Did You Know – About Myanmar (Burma)

• Myanmar has three seasons: hot, rainy, and cold
• Myanmar is one of three nations that has not yet adopted the metric system so distance is measured in inches, feet, and miles
• Weight and mass is measured in baskets and viss, with 1 basket equaling 8 tins (about soup cans) and a viss equaling 3.6 pounds
• In Myanmar New Year is celebrated with a “water pouring festival” to symbolize the washing away of the previous year’s bad luck and sins – and it lasts 4 days – expect to get wet!
• The Myanmar calendar uses lunar months and solar years
• Days of the month are counted in two halves, according to the waxing and waning of the moon
• American money must be new, crisp, clean, and unwrinkled to be exchangeable in Myanmar
• This is the year 1375 on the Myanmar calendar
• The Burmese alphabet contains 33 consonants and 12 vowels, a circular script, and no required spaces between words

We’d like to thank our webmaster, Yin Min Nwe, a Myanmar native, for her assistance.