The National Races Village, representing as a small Union of Myanmar, near the city of Yangon, is an attractive site for a visit. If tourists who have no sufficient time to travel throughout Myanmar, I would like to suggest them to visit the National Races Village for observing traditions and customs of Myanmar National Races. Now, I would like to present to our audience salient aspects of the “National Races Village”.

The village is a magnificent spectacle of Myanmar nationals:

Kachin, Kayar, Kayin, Chin, Bamar, Mon, Rakhine and Shan where the visitors can study their houses, traditional customs, utensils and model significant places of the respective regions displayed there. The village opens daily for visitors.

The National races village, being built on the bank of Bago River, located in Tharkayta Township, Yangon Division, near the motorway at the end of significant Yangon. Thanlyin Bridge, which was built to memorize Chinese-Myanmar friendship. The visitors can to there via Shukhinthar road and approach road of Thanlyn bridge. The Bago River is incessantly and quietly flowing in the east of the National Races Village.

The village was inaugurated on 28th December in year 2000. It is on 117.45 acres of land. Now, let’s study the interesting places in the village.

As the visitors step into the village, they will first see the decorated archway and then find a map of the whole village. After that, a watch tower decorated with traditional Myanmar handicrafts. It was opened in January 2004, and it is 119 feet high and 48 feet wide. It is highest building in the whole village and the visitors can enjoy a bird’s eyes view of scenic beauty of the entire village and its vicinity.

The visitors will first see the traditional house of Bamar national on the right side of the village. It is a neat and tidy wooden house built on long posts as the best model house of Bamar national.

In the front of the house, there is a lion statue – the emblem of Bamar national. The stairs of the ladder are wide. In front of the yard, there is a fancy bullock-cart and orchid garden as well as a well. The house has five rooms. On the upstairs, there is a prayer-room, and a parlour with a lacquer-cupboard in which religious scriptures are kept. There are some other utensils in the parlour as well. At the foot of the ladder, there is a stand for drinking water pot. Kitchen is attached to the dinning room. The visitors can also observe the circular lacquer-trays on the stands in the kitchen. There is a bed room at the front part of the house for parents and the other one at the foot of parent’s room for daughters. The house is roofed with brick tiles. There is a barn and a cowshed in the back yard. Outside the house compound, there are prominent Thakka Nyi Naung and Gyo-Pyay-Nan-Pyay pagodas. Barmar nationals in the neat and tidy traditional to the visitors.

On the opposite side of Barmar house, there is a Rakhine traditional house. The visitors can see coins of Waithali era of AD 600, at the entrance to the house. The house was built on long posts.

There is a well and a traditional racing boat. The house is in a wide yard, where the visitors will meet beautiful Rakhine damsels in their traditional costumes. The visitors can also study the statue of Byarla which is a mythical antelope, built with parts of 9 animals. There is a loom on the ground floor. On the first floor there is a parlour decorated with objects of local marine products. Prayer-room, bed-rooms and dinning room are on the first floor. It is a wooden house with matted bamboo partitions, including a wide, neat and tidy room. It is noticeable the high living standard of Myanmar nationals in the house with parent’s room; parlour and prayer-room are particularly separated. There is a small replica of prominent Htoke Kant Thein pagoda of Rakhine State.

Form the Rakhine national’s house, the visitors can stroll along the road to the Mon national’s traditional house and the replica of golden Kyaik Hteeyoe pagoda, as the emblem of Mon State. The house is also built on long posts, facing north. It has double parallel roofings with the shape of English alphabet “A”. Having built on long posts, animals and utensils can be kept on the ground floor. With the traditional house, the visitors will meet the beautiful Mon damsels in their traditional costumes. The first floor is so wide that is divided into three parts. There are prayer-room, grandparent’s room, daughter’s room, kitchen and the room for the bachelor sons. Mon traditional crocodile shaped harp, fishing equipment and farm implements can also be observed in the house. In the backyard there are pepper plantations grown systematically. There is a souvenior shop on the ground floor for visitors to buy gifts before they return home.

A full day is needed to study completely in the national races village. It is the most suitable recreation centre for families, as well as people looking for knowledge and tourists, who are interested in Myanmar scenic views.