Sagaing lies 21 km southwest of Mandalay on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River. Sagaing became a capital of an independent Shan kingdom around 1315 after the fall of Bagan had thrown central Myanmar into chaos. Its period of importance was short for in 1364 the founder's grandson, Thado Minbya, moved his capital across the river to Inwa. For four brief years from 1760 to 1764 Sagaing was once again the capital. Today, Sagaing is known as a meditation centre. Myanmars, ail over the country would visit Sagaing for the purpose of religious retreat.

Sagaing Hill
It is known as a religious retreat where over 600 monasteries for monks and nuns are located for Buddhistic studies and meditation. The Padamyazedi dates from 1300 while the Onhmin Thonze or thirty caves pagoda has many Buddha images in a crescent shaped colonnade. Mural paintings can be seen in the Tilawkaguru cave temple, which was built around 1672. The Pa Ba Gyaung is typical of the many monasteries on the hillside. And at the nearby village of Ywahtaung you can see silver workers producing bowls and other silver items by traditional methods.

Inwa Bridge
The road to Sagaing crosses the river on the sixteen span Inwa Bridge that is well over a km long. Opened in 1934 the bridge was put out of action by the British in 1942 when they demolished two spans in order to deny the bridge to the advancing Japanese. Not until 1954 was the bridge repaired and put back into operation. There's a toll to take cars across the bridge, which also carries the rail line. Inwa Bridge used to be the longest-bridge in Myanmar until the emergence of Thanlyin Bridge in 1993.

U Bein's Bridge
South of the Patodawgyi Pagoda the shallow Taungthaman Lake is crossed by a huge teak bridge. During the dry season the bridge crosses dry land. U Bein was the "mayor" at the time of the shift from Inwa and he wisely salvaged material from the deserted Inwa Palace to build this km long footbridge. It has stood the test of time for two centuries.