Taunggyi is famous throughout Myanmar for its cheroots — large, loosely packed cigars wrapped in a green leaf and smoked by locals of all ages and both sexes. Several small workshops in town allow visitors to watch the production process. Workers, typically women, sit cross-legged on the floor rolling the cheroots by hand with speed and dexterity, filling them with a mixture of tobacco, dried banana, and other local herbs that give Shan-style cheroots their distinctive mild flavour.
The finished product is sold in bundles for a few kyat at the market. The cheroots burn slowly, are much milder than ordinary cigarettes, and are ubiquitous in the tea shops and markets of the Shan hills. Even if you don't smoke, the factory visit is interesting — the rolling technique is impressive to watch.
Ask at your guesthouse for the location of the nearest working factory; the industry is distributed through the residential streets around the market.