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Bo Gu / NBC News
A young Burmese man sells oranges at Yangon's Theingyi Zei market.
YANGON, Myanmar – Yangon’s five-star hotels instantly relaxed me as soon as I checked into one after a long journey to this distant place usually closed to foreigners.
A smiling porter opened the taxi door and promptly took my luggage. Petite girls in traditional dresses spoke impeccable English at the front desk while I checked in and another young woman offered me orange juice. The sound of chanting monks echoed off a lake when I opened my balcony door; crystal waters of the hotel pool beckoned.
Clean, neat souvenir shops captured my attention with delicate puppets and “I Love Myanmar” T-shirts.
But I was confronted with a completely different world once I walked away from the tourist area and into the old town district where cracked sidewalk stones was the norm.
Bo Gu / NBC News
A young woman and a baby smile at the camera in downtown Yangon, Myanmar.
Instead of fancy shop windows, a bustling market sold everything on the street. Hundreds of stalls sold fruits I couldn’t name, snacks of all colors, fresh and dried seafood, flip-flops, pancakes, remote controls, stationary, and even Justin Bieber posters.
The market had much of what you would see anywhere in Southeast Asia, but there were three things I noticed that were distinct to Myanmar (formerly known as Burma before the ruling military junta changed the name):
Smiles
I live in a country where people rarely smile at strangers – China – which may explain why I came to feel spoiled by the Burmese people’s constant, friendly and bright smiles. Women or children, monks or street peddlers, they all smiled and posed for me when I took pictures of them.
Their cheerful expressions seemed to belie the fact that they are an oppressed people under a military regime that still puts human rights activists in jail. But occasionally, out of the blue, one of them would whisper to me, “I hate my government.”
My trip was short, so I cannot say I understand the Burmese people, but I sensed they are so eager to communicate with people from the outside. They want the world to know how much they suffer – in a beautiful country with pleasant weather, but with an oppressive authority. And yet they begin that communication with the beautiful gesture of smiles.
Bo Gu / NBC News
A street peddler prepares a betel nut roll in Yangon.
Betel nuts
Burmese men seem to always be either preparing a betel nut roll or chewing one. Although once banned by the government in mid-90s, chewing the mild stimulant that leaves a distinctive red mouth is still extremely popular and betel stands can be seen every few blocks.
It’s fun to watch boys and men dexterously roll up what looks like a tiny burrito made of green leaf containing a mixture of betel nuts, lime paste and tobacco. They put this tiny burrito into their mouths, chew, grind and spit it out onto the ground, leaving a thick, reddish brown spittle that dots the sidewalks of Yangon.
Magical facial paste
Another distinctive color on the streets of Yangon is the white paste that nearly every woman and child wears on their face. The whitish sticky paste, called “thanakha” in Burmese, can be made from teak, bark or other tree varieties mixed with water and other flavored ingredients.
Like in many other Asian countries, local women favor the magical paste for its supposed whitening effect, as well as its special power to smooth skin, prevent acne, and most importantly, cool skin from tropical sunburns.
Women and children apply the paste on both their cheeks and nose, in a square or round shape. They walk around with the mud on their faces all day; I couldn’t help wondering if they wear the paste when they sleep.
From the hotel souvenir shop I bought a small bottle of lime scented thanakha for $1. It didn’t seem to stay on my cheeks for very long, but I enjoyed the coolness, just like any other facial mud or moisture masks we apply at home. With the thanakha on my face and donning a blue and white flower-patterned longyi – a sheet of cloth widely worn in Myanmar – I felt like a local, at least on the outside. As for what it truly feels like to be Burmese – willing to give a smile to a stranger while living under an iron-handed government – that I can only imagine.
(Burma, Myanmar – what’s the difference? The country’s ruling military junta changed the name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989. The capital, Rangoon, also became Yangon. The United Nations has recognized the name change, but the U.S. and the U.K. do not).
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Well, as a Burmese, I can really let you know how the people inside really experience life and how religious ideology shapes it.
The smiles on the people's faces, as you have seen, are not rare. They are borne from the Buddhist culture (about 80% of the Burmese population is Buddhist). We have a belief for non-violence and karma. We believe that all the bad things the government have done in this 50 years of oppression will one day come back to haunt them, no matter how long that may take.
Also, Buddhism is deeply rooted in the power of positive thinking. Therefore, many people, though they are greatly unsatisfied with the government, tend not to focus on the dark government repression, but on the brilliant sparks of daily life.
