Thousands fill the streets of Mandalay to greet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Residents lined the road from the airport, eager to catch sight of her, as she campaigns for April elections

The 66-year-old Nobel Peace laureate has been drawing tens of thousands of people to her rallies since she kicked off her party's campaign about a month ago. An estimated 200,000 people showed up in Mandalay.

Myanmar's April by-elections will be closely watched by the United States and Europe as they consider lifting sanctions.

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy or NLD, is fielding 48 candidates for parliament in the vote, seen by many as largely a symbolic challenge to a government controlled by former generals.

(SOUNDBITE) (Burmese) MYANMAR OPPOSITION LEADER, AUNG SAN SUU KYI, SAYING:

"When I see the people of Mandalay, it gives me strength, and also hope. I see that there are a lot of opportunities to do what we want to do for our country."

The NLD enjoys enormous support in Mandalay

(SOUNDBITE) (Burmese) MONK, U THAYZA, SAYING:

"Change is not just a wish. For the sake of all the people, and not only for the sake of Auntie Suu. We have to start the change in ourselves, then other people will change. Then the society, then the country. If the whole country changes, the whole country will develop,"

Despite irregularities in the country's 2010 election, diplomats and analysts expect the April polls will be free and fair because the participation of Suu Kyi.

If they come off, analysts say it would be a powerful endorsement of Myanmar's fledgling democratic system.

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters