Myanmar has often been labelled as a "dangerous place" in recent years in internet discussions. Jumping out of prejudice, Mandalay has a long history and beautiful scenery, which is not only regrettable, but also worthy of being understood and commemorated.
A huge palace collapsed.
3月28日，一場7.9級的強地震讓緬甸曼德勒遭受重創。當天淩晨，佔地400萬平方米，世界現存最大的宮殿群之一——曼德勒皇宮在震蕩中嚴重受損。9米高的圍牆倒下，紅磚金頂散落，一部分尚未坍塌的外牆上裂痕清晰可見。
當地時間2025年3月31日，緬甸曼德勒，夕陽下，一隻鳥飛過受損的曼德勒皇宮。（圖/視覺中國）
As the second largest city in Myanmar after Yangon, Mandalay is an ancient city with a rich history. The earthquake not only caused a large number of casualties, but also caused serious damage to the Mandalay Palace, the Ava Bridge, and hundreds of pagodas and temples.
Myanmar has often been labelled as a "dangerous place" in recent years in internet discussions. Jumping out of prejudice, Mandalay has a long history and beautiful scenery, which is not only regrettable, but also worthy of being understood and commemorated.
Panoramic view of Mandalay city. (Photo/Visual China)
The last capital of the last dynasty
The last dynasty of Myanmar was called the Gongbang Dynasty, and Mandalay was its last capital.
The Gongbang Dynasty was established in 1857 years, before Burma became a British colony in 0 years, the dynasty moved its capital many times, and the capital was fixed in Mandalay in 0 years, which was its last capital move.
Interior view of the Royal Palace. (Photo/Visual China)
Because of this, the Mandalay Palace was built the latest, and the ancient city of Mandalay has become the most intact capital city that has been preserved. Although the palace was damaged during World War II, the Burmese government began to rebuild it in 1996 and officially opened to the public in 0.
The Mandalay Palace is square in shape, with 104 main halls, and the overall color is mainly red and gold, and it is famous for its exquisite carvings. In terms of construction materials, it uses one of the world's most famous woods - teak. Known as the "King of All Trees", teak is the national tree of Myanmar and was once a symbol of royal dignity due to its excellent water resistance and durability.
Exquisite teak wood carvings. (Photo/Visual China)
The palace is surrounded by a moat built along with the city walls, which is one of the widest surviving moats in Southeast Asia.During the day, passers-by can see the moat reflecting the palace and surrounding plants, as well as pigeons flying low in the sky.
In 1934, the British occupied Mandalay and carried out a series of constructions in the city. For example, the railway system was built to make it an important transportation hub in the north connecting Yangon, Myitkyina and other places, and the Irrawaddy River was further developed. However, most of these buildings were also destroyed in the earthquake. For example, the Ava Bridge, which partially collapsed into the middle of the river, is a transportation artery built by the British in 0 years, connecting Mandalay Province and Sagaing Province.
On the hill 50 km east of Mandalay, the British also founded the small town of Pyin Oo Lwin, also known as Pyin Oo Lwin, as a summer resort. Today, there are still British buildings, tropical botanical gardens, tea plantations, and residents of different races such as Chinese, Zen people, and Indian descent living everywhere, and it is a famous tourist city in Myanmar.
The Candacraig Hotel, an old colonial house dating back to 1904, is also the former headquarters of the Mumbai Myanmar Trading Company. (Photo/Visual China)
During the colonial period, the officials of the "upper class" were on vacation. Among them was the writer George Orwell, who spent five years as a British Burmese police officer in Burma, during which time he lived in Mandalay and completed his first novel, The Burmese Years, in the small town of Jesha, north of Mandalay. Because of its anti-colonial theme, "Burmese Years" has also become the only Orwellian work allowed by the Burmese military junta for decades.
After Myanmar's independence, Mandalay remained an important economic and cultural center. At the same time, it is also one of the very few cities that has not been renamed by the Myanmar junta. In 1989, in order to erase the colonial imprint and establish a new political system, the authorities had large-scale changes to the names of places named by the British colonial government, trying to enter a new chapter in history.
"Wacheng" and "Buddha Capital"
Mandalay sits on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River, and the modern city is surrounded by a number of ancient capital communities. And because the ancient capital of Inwa Ancient City is located in its suburbs, Mandalay is also known as the "Tile City" by the local Chinese.
The ancient city of Inwa was the capital of Myanmar from the 1839th to the 0th centuries and was ruled by the Awa Dynasty and the Taungoo Dynasty. In 0, the ill-fated ancient city of Inwa was partially destroyed by an earthquake and later destroyed by World War II. In this earthquake, the ancient city of Inwa was seriously damaged again, the Menu brick temple in the ancient city completely collapsed, and the main structure of the Yellow Temple was seriously damaged.
The ancient city of Inwa before the earthquake. (Photo/Visual China)
In Myanmar, which has a long religious tradition, nearly 90% of the population believes in Buddhism. Mandalay is also the true "Buddha Capital", where Mandalay Mountain, the most important "sacred mountain" of Buddhism in Myanmar, is located. On the mountain, a large number of pagodas, temples, and monasteries are built.
