Pyin Oo Lwin or Pyin U Lwin (, ; Shan: ), formerly and colloquially referred to as Maymyo (), is a scenic hill town in the

Mandalay Region Mandalay Region ( my, မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Mandalay Division) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region t ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, some east of

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fou ...

, and at an elevation of . The town was estimated to have a population of around 255,000 in 2014.

Etymology

* *Pyin Oo Lwin (ပြင်ဦးလွင်‌) *Maymyo (မေမြို့) * *Taung Hlay Khar (တောင်လှေခါး) ('hillside stairs') *Taung Sa Kan (တောင်စခန်း) ('hill station') and the best-known name, Pan Myo Taw ('city of flowers) * Remyo (historically)

History

The town began as a military outpost established near a small Shan village with two dozen households on the

Lashio Lashio ( ; Shan: ) is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, about north-east of Mandalay. It is situated on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Yaw River. Loi Leng, the highest mountain of the Shan Hills, is located ...

trail between Nawnghkio and

. In 1897, a permanent military post was established in the town and later, because of its climate, it became a

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

and the summer capital of British Burma. The establishment in Burma (civil, commercial and military) would move to Maymyo during the hot season to escape from Rangoon's high heat and humidity. During British rule and through the 1970s, Maymyo had a large

Anglo-Burmese The Anglo-Burmese people, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent, who emerged as a distinct community through mixed relationships (sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary) between the Brit ...

population, but this steadily declined. During the Japanese occupation, as many Anglos were concentrated in and around Maymyo, the Japanese incarcerated many of them for fear of their loyalty to the British very close to Maymyo. Today, Maymyo still has one of the country's larger populations of

. The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

named the location Maymyo, literally 'May's Town' in Burmese, after

Colonel May Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, a veteran of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

and commander of the Bengal Regiment temporarily stationed in the town in 1887. The military government of Burma renamed the town Pyin U Lwin, the word-for-word Burmese transcription of the Shan "City (ဝဵင်း, ''Weng⁴'') of Paang²uu⁴ (ပၢင်ႇဢူး)". The area is also the site of the decisive

battle of Maymyo The Battle of Maymyo, fought in March 1768, was the final battle and the end of the Third Qing Invasion of Burma during the Sino-Burmese War (1765–69). In November 1767, the Qianlong Emperor ordered the Third Invasion under the command of his ...

where the Burmese royal army under

Maha Thiha Thura Maha Thiha Thura ( my, မဟာသီဟသူရ ; also spelled Maha Thihathura; died 1782) was commander-in-chief of the Burmese military from 1768 to 1776. Regarded as a brilliant military strategist, the general is best known in Burmese h ...

defeated the Chinese Army in the third invasion during the

Sino-Burmese War The Sino-Burmese War (; my, တရုတ်-မြန်မာ စစ် (၁၇၆၅–၆၉)), also known as the Qing invasions of Burma or the Myanmar campaign of the Qing dynasty, was a war fought between the Qing dynasty of China and ...

of 1765–1769.

Demographics

The town has approximately 10,000

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n and 8,000

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...

inhabitants who settled in Maymyo during British rule. Today, Pyin Oo Lwin has a thriving

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipela ...

community, consisting mostly of

and

Anglo-Indians Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford Englis ...

. There is also a diverse mix of Chinese, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Shan, Bamars (Burmese) and communities.

Educational institutions

Maymyo was 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, St. Joseph's Convent, and Colgate, are all based in the town. British settlers and colonial administrators sent their children to be educated here, both European and

children. The town was also the location of the various schools of military education open to all ethnicities. It is today home to the

Defence Services Academy The Defence Services Academy ( my, စစ်‌တက္ကသိုလ်, ) located in Pyin Oo Lwin, is the premier military service academy of Myanmar, training future officers for all three branches of Myanmar military. The Ministry of Defence ...

(DSA) and the

Defence Services Technological Academy The Defence Services Technological Academy (DSTA) ( my, တပ်မတော် နည်းပညာ တက္ကသိုလ်, ), located in Pyin-Oo-Lwin, Myanmar, is the premier technological university of the Myanmar Armed Forces. One o ...

