Myitkyina

Myitkyina stands on the western bank of the Irrawaddy, a short distance below the meeting of its two great headstreams, the Mali and N'mai. Its Burmese name means “near the big river”. From the confluence the young Irrawaddy runs south past the settlement, carrying the waters of the northern mountains toward the plains of Burma. Downstream, its course passes through a succession of narrow defiles.