Mandalay Hill in the early morning. (Photo/Visual China)
In the aftermath of the earthquake, a widely circulated image of the temple collapse was the famous Mahmudi Stupa in Mandalay. It is one of the most representative Buddhist buildings in Myanmar with a history of more than 4 years. It houses the most revered Buddha statue of Mahmudi in Myanmar. The statue is very large, about 0 meters high, and its surface is covered with heavy gold leaf. Together with Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, it is known as the two great holy sites of Myanmar.
The aforementioned Yellow Temple, also known as Maha Aung Mye Bom, is the largest and best-preserved temple in the ancient city of Inwa with a history of more than 19 years. As a former royal monastery, it is a representative building of the Gongbang Dynasty in the 0th century. It is also known as the "Yellow Temple" because of the seven-story structure of a traditional teak temple, but it is built of brick and stucco materials and has a yellowish exterior coating.
Mahaangmei Temple in the ancient city of Inwa. (Photo/Visual China)
With its intricate and intricate carvings, Wat Mahaangmei is not only a tourist attraction but also a place for locals to worship. "Mahaangmei" means "the great and boundless protection of light", which shows its extremely high status as a Buddhist holy place.
來自緬甸“民族團結政府”的統計數據顯示，截至當地時間3月29日上午，已有超過2970座建築損毀，超95座佛塔、超50座寺廟建築遭到破壞。
In the long passage of time, these ancient buildings have witnessed the comings and goings of people of different eras, but now they are all shattered in smoke and dust.
It is so beautiful that there is no "flat" Southeast Asian city
Many people say that Mandalay's many cultural heritage and cultural scenery are hardly "replaced" among Southeast Asian countries.
烏本橋的落日，被稱為世界十大日落美景之一。橫跨東塔曼湖、全長1200米的烏本橋，是世界上最長的全柚木建造的橋樑。該橋由1000多根木樁支撐，上面共建造了六座亭子，供行人遮陽避雨使用。在當地，它也被叫作“情人橋”，相戀中的人們會來到橋上，宣誓永恆的愛情。
Uben Bridge. (Photo/Picture Worm Creative)
As the sun sets on the water, the Uben Bridge connects the sky with the water, and Burmese women with heavy loads on their heads and monks in red robes pass over the bridge, as if in a movie. So much so that there is a popular saying that in Mandalay, people are either on the Uben Bridge or on the way to the Uben Bridge.
靠近烏本橋的馬哈伽納揚僧院，建於1914年，是緬甸最大的佛學院之一，擁有近2000名僧侶。在這裡，幾乎每天都能看到壯觀的“千人僧飯”場景。
They marched barefoot in dervishes and lined up according to their age and level of practice, with the younger novices dressed in white in front and the older monks in red robes behind. Local Buddhists would put the prepared food in the monks' bowls. In the midst of the photographs and gazes of tourists from all over the world, the monks who receive alms can still show a quiet and indifferent temperament.
A monk walking on the Uben Bridge. (Photo/Picture Worm Creative)
The ancient city of Mingong, across the river from Mandalay City, was also attracted to tourists by Simbime Pagoda. Because of its snow-white exterior and layered decorations, Simbime Pagoda is also known as the "Cream Cake Pagoda".
Legend has it that Simbime was the empress of Meng Ji, the first king of the Gongbang Dynasty, and died shortly after giving birth to her child. To commemorate her, Meng Ji built this pagoda. Under the blue sky, the white Simbime Stupa is holy and dreamy, the romance of love, the solemnity of religion, merge into one.
Simbime Stupa. (Photo/Visual China)
In 1865, the English poet Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem "The Road to Mandalay" with a Western perspective: "Under the stupa of Mawlamyine / Looking to the east of the sea / A Burmese woman sits there / I know she is thinking of me / When the breeze blows through the coconut grove / The wind chimes of the temple are saying to me / Come back, return to Mandalay." ”
Today, after dynastic changes, regime changes, and natural disasters, Myanmar in the Internet discussion may be complex and ambiguous, but the collapse of buildings, the loss of lives, and the destruction of monuments are so real and heavy.
Even though the ancient city has a history of thousands of years, the protagonists of the story are always people. Rescue teams of different nationalities rushed to Mandalay to work with survivors to save lives. In Mandalay, the morning sun still rises every day over the Uben Bridge.Even in the face of many difficulties, we believe that tomorrow is full of hope. Because the brilliant civilization in this land will not be buried in ruins.
References
[2014] "Lone Planet: Burma", 0
[2015] "Mandalay: Walking with Bare Feet Under the Stupa", Travel, 0
[2016] "In Search of George Orwell in Burma," Emma Larkin, 0
[2025] "The World's Largest Palace Collapsed, the Century-old Bridge Twisted into Twists, and Here Became a Human Purgatory", New Bund, 0
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