What is the country called "the country of ten thousand towers"?

Myanmar: Yesterday's Glory

Text/Ren Weidong

Myanmar is both familiar and strange to me. Speaking of familiarity, as early as the mid-1980s, I left Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province by way of border tourism, and have been to the two towns of Muse and Namkham in Myanmar. At the beginning of China's reform and opening up, the economy was still very underdeveloped. I was deeply impressed by the electronic watches, cosmetics, shirts and other commodities in the free markets of these two small towns in Myanmar. Later, I left Xishuangbanna and went to Mengla, Myanmar. These places are located on the northern border of Myanmar, and their economies are underdeveloped or even backward. By strange, I mean I didn't go deep into the hinterland of Myanmar.

This year's May Day holiday, despite the hot weather, I decided to fly to Myanmar with my friends. What I have seen and heard makes me feel that in the past, China people knew too little about our neighbor, and even had many misunderstandings.

The previous mention of Myanmar seems to mean corruption, dictatorship, drugs, poverty and backwardness in the eyes of many China people, and it is easy to associate it with the Golden Triangle, Aung San Suu Kyi and so on. This is obviously a misunderstanding of propaganda. When you get there and see it with your own eyes, you will understand that when you are alone, you should always remember the old saying "Seeing is believing".

We visited Yangon, the present capital of Myanmar, and Mandalay and Bagan, the ancient capitals.

In fact, Myanmar used to be a powerful country in Indochina Peninsula with a glorious history. During the reign of Meng (A.D. 1782- 18 19), the feudal society in Myanmar reached its peak, and its territory extended from Assam and Manipo in India to the vast area along the Thai-Myanmar border in the east, making it the most vast and powerful feudal country in Southeast Asia at that time.

Myanmar, located in the west of Indo-China Peninsula, covers an area of about 67,6581km2, second only to Indonesia in Southeast Asia. The border with China is 2185km long, of which the border with Yunan is1997km long. Because most of its territory is south of the Tropic of Cancer, it belongs to the tropical region.

Yangon huacheng

Today's capital Yangon is a this beautiful city full of modern flavor, especially the towering tropical trees, blooming flowers and European-style architecture left over from colonial period, which is quite impressive.

May is the hottest season in Myanmar. At noon on the day we arrived in Yangon, the temperature inside the air-conditioned tourist bus turned out to be 30 degrees Celsius, and the temperature outside the bus was as high as 4 1 Celsius. Maybe we warmed up in Mandalay first, so I can accept and adapt to wearing short clothes (shorts and slippers). Of course, once you leave the air conditioner, you will inevitably sweat.

The tour guide A Qiang is from China. He has been telling us about the history of Myanmar all the way, and he has been praising the British colonists who occupied Myanmar that year, saying that the streets and railway stations in Yangon were planned and built by the British more than 100 years ago, and the buildings in a certain block were also built by the British, and so on. Today, they are still in use and can still meet the needs of Yangon.

When I came to Yangon, the first thing I saw was its landmark building, the first in the world-the Shwedagon Pagoda. It has a history of more than 2000 years. After several repairs, the tower body is now 1 12 meters high and the base circumference is 427 meters. The top of the tower is inlaid with more than 7000 diamonds and the largest ruby in the world. The pagoda is made of pure gold, and there are 68 small pagodas around the Shwedagon Pagoda, forming the Golden Pagoda Forest. Under the blue sky and red sun, it is really brilliant. It is said that the whole Shwedagon Pagoda used sixty or seventy tons of gold, which also highlighted the preciousness of Shwedagon Pagoda. Therefore, in a sense, looking at the Shwedagon Pagoda means looking at gold. Throughout the year, it is crowded with Buddhists from Myanmar and tourists from all over the world.

In Burmese, Yangon means "the war is over", that is, the city of peace, which is located on the left bank of yangon river, a tributary of the Irrawaddy River. Its streets are not wide, but relatively clean, and its buildings are more modern than the ancient capital Mandalay, with many high-rise buildings. But the most valuable thing is the street, with lush towering trees and blooming flowers on both sides of the road. It is really appropriate to say that Yangon is a spring city and a flower city.