(DSTA). There is a large military presence in the town. Nowadays private schools such as Soe San, Sar Pan Eain, Genius and others are thriving. The Mandalay Region Private Schools Association is the country's most dynamic and forward-looking group in this sector. On the map of HQ Fourteenth Army in March 1945, there was the Government Anglo Vernacular school beside the police station. It is near the railway station. You can see the map at the Royal Park View hotel in Pyin Oo Lwin at present(2020).

Economy

Sweater knitting, flower and vegetable gardens,

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

and

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

orchards, coffee plantations and cow rearing are the main local businesses. There has been an influx of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

immigrants (especially from

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

) in recent years. The city is a resort town for visitors from Myanmar's major cities during the summertime and a popular stop for foreign

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

during the winter season. Kan Daw Gyi Park Pyin Oo Lwin

Established in 1915, the National Botanical Gardens and the adjacent

Pyin Oo Lwin Nursery Pyen (Hpyin, Phen; ') is a Loloish language of Burma. It is spoken by about 700 people in two villages near Mong Yang, Shan State, Burma, just to the north of Kengtung.Person, Kirk R. 2007''A preliminary phonological sketch of Pyen, with compar ...

are attractions of Pyin Oo Lwin. A

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

garden is planned for 2007. Today, Pyin Oo Lwin is noted as four centres of national economic importance. It is the centre of

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...

(

silkworm The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...

rearing). The Sericulture Research Centre, near the National Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens, has three distinct roles: the intensive planting and harvesting of

mulberry trees ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

(leaves for the silkworms, bark for handmade paper), the rearing of silkworms, and the reeling of the silk from the cocoons. It has a large research centre for indigenous medicinal plants. It has one of the country's few

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

production facilities. Pyin Oo Lwin is the centre of the country's flower and vegetable production. The most important flowers grown intensively are

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center ...

aster Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...

and

gladiolus ''Gladiolus'' (from Latin, the diminutive of ''gladius'', a sword) is a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but is usually called by its generic name (plural ''g ...

, 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. Several factories in the town process coffee beans for country-wide distribution and export. Pyin Oo Lwin 84

Notable people

Eric Arthur Blair Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

better known by his pen name

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

Author, stationed in Maymyo 1922-1927 * Alan Basil de Lastic (24 September 1929 – 20 June 2000), prominent

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(Latin Rite) clergyman in

*Haji U Thein - Chairman, Islamic Religious Affairs Council of Myanmar *Hteit Tin Ma Latt - a grandchild of Prince Kanaung * Prince

Taw Phaya Prince Edward Taw Phaya ( my, တော်ဘုရား; also known as Tun Aung, 22 March 1924 – 12 January 2019) was the Pretender to the Throne of Burma (abolished in 1885). He was the second son of Princess Myat Phaya Galay, the fourth daugh ...

(22 March 1924 – 12 January 2019) - the oldest grandson of King

Thibaw Min Thibaw Min, also Thebaw or Theebaw ( my, သီပေါ‌မင်း, ; 1 January 1859 – 19 December 1916) was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) and also the last Burmese monarch in the country's history. His re ...

, the last King of Burma. *Thakhin Ohn Pe *

Ma Chit Po Thura Ma Chit Po ( my, သူရ မချစ်ပို; February 1908 – 8 April 1949) was a Burmese woman who was the one and only civilian woman to have received the Thura medal for bravery. She gathered intelligence on the Karen National ...

(February 1908 – 8 April 1949), the only woman to be awarded the Thura Medal *

B. G. Verghese Boobli George Verghese (21 June 1927 – 30 December 2014) was a senior Indian journalist. He was editor of leading newspapers the ''Hindustan Times'' (1969–75) and ''The Indian Express'' (1982–86). In 1975, he received the Ramon Magsay ...

(21 June 1926 - 30 December 2014) was a senior Indian journalist born in Maymyo. He was editor of leading newspapers the

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

(1969–75) and

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

(1982–86). In 1975, he received the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

for his outstanding contribution to journalism. After 1986, he was associated with the New Delhi think-tank Centre for Policy Research.

References

External links

*
Pyin Oo Lwin: Myanmar's Highland City of Flowers
pyinoolwin.info
"Maymyo, Burma"
Maplandia.com {{Authority control Populated places in Mandalay Region Hill stations in Myanmar Township capitals of Myanmar Shan Hills