Lashio is a booming town on the road to Muse, the border town with China’s Yunnan Province. For this reason it has a large Chinese population and therefore some interesting Chinese Buddhist temples.

Lashio was particularly important during the Second World War as part of the transport route to China – the “Burma Road” – which supplied food and arms to Chiang Kai-Shek’s Kuomintang Army. Closing this channel was one of the principal reasons the Japanese decided to invade Burma in 1941.

Lashio has repeatedly had to rebuild itself from the ashes, most recently after 1988 when a fire ripped through the town, so not much of historical interest remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, while in the town it is worth visiting the Maha Bodayaong, from within its seven-storey tower you can look over a wide view of the town, the Thatana Pagoda up a steep staircase from the Muse Road, and the Myoma Market between Landmadaw Street and Thukha Road. 

More interesting is what lies in wait outside of the town … It is now possible to go on adventures up into the hills that surround Lashio. Trekking, mountain biking, and stand-up paddle boarding is all on offer. You can meet people from the Ta-ang mountain communities and enjoy picnics looking out over sweeping valleys. Free-swimming, water-fall jumping, and treks across paddy fields and along hunting tracks can all be arranged.