Because Yangon's industry is underdeveloped, many daily necessities and industrial products are imported, and tropical plants are everywhere, and there is plenty of rain, so the air quality here is very good, with little pollution and blue sky. For us who have lived in the heavily polluted metropolis of China for a long time, it is really wonderful to come to Myanmar to wash our lungs and get some air.

Walking on the streets of Yangon, I saw a strange phenomenon, that is, most of the running cars are very old and varied, and they really look like used car museums. There are some old cars that we have only seen in movies before. These cars include beetles in the 1920s, old trucks during World War II, and more old cars made in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. Asked about the reason, the tour guide A Qiang said that Myanmar's military government stipulated that new cars imported from abroad should be sold in Myanmar at a tariff as high as 200%, so it was difficult for most Burmese people to afford new cars, so they had to use old cars (mainly Japanese ones) that were eliminated from abroad.

Ordinary Burmese travel mainly by bicycles and motorcycles imported from China. There are also people who take buses. The buses in Yangon are also very special. Many of them use box trucks. Passengers stood in the carriage one by one, regardless of the temperature as high as 30-40 degrees Celsius, crowded together like sardines. There are even brave people hanging on both sides and the tail of the carriage, which makes us foreigners feel on pins and needles for fear of falling off the car.

These buses are mainly vehicles, many of which are overloaded and lack safety measures. Managers of Yangon authorities, such as the police, turn a blind eye to this. We feel very strange about this. A Qiang said, no way, the country is backward, the people are poor, and life is worthless, which is the price of two bags of rice! He explained that there was a traffic accident in Myanmar and people were run over by cars, so the government only subsidized two bags of rice to the families of the deceased. Of course, if you run over a family member who is a big official, it will not be solved by two bags of rice, and you will be in big trouble.

Bring money to see you.

Before I came to Myanmar, I heard that some government officials in Myanmar were quite corrupt and demanded money for everything. So when I arrived in Mandalay by plane, I was ready to tip when I entered the country. I went to Cambodia the year before last. At the capital Phnom Penh International Airport, my friends and I from the whole tour group were forced to donate $65,438+0 each to the immigration police when checking our passports.

When I was standing in front of the entry passage for foreigners at Mandalay International Airport, a dark-faced male immigration official greeted me in friendly English. After I handed in my passport, he asked me, "Do you speak English?" "A little." I replied, alert, wondering if he wanted a tip. Unexpectedly, he just asked me what my occupation was, what my purpose was to come to Myanmar, where I was going, and I didn't ask for a tip. The two asked and answered, and when he returned my passport, he did not forget to say "Welcome to Myanmar!" " I'm finally relieved.

My experience in China made me feel that the original legend was exaggerated, even a rumor. Unexpectedly, it was verified in the later journey. A Qiang, a tour guide, said that due to the underdeveloped economy, the salaries of Myanmar government officials are very low, and it is very common to ask for tips and accept bribes to support their families and live a good life there. According to him, looking for officials to do things in Myanmar almost invariably requires "asking for money". For example, if a driver violates traffic regulations, he must hold the money in his hand and shake his hand when he meets the police, but some experienced old policemen can judge the face value of the money sent by the driver by feeling without looking. This is really necessary. It is said that once, the Myanmar government changed more than a dozen ministers at a time because of corruption and bribery.

At the end of the trip, we came to Mandalay airport again and prepared to return home from here. The matter of asking for tips finally happened. The first time I passed the airport security gate, my friend's bulging wallet immediately lit up the prosecutor's eyes, indicating that this friend was waiting for inspection. Both he and I thought it was broken, and the dollars in this wallet would be confiscated because they were not declared when they entered the country. The person in charge of inspection took a look at his friend's wallet and then asked another person with a higher level than him what to do. The two muttered in Burmese for a while, but let go with their hands, which was a false alarm. However, a colleague from Sichuan Province is not so lucky. His 7,000-8,000 kyats were reasonably and legally confiscated on the grounds that "the government stipulates that Myanmar's national currency is not allowed to be taken out of the country". Although Sichuan Laobiao explained that he would come back to do business, it didn't help.

