It flows through northern Shan state and Sagaing Division, and enters the Ayeyarwady at Inywa, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Tagaung and south of Katha.

But the event is that when the Anawrahta visited Nanzhao in quest of the Buddha's tooth while returning, married Sao-Môn-la, a daughter of the Mong Mao king.

[4][5] The fall of the kingdom of Bagan in the 13th century, however, saw a resurgence of Shan power, although King Bayinnaung (1551–1581) of the Taungoo Dynasty succeeded in pacifying them to establish Burmese suzerainty once and for all.

[3][6] King Hsinbyushin (1763–1776) of the Konbaung Dynasty also successfully resisted Chinese army in Sino-Burmese War (1765-9) that advanced down the Shweli and Myitnge river valleys.

[6] The territory south of the Shweli, about 500–600 square kilometres (190–230 sq mi), north of Namtu and from Namkham to the west, was under the control of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) from 1968 to 1986.

[11] Muse is connected to Ruili on the Chinese side, there is a roaring trade in goods and services across the "Gun Bridge", so called because of the armaments transported from China to the military government of Burma.

[14] More recently, Chinese hybrid rice called sinn shweli has been introduced by the military authorities to the local farmers as part of the opium eradication drive, most of the crop is to be exported back to China.