In the hills above Mandalay, the old British summer capital of Myanmar, is a microcosm of the country's imperial past and its Orwellian present.
It is also at the centre of the ruling generals' plans for their future rule.
Maymyo's most interesting resident lives anonymously in a mock Tudor villa that appears to have been plucked straight from the countryside in southern England. He might be the king of this country if the British had not toppled his grandfather, King Thibaw, in 1885.
According to Taw Paya, 84, the old monarchy can still stir emotions in Myanmar, although his family gave up any political aspirations long ago.
'It's slowly being forgotten by the educated people, but the country people still have lingering memories,' he said. 'Whenever one of us royal types goes out there, everyone crowds around as if you had come down from a satellite.'
Taw Paya rarely travels, 'because of the restrictions this wretched government imposes on one's movements', but such constraints have always been a fact of his life.