I took my temperature (because SARS was discovered again in Beijing), changed my registration card and checked my luggage. I saw A Qiang, a "very polite" tour guide, take out several large kyats from his wallet and give them to the airport staff who checked my luggage. When these procedures were finally completed, I walked to the terminal. I didn't expect Burmese to set the last security check there. Naturally, it will pass smoothly. I'm taking my things and I'm looking for a seat. I turned around and found that my good friend was stopped again. Naturally, that's his wallet. Two of the three or four Burmese officials in charge of the inspection were soldiers in uniform (Myanmar is a military government and everything is in the hands of the military), and one of them signaled his friend to stop. A fellow traveler behind a good friend tried to help, but unfortunately he tried his best and couldn't understand the English spoken by the officer. My friend who felt nervous and didn't understand English quickly called me. "Brother, come and see what he wants." I walked over and saw the officer put a small plastic basket aside, which contained wallets, passports and the like. I asked him in English, "What can I do for you?" He faltered and refused to say it. I immediately realized that I might want a tip, so I asked him if he wanted a "tip". He nodded and put up a finger: "A dollar!" I immediately explained to my friend that he quickly took out a dollar from his wallet and showed it. The officer pointed to his companion again. I said, "Give him another dollar." The friend hurriedly took out another dollar and handed it to him, and finally let him pass. When we sat down in the waiting room to discuss the experience just now, an old man from the same company came in with a sullen face. He didn't have US dollars, but he was asked for 300 yuan RMB. Look, we finally know about the corruption of Burmese military government officials!

It is said that Buddhism calls on believers to pursue a simple life and not be greedy. In such a country where everyone believes in Buddhism, do these acts of taking advantage of their authority and blatantly asking foreign tourists for money violate the purpose of Buddhism?

Wanta state

Here I want to talk about another major feature of Myanmar. Coming to Myanmar is like coming to a Buddhist country. Due to historical reasons, Myanmar still regards Buddhism as the state religion, and 80-90% of the people are Buddhist believers. According to records, in a country with a population of 40-50 million, there are about 654.38+million monks, thousands of nuns, more than 20,000 large and small Buddhist temples and 654.38+million pagodas.

If you are a Buddhist, based on my experience, I suggest you make a pilgrimage to Myanmar. In fact, during this trip to Myanmar, I also found some Buddhists from Thailand, China and other places making pilgrimages to Myanmar. At the world-famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, I saw with my own eyes a pilgrimage group of about 20 or 30 people from Thailand, taking silver bowls, flowers and other tributes, collectively visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda and chanting in the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Some people say that Myanmar is a state of ten thousand pagodas. I went to Myanmar and found that this statement is really correct. From Mandalay to Yangon, from Yangon to Bagan, whether in cities or villages, there are pagodas and temples shining with golden light, and monks everywhere. A friend of my colleague said to me with emotion: "I have seen all the pagodas in my life this time, and I don't need to see them again." Take Bagan, the ancient capital of Myanmar, as an example. Since the 9th century, the Bagan dynasty has spent a huge sum of money to build more than 5,000 pagodas. After years of war and natural weathering, there are still more than 2,000 ancient pagodas.

Actually, our first stop was not Yangon, but Mandalay. Mandalay is located in the middle of Myanmar, and the Irrawaddy River flows from the edge of the city. It is a famous ancient capital of Myanmar, and now it is the second largest city in Myanmar. Local overseas Chinese used to call it "Wacheng".

We don't know what Mandalay was like in ancient times, but from my point of view, it is not like a city now, let alone the second largest city, whether from the air or from the ground. In my opinion, Mandalay is like a big town, with almost no buildings, mostly Myanmar-style low-rise buildings. These houses are not crowded together like China cities, but scattered on the Irrawaddy River plain; There are not many decent streets, and many roads are dirt roads. It is rare to see roads paved with cement or asphalt. Whenever a car passes by, it will inevitably raise bursts of dust. Impressively, this plain is not small, many places are still empty or barren, and there is still a lot of room for development in the future. Mandalay, which also has no industry, has good vegetation and green trees everywhere. If you want to choose the most modern building in Mandalay, it is naturally the newly completed international airport in the suburbs. This airport is the largest and best modern international airport in Myanmar at present, which is much better than the airport in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar (Yangon airport was built by the British that year, and it is very small, simple and old). It is said that this new airport was aided by Thailand.

