Keng Tung: Temples, Festivals and Lake

Keng Tung offers a range of options for your stay: historic buildings, temples, festival traditions and centrally located Naung-Tong Lake. If you are looking for a hotel, identifying your priorities can help with planning your trip: are you particularly interested in the city’s history and architecture, festivals, or the scenery by the lake? The regional market schedule and local Shan noodles are also specific topics to explore on site.

City History and Architectural Styles

Pa-Lyan Gate is the only surviving structure of the twelve original city gates built by the Sawbwa. It is located in Ward 2 of Keng Tung. Keng Tung Haw Nan houses archival photographs of the Sawbwas, as well as a royal ceremonial drum, a throne and a royal couch used by former rulers. The gate and these objects shed light on different aspects of the history of rule: the surviving city gate on the one hand, and images and ceremonial objects of former rulers on the other.

Wat Ho Khone is a Shan-style temple and monastery, located opposite Maha Myat Muni Temple. Its architecture is influenced by temples of the 13th-century Shan-Lanna Kingdom. Its location opposite Maha Myat Muni Temple establishes a specific connection to the area, while the Shan-Lanna Kingdom’s influence places the architecture in its historical context.

Keng Tung’s main street is lined with colonial-era shops, bungalows and churches. Keng Tung is said to have more than 30 Buddhist temples, known as Shan Wat. The city’s buildings thus range from a varied main street to its Buddhist temples.

Naung-Tong Lake and the Landscape

Naung-Tong Lake is located in the center of Keng Tung. A 1,900-meter-long walking path runs around the lake. If you include it in your day’s plans, you can use the distance as a specific measure for your route; check the condition of the path locally. Hills surround the lake, with mountains in the distance around the Keng Tung Basin. This offers two different scales of landscape: the immediate surroundings of the lake and the wider scenery of the basin.

Festivals and Regional Traditions

Tazaung-daing, also known as the Festival of Lights, is celebrated on the full moon day of Tazaung-mon, which usually falls in November. The exact date varies according to the lunar calendar. During the festival, people celebrate on Keng Tung’s main streets, and songs and dances are performed near the temples. If you would like to plan your trip around it, check the exact festival date. For planning purposes, the relevant date is the full moon day each year, not a fixed date in November.

At the Akha New Year festival, Akha women wear traditional helmet-like headdresses; colorful traditional Akha outfits are also on display. The two festivals have different points of interest: for Tazaung-daing, the full moon date and celebration locations are relevant; for Akha New Year, the headdresses and outfits described above are the focus.

Across the wider travel region of Shan State, community markets traditionally take turns: each town or village holds a market every five days. If a specific market day matters for your plans, ask for the current date in advance. Shan noodles are readily available at street food stalls in Keng Tung.

Discover more destinations: Kyawkku, Pindaya, Aungpan, Pekon, Kalaw, Hsipaw, Tachileik, Taunggyi

See the broader travel overview: Shan State.