YANGON RISING

Yangon is a city that builds among, rather than against, its ruins. Stately heritage buildings loom over a classic Southeast Asian scene of smoky street food stalls and swarms of scooters. Early mornings are particularly lively, as women sashay while balancing bags or baskets filled with produce on their heads, and men—many dressed in the traditional sarong-like longyi—crouch over small plastic stools for morning coffee and banter. Monks roam around the city, barefoot and often with a briefcase and smartphone in tow.

It was only seven years ago that the veil was lifted on Myanmar,