Visiting Mandalay, in addition to seeing many pagodas, we mainly climb Mount Mandalay in the early morning or evening to watch the sunrise or sunset. It is said that this is the most fascinating place for photographers all over the world in Mandalay. Then visit Mandalay Imperial City. The Imperial City was built by Ming Tongwang (A.D. 1857- 1878). It is located in the northeast of Mandalay, with a square wall made of bricks and surrounded by a moat. In World War II, the imperial palace was destroyed, and the existing buildings are said to be less than half of the original. Although this palace is also full of Burmese architectural style, the building is inlaid with gold and silver, and it looks good, but compared with the Grand Palace in Thailand and the Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, it is not only much smaller, but also not as grand and imposing as they are. Now it is open to foreign tourists. Of course, there are soldiers guarding it, because there are still senior officials of the military government living in the imperial city.

Pilgrimage bagan

China people say that "you are not a hero until you reach the Great Wall". The Burmese said, "I haven't been to Myanmar until I get to Bagan."

We went to Bagan from Yangon. Although the distance from Yangon to Bagan is only 100 kilometers, it is said that the road surface is too poor and bumpy, and it takes about five hours by car to walk. So, we chose the plane.

We got up early in the morning, arrived at the airport around 7: 40 Myanmar time, boarded a small plane of Yangon Airlines with only more than 70 seats at 8: 00, and flew to Bagan in only 20 minutes. Although the weather is still relatively cool, the tour bus took us directly to the pagoda site in Bagan. At this time, it is equivalent to about 10 Beijing time, and the light is very suitable for photography. The tour guide first showed us the most famous snow pagoda in Saigon, then the tallest pagoda, the most spectacular pagoda and so on, looking down one by one.

Bagan, also located on the Irrawaddy River, is the most important and largest Buddhist shrine in Myanmar. According to historical records, the Bagan dynasty began to build pagodas in the 9th century A.D. to show off its powerful strength. In its heyday, * * * built more than 5000 pagodas of various types. Therefore, it is worthy of the name that Bagan is the city of Wanta.

Bagan, located in the basin, has a hot climate all the year round, and the ground presents the surface characteristics similar to the African grassland. The soil is dry and a little sandy. A tourist joked, "Bagan Bagan is usually dry." However, although it is dry here, it will rain again, which is conducive to the preservation of ancient pagodas. Surprisingly, despite the drought, Bagan is not short of green grass and trees. Looking around, thousands of pagodas are hidden among the green trees, which are very beautiful in the morning and sunset.

Because it is too hot, it is not suitable to go out from noon to 4 pm. On the afternoon of arrival, the highest temperature in Bagan was as high as 45 degrees Celsius, which made it easy to get heatstroke. So according to the arrangement, everyone will rest in the hotel after lunch. Although there is an air conditioner and an electric fan in the room, I still feel hot. Even the bed is hot, it won't cool down for a long time, and my body is still sticky. After my companion washed his leather sandals with clean water, he took them outside to cool down for a while. In fact, the heel of this leather sandal was melted by the scorching sun and cracked. Its high fever is unprecedented in our life.

At 5 pm, everyone got on the bus and continued to visit. After visiting a stupa first, it was getting late. Under my reminder, the guide took us to another stupa. In order to watch the sunset in Tallinn, this is the most beautiful scenery in Bagan.

After getting off the bus, in order to show respect for Buddhism, according to the custom of Burmese people, they should take off their shoes and go barefoot along the steep steps and climb a circle of platforms halfway up the pagoda. At this time, it was about half past six. The sunset scattered the afterglow of the sunset on various pagodas in Bagan from a distance, reflecting the unearthed red light, highlighting the solemnity and giving people a spiritual shock. Looking from a distance, the mountains are undulating, and the Irrawaddy River shines with the last glory of the sunset. Although the waist of the tower is small, it also gathers tourists from all over the world, especially from Europe and America. Everyone walked barefoot around the waist of the tower, looking for angles to take pictures and watch, trying to freeze this so-called most magnificent sunset in Southeast Asia in memory.

In the face of this cultural heritage with a thousand years of history, how should future generations cherish it today? Oh, Bagan, you belong not only to Myanmar, but also to the whole world and all mankind! People on earth should not only praise your magnificence, but also do something to protect your eternity.