Shwe Bo is located in Sagaing Division which is in the northwest of Mandalay between Kachin and Chin States. In the west, it has common border with India. Sagaing on the west bank of the Ayarwaddy with Mandalay on the opposite bank is the capital of the division. Neighboring towns are ShweBo, the first capital of the Konbaung Dynasty, and Monywa, the chief commercial city on the Chin Dwin River. Kawlin and Wuntho are famous for the gold mines. The towns in the division are easily accessible by road.

 

Shwebo can be reached by car or rail from Mandalay under four hours. The Pyu culture dating back to the second century A.D. flourished at Hanlin, the ruins of which can still be seen, a few miles south of Shwebo. Travel by car under less than an hour. It is the rice bowl of Upper Myanmar with vast stretches of paddy land. Shwe Bo is 64 miles north of Mandalay on the motor and railroad to Myitkyina. It is 17 miles west of Kyauk Myaung, a river-side town on the Ayeyarwady river.

There are many obvious places, buildings and pagodas in Shwebo region. Shwebo was the native town of U  Aung Zeya, the founder of the Kone Baung Dynasty against the rule of the Mon Monarchy in 1752 and lasted over two centuries. He subdued all the war-lords and racial chieftains and unified the whole country under one kingdom. As Shwebo was the first capital of the last dynasty of Myanmar kings, there is a belief that the land in this place is a land of victory. Even after the capital was shifted to other places, the Kings, their royal officials and high ranking army commanders used to come back to tread the "earth of victory land" at Shwebo, in a ceremonial way. During colonial times this belief was discouraged, but still the people, continued to believe that before any important undertaking the victory land at Shwebo should be trod. After Independence, the people of Shwebo under the guidance of Webu Sayadaw, built a Victory Land Pagoda and established a Victory Land Enclosure, and also a monastery called Aung Mye Kyaung Daik or Victory Land Monastery.

 

Visitors nowadays usually take back a handful of Victory earth to keep in their houses. The place and other royal parks, lakes, moats and watch tower have been neglected, disrepaired, ravaged and ruined in the last two centuries. With the promotion of the tourism industry, the government has launched upon the reconstruction of the palace buildings, parks and dredged the royal lake for the benefit of the visitors and locals. Shwe Bo which is also famous for glazed pottery works from toys, cups, letters, bowls, pots to huge water jars that are tied in hundreds and floated down the river as rafts. These are widely used throughout the country.