| Lashio is the largest town in northern Shan State, Myanmar, situated in 22° 56' N. and 97° 45' E. at an altitude of 2746 ft. (836 meters), on a low mountain spur overlooking the valley of the Nam Yao river, a tributary of the Nan river, itself one of five tributaries of the Chao Phraya River, the most important river in Thailand. The 1960 population of Lashio was roughly 5,000. The population is made up of mostly Bamar (Burmans), Shan and Chinese. The annual rainfall averages 54 in. The average maximum temperature is 80.5° and the average minimum 55.5°.
The British colonial period in this part of the country began in 1883, and the Burma Railways line from Mandalay reached Lashio in 1903.
Lashio is located at the end of the Burma Road, and at the terminus of the Mandalay-Kun Long railway and of the government cart road from Mandalay, from which it is 178 m. distant. Before British rule Lashio was also the centre of authority for the northern Shan States, but the Burmese post in the valley was close to the Nam Yao, in an old Chinese fortified camp. The Lashio valley was formerly very populous; but a rebellion, started by the sawbwa of Hsenwi, about ten years before the British occupation, ruined it.
In 1900, the town of Lashio consisted of the European station, with court house and quarters for the civil officers; the military police post, the headquarters of the Lashio battalion of military police; and the native station, in which the various nationalities, Shans, Burmans, Hindus and Mahommedans, who were divided into separate quarters, with reserves for government servants and for the temporary residences of the five sawbwas of the northern Shan States; and a bazaar.
Religious sites include the Sasana (Pyilon Chanta) Pagoda and the Mansu Pagoda. Yepusan spa is nearly five miles away from the city center, and is healthful in winter. In 2000, Lashio was important for border trade between Burma and China. Lashio Thein Aung is a famous Burmese singer who derived his name from this city.
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