Myanmar’s last royal capital harbored the most learned Buddhist monks and exquisite artists, citizens speaking the most refined Burmese and cooks who prepared the best curries in the land. Mandalay was rhapsodized as the nation’s cultural core.
Today, along the grand moat of the former royal palace, Chinese music rings out as people perform tai chi exercises, a sign of an uneasy transformation taking place in Myanmar’s second-largest city. This once quintessential Burmese metropolis, residents say, is losing its traditions as a massive influx of Chinese migrants reshapes it in their own likeness.
“I feel that I am no longer a resident of Mandalay,” says Nyi Nyi Zaw, a 30-year-old journalist, adding that problems between Burmese and Chinese caused by the changing dynamics have become a staple of his reporting. “They (Chinese people) look like the residents. They have money, so they have the power.”
As China’s shadow grows in Southeast Asia, residents of Myanmar’s former royal capital are lamenting an influx of Chinese migrants.
This makeover of Mandalay — located about 300 kilometers (185 miles) from China’s Yunnan province and at the crossroads of trade, transport and smuggling routes — reflects a Chinese footprint across Southeast Asia that has grown alongside Beijing’s economic and military clout. And it is one that is expected to widen as China pushes forward with its One Belt, One Road initiative to link Eurasian nations via land and sea routes.