In order to really feel like a Burmese on the inside, as you have tried to be on the outside, I truly urge you to first experience a trip to a meditation centre, or a monastery, which dots the map of Yangon, or visit one of the international meditation centres--
What you have written makes the most sense. I learned about the Burmese after I saw pictures from the tsunami... (mainstream yes, but I am no world traveler) My heart hurt after seeing images of dozens of deceased children floating in the water. I learned then about thier governmentbut it didnt phase me as much as those childrens peaceful faces. No matter your government, no matter your wealth, your struggle... beauty and peace are found right in front of you. Life will provide everyone with struggle, but they listened to Buddha's teaching.
Plus, a false image of happiness can been seen through by anyone with intuition... and that intent is selfish. I dont see the Burmese as selfish.
Finally, some ordinary news coming out of Burma. That they can still smile after 50 years of repression says a lot about the strength of character of the Burmese people.
It's BURMA - not Myanmar!
B U R M A
It's actually Myanmar. Burma was the name given by the English colonialists because the largest ethnic group in 'Burma' at that time were the Bamar people. Therefore, Myanmar is a more politically correct name and an appropriate name for a country that is comprised of various ethnicities. So, don't believe this propoganda you read in the media about the Myanmar vs Burma name debate.
Yes .. it is truly one of the world's unique countries where people are genuinely nice and polite by nature to everyone. God bless them !
Yes, Myanmar people love smiling. It seems that the writer have been there for the first time. Please don't look only at the face. They usually smile outside and cry inside. Please look into their hearts and listen to their heart beats.
Thailand used to be called the Land of Smiles because everyone was so happy. Now they fight, and try to figure out how to make more money off the foreigners. If Burma opens up, hopefully they will not go the way of Thailand.
I knew a Burmese couple many years ago. Two of the all around best people I ever knew. I think they are a rather special people because they want to be.
Living in Northern Thailand and not too far from the Myanmar border for about 6 years now. People in this region have facial expressions that consist of different types of smiles. It takes a while to read them. There are smiles for disdain, embarrassment, deception and many others. It just happens their range of facial expressions contain mostly smiles. When foreigners first visit they think "wow these people are so friendly and happy". With experience a visitor learns these facial expressions. Don't get me wrong because smiles are good and contagious but many visitors initially come away with a distorted and inaccurate impression.
I love this country, the people, their positive attitude and their friendly manners to every visitor interested in the culture and way of living. Fritz
hmmm. might just be a cultural thing. In some culture people smile to express anxiety in presence of strangers. It's just something they do to disarm a tense situation, a way to put visitors off guard, not necessarily an expression of friendliness or welcome. The writer of this article is obviously making the mistake of judging behavior of people of other culture with his/her own cultural reference.
Yeah, it is a culture thing. Doesn't mean that things are just hunky-dory.
But it sure makes it more pleasant to be in a place like that than in the US, where people complain all the time!
It's good to hear some news - any news - coming out of Burma. Nice story. The photographs of the people are great.
Burma was given as a name for the country by the British colonialists, from the ethnic majority Burmah, and is nowadays still used primarily by the opposition as well as foreign activists. People inside the country call it Myanma(r). Same goes for the Burmese people; they are accordingly Myanmars.
As far as the biggest city - the British called it Rangoon while Yangon is used domestically (try to get the Burmese to pronounce R and perhaps you´ll understand why.
To say that the smiles on the faces of the Burmese people may not be from happiness...sharing happiness, striving for happiness...says you don't understand Buddhists. There is no discomfort, intent to deceive, or anything like that in their smiles. The entire Buddhist culture is build on happiness and love. Although the people in the country may be forced to call it Myanmar, make no mistake that they're happy about that. There's a difference between doing something because you want to and doing something because you're made to. I'm sure they'd like someone to intervene and free them from the military rule, but it won't happen. Just like it won't happen for Tibet. It's because everyone's afraid of making China mad, and there's no oil to be gained. Sickening. I'm glad that the people of Burma can still find some happiness and peace.
Myanma(r) changed it's name from Burma because Burma was their colonial, slave name. Get used to it. The United States is not West Britain, either.
No, but New England is still New England!!
There is the possibility (not to take away from the beauty and resilience of the people) that the gov't oppression is not as severe as portrayed in the media. We're led to believe it's like being on one of the 35000 slave ship trips to the US or Nazi Germany concentration camps.
I had the same "smile" shock when I moved to Indonesia from Japan years ago....from a no-smile, serious place where people are (at least then were!) economically and socially and politically secure to people who are very poor, live with corruption and political uncertainty, and yet value positive human relations....
May be people in Myanmar are genuinely happy under current government rule. May be the grave picture painted by the western media is incorrect and exaggerated.