Zegyo (Zay Cho) Market

Why Zegyo (Zay Cho) Market is special ?

Zaycho Market (also spelled Zay Cho, Zeigyo, Zaygyo, Zegyo Market) is the largest and the most important market in Mandalay as well as in upper Burma. Built since the time of King Mindon, Zaycho market is one of the oldest markets in Myanmar. Zaycho in Burmese means “cheap price”. Whether the prices are really cheap or not is difficult to answer. However, this is the market that goods and products from all over Myanmar as well as goods from India, China and Thailand are sold in lots. Zaycho market is the whole sale market as well as the retail market. You can find anything from Thai silk, Chinese (actually Burmese in origin) jade, Indian spice to Burmese handicraft, arts and jewellery. There are shops that sell food, fruits, household accessories, clothes and electronics. Upper Burma’s largest jewellery and gold market can be found here occupying the whole floor of one of the buildings.

In 1990s, the government demolished the old market buildings and rebuilt new ones in the place. There are now 8 market buildings, all of them four storey buildings except one which is six stories.

Source: http://www.myanmar2day.com/

What to explore at Zegyo (Zay Cho) Market?

With nearly 3,000 stores in a five-storey, modern-mall-looking building called Diamond Plaza (or Yadanarbon Market as the older generation knows it), this market sticks out like a spaceship in the middle of town. Don’t let the modern feel fool you though, as it still offers many Burmese-made goods and a local vibe. Yadanarbon Market is officially on the ground floor with more than 1,500 shops, and creates a foundation for the four floors that Skywalk Shopping Mall sits on; the contents of the shops overall are not as varied as Zegyo (nowhere else is!) but you might be interested in one of the three air-con movie theatres at the top, which show Western and Burmese movies from around noon. Thanks to the nearby arcade and rows of tea and beer stations surrounding the plaza, this has become a hub for Mandalay teenagers and tourists looking to escape the heat.

Source: http://www.travelfish.org/