Yangon Hotels and Travel Guide

Yangon began as a small Mon village known as Dagon. It was captured by King Alaungpaya and was renamed Yangon, "end of strife". The town remained insignificant until the British colonial capital by the British in the 1850s, after the capture of Lower Burma. The British knew it as "Rangoon", the Anglicised form of Yangon. The city grew rapidly during the colonial period, which left a legacy of solid 19th-century colonial architecture. Burma attained independence in 1948, but it's true 'modern' period begins with the 1962 military coup and the institution of an isolationist Socialist regime in 1964, resulting in the steady decay of the city and its infrastructure.

In 1988, Rangoon was the site of peaceful pro-democracy protests, in which thousands, including monks and students were gunned down. In 1989, the city was renamed Yangon by the military junta. In 2005, the capital was moved to Naypyidaw, but Yangon continues to be an important commercial and cultural centre.

The majority of the city's population is Bamar (ethnic Burmese). The largest minorities are the Chinese and Indians, two immigrant groups that arrived during the 1800s. Ethnic groups such as the Shan and Kayin are also present. Kabya, or persons of mixed heritage, are common in Yangon.

The climate is monsoonal, with three distinct seasons: a rainy season from June to October, a cooler and drier "winter" from November to February, and a hot dry season from March to May.

The winter season from November to January is markedly less humid and cooler than the remaining months, and hence sees the greatest number of visitors. Nevertheless, major festivals occur throughout the year, notably Thingyan (the water festival, equivalent to the Thai festival of Songkran), in April. (Festivals are keyed to the lunar cycle, specifically to the full-moon days of each lunar month, and therefore fall on different days each year of the Western, solar-based, calendar). see more

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