If you want to go for a shopping in Mandalay, here are some tips.

Most of the workshops and their galleries are located on 36th street but there were actually two I found which were open for visitors: King Galon and Golden Rose. The people at King Galon were very friendly and walked me through their whole shop explaining everything. It was amazing how the gold-beaters swung their 3 kg hammers in a monotonous rhythm over and over again. Almost like music. It takes them hours to produce those fine gold leaves, light as air, which are sent all across the country for the Buddhist worshipers. Gold is the offering of choice in the thousands of temples and stupas of Myanmar. Especially for worshiping Buddha statues, the gold leaves play an important role. More on that later. I got lucky here because I was all by myself, getting a lot of explanations. Before I left, a big tour group arrived which instantly made the whole thing less enjoyable. Oh yeah, and it is for free.