Constitution authorizing secession approached. To avoid any attempt by the Shan to secede, the Burmese military seized power in 1958.
On April 24, 1959, the 34 Shan saophas surrendered their rule and the Shan states became the Shan State, administered by an elected state government. In 1960 the Shan agreed that for the Union of Burma to survive, the 12-year-old Constitution would need to be amended. This suggestion was met with widespread support; however, on March 2, 1962, Burmese General Ne Win carried out a coup d'etat and took control of the Union of Burma, capturing and killing many government leaders, including many Shan saophas. The cause of the coup was not revealed, but many believed that it was to prevent Burma's government from being changed to a true federal one, because any such change would have given ethnic minorities more political equality with the Burmese.
There is a shortage of information on the period from 1962 through the early 1990's, when the Burmese government was controlling and oppressing the Shan State. With drug lords, communists, tribal groups, and Shan nationalists each competing for their own agendas, the Burmese military gradually gained more control of the Shan State.
In 1988, the Burmese government promised democratic elections, the first in the country in 30 years.   In 1990, to the government's shock, the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San's daughter Aung San Suu Kyi, captured 80% of the seats in the new parliament.   The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, an independent organization allied with the NLD, won close to 20% of the votes nationwide and all of the seats from the Shan State.   The government voided the elections in order to retain power and placed Aung San Suu Kyi (who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991) under house arrest, where she has spent most of the last 15 years.

That period has also witnessed continued conflict in the Shan State. Open fighting between the Burmese military and Shan militia groups (The Shan State Army-North, the Shan State National Army, both of which have had ceasefires in place with the SPDC for many years. The cease fire with SSNA broke down this year. The ceasefire with SSA(N) is still holding but it is very fragile, and the Shan Army South), as well as between the Shan militias and those of other ethnic groups (such as the Wa and the Kayin), has caused thousands of Shan to flee Burma for Thailand and thousands more to be internally displaced within the Shan State. In addition, the Shan militias often demand taxes be paid to them as well as to the Burmese government. The production, trafficking, and use of drugs such as opium, heroin and methamphetamines plagues the state, and AIDS is becoming an increasing problem.
Most recently, the Burmese government arrested ten prominent Shan leaders in February 2005, some of whom remain in prison. Adding to the volatility of the situation, a group of Shan expatriates declared independence for the Shan State in April 2005. This declaration, while welcomed by many ordinary Shan, has not been well received by Shan leaders residing in Burma and has received little attention from the international community. Given the many pressures facing them, the Shan appear likely to face continued uncertainty and hardship for the foreseeable future.

Shan Religion

To be Shan is to be Buddhist, so the saying goes. But this is not entirely true for two reasons. First, the Buddhist religion came to the Shan through the Burmese and the Mon. Second, as is the case for almost all people groups in South East Asia, the religion practiced by the Shan is not pure Theravada Buddhism (the Buddhism of the Ancients). Perhaps, the majority of Shan people could not even explain to you the major tenets of Theravada Buddhism. The practiced religion is rather a complex patchwork of Buddhist philosophy, folk practices, and animism within a Theravada Buddhist framework - or simply put, Folk Buddhism.
Buddhist philosophy serves to inform the theoretical and abstract thought of the Shan people. This aspect of the belief system provides pivotal ideas such as Dharma, Karma, Reincarnation, Enlightenment, Heaven, Hell, and Nirvana.

Folk practices generally center around the temple cult, a very strong element of the Shan belief system. The temple serves the felt needs of the Shan community by providing tradition and instruction concerning monks, merit, novices, Boy Sang Long, Buddhist Lent, life extension and funerals.
Animism seems to fill in all the gaps within the Shan worldview that Buddhism does not address. These beliefs likely preceded Buddhist ideas and ideals, but have not lost veracity within the Shan belief system, though Buddhism has forced contextualized forms. Animistic practices include spirits, spirit houses, territorial spirits, spirit doctors, spirit shelves, tattoos, amulets, Ja Rey, and dreams.

How the three aspects of the Shan belief system actually fit together is unclear. In fact, in many instances it is quite blurry. Even experts argue about the degree of connection that exists between these elements. The following three possibilities describe how some experts explain the different element’s relationship:

First, they can be understood as three separate religious systems blended together. Therefore some elements of the Shan belief system correspond to each of the three aspects while others only correspond one or two of the elements, contradicting the others. Such an understanding would stipulate a great degree of tension within the Shan belief system, at least at the theoretical level if not at the practical level.

Second, they can be understood as a corresponding whole in which each aspect informs the other.
The debate here would center on which aspect is the core of the belief system, i.e. the one that informs and directs the other aspects. Some would claim that Buddhism is the core belief, from which animism and folk practices are derived. Others would hold that animism is at the heart of the belief system, Buddhism being a thin veneer overlaying these more potent beliefs.

Third, they can be seen within a structural framework. Buddhism would serve as the foundational belief structure upon which folk practices are built and through which animistic practices are interpreted. Folk practices would come next, functioning as a bridge between Buddhist ideals and animistic traditions. Animistic practices would form the pinnacle of this triangle, as they are the most visible aspect of every-day Shan religion. Also, they display more integration with folk practices, though they are not contradictory to Buddhism in their contextualized forms.

Shan Ethnicity

The Shan people as a whole can be divided into four major groups:

1. The Tai Yai or "Shan Proper"
   
2. The Tai Lue, located in Sipsong Panna (China) and the eastern states
3. The Tai Khuen, the majority of Keng Tung
4. The Tai Neua, mostly in Dehong (China)
   

Shan

The Shan are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan live primarily in the Shan state of Burma (Myanmar), but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Division, Kachin State, and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China and Thailand. Though no reliable census has been taken in Burma since 1935, the Shan are estimated to number approximately 6 million.

The capital of Shan State is Taunggyi , a small city of about 150,000 people. Other major cities include Thilbaw (Hsipaw), Lashio,Kengtaung and Tachileik.