Capital of Shan State, Myanmar
About Taunggyi
Taunggyi is the capital and largest city of Shan State, Myanmar. It also serves as the administrative seat of Southern Shan State. Situated on the eastern mountains of Myanmar at an elevation of 4,712 feet above sea level, it is a city known for its pleasant and cool climate. Unlike many other cities, Taunggyi is built directly along the mountain ridges rather than on the valley floor.
Etymology
The name Taunggyi (Burmese: တောင်ကြီးမြို့, Shan: ဝဵင်းတူၼ်ႈတီး) means "big mountain" in Burmese, referencing a ridge on the east of the city, part of the Shan Hills system, whose prominent high point is called Taung-chun or "The Spur." Locally this spur is also known as Mingalar Taung-chun, meaning “The Auspicious Spur.” The ridge has a more prominent and more popular feature known as Chauk Talone, meaning the Craigs. Taunggyi is also known as Tonti (ဝဵင်းတူၼ်ႈတီး, Shan pronunciation: [weŋ˥ ton˧˧˨ ti˥]) in Shan and ဝေင်ꩻတောင်ႏကီꩻ (Pa'O pronunciation: [weŋ˨ tɔːŋ˧ kiː˨]) in Pa'O.
History
Before the British colonial era, Taunggyi was a small "Pa.O" village, The original name "Taunggyi" is "DonTaungTe" in the Pa.O language. The current name, “Taunggyi”, translates to "Big Mountain" in Burmese, a reference to the massive ridge (the Taung-chun or Crag) that looms over the city to the east. The modern development of Taunggyi began following the British annexation of Upper Burma in 1885. Initially, the British colonial administration established its administrative headquarters for the Shan States at Maing Thauk (Fort Stedman) on the eastern shore of Inle Lake. However, the location proved unsuitable due to the prevalence of malaria and the damp, low-lying geography. In 1894, the British government decided to relocate the administrative offices to the higher, healthier elevation of the plateau where the village of Taunggyi stood. …
Geography
Taunggyi is at an elevation of 4,712 feet (1,436 m) above sea level. It sits on a high intermontaine basin (erroneously called a plateau) that rapidly descends to the western lowland river valleys that make up central Myanmar, but is otherwise surrounded by mountain range. The city is 635 kilometres (395 mi) from Yangon (Rangoun) by road. Taunggyi has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa), closely bordering a subtropical highland climate (Cwb). There is a winter dry season (December–March) and a summer wet-season (April–November). Temperatures are very warm throughout the year; the winter months (December–February) are milder and the nights can be quite cool.
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