As Myanmar goes to the polls on Sunday in the first of three phases in a tightly controlled election, brightly coloured campaign posters loom over families with children still hacking a living from the rubble of buildings destroyed in Mandalay’s devastating earthquake nine months ago.

A coup set off a brutal civil war and made a poor country poorer. Now its military rulers are seeking a veneer of legitimacy by holding elections.

Myanmar's military government begins the voting process as critics denounce the election lacking major opposition parties and genuine choice.

Myanmar kicks off its three-phase general elections on Sunday, with the government promising it will mark a "turning a new page for Myanmar".

On Wednesday morning, poetry and song became more than performances. They became a bridge between the two neighboring nations. The classical poetry recitation and musical concert, jointly organized by China's Guangxi Radio and Television and Myanmar Radio and Television under Myanmar's Ministry of Information,