Shwebo

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Shwebo is a city in the Sagaing Division of Myanmar, located 113 km north-west of Mandalay on the eastern bank of the Chindwin River. It is along the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway line but is best reached by pickup truck bus the roads from Mandalay and Monywa are in reasonably good shape.

The area around Shwebo was the site of the anient Pyu city-state of Hanlin.

Shwebo was royal capital of Burma under King Alaungpaya (who was a Shwebo native) from 1760-1764. He used the city as a base from which to conquer Ava and Lower Burma, establishing the Third Burmese Empire. His successor, King Hsinbyushin, moved the capital to Amarapura in the 1780s, and the city has been in decline ever since.

As with Monywa, the city is a trade center for agricultural produce, especially beans, rice and sesame from the surrounding plains between the Mu and the Ayeyarwady River.

The major tourist attraction in Shwebo(although very few tourists make it here, and facilities are very limited) are its numerous Buddhist temples, and the ruins of Alaungpaya's palace. The city is still surrounded by its ancient moat.