Pulau Pinang - As Chinese as it Gets in Malaysia

Penang, or Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state on the northwest coast, with the highest population density in the country after Kuala Lumpur. It is the only state where people of Chinese descent form a majority. The western part of the state is an island called Pulau Pinang, inhabited by 600.000 people and encompassing the state capital, George Town. The mainland part of the state is called Sebarang Perai, with slightly more people, but 2.5 times bigger than the island. Main town on the mainland is Butterworth, an important regional transport hub. Pinang means "betel nut" in Malaysian, apparently referring to the shape of the island. It was settled by the British in the 18th century, after the island was offered to them by the Sultan of Kedah in exchange for protection to Burmese and Siamese troops.

The major sights in the state are located on the island. The state capital George Town is considered one of the three Malaysian heritage cities, together with Kota Bharu and Melaka, by Tourism Malaysia. Georgetown is located on the Penang Strait opposite Butterworth on the mainland. The oldest building in the town is Fort Cornwallis. In the city centre are many nice Straits Chinese buildings, like the blue Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion and the Chinese clan-temple Khoo Kongsi. Other nice buildings in the city are the Kapitan Kling mosque or the Burmese Buddhist temple. For a view of the city you can climb the highest building of the town, the white round office building KOMTAR, with a shopping centre at its bottom. Just outside the city are a few other sights, like the snake temple south of the city or the Penang Botanical Gardens just north of the city.

Easily the most impressive sight on the island is the Kek Lok Si temple complex. The Buddhist temple is located on the slopes of Penang Hill. It is still partly under construction, its latest addition being the 30m-high bronze statue of the Goddess of Mercy. In the north of the island is the overdeveloped beach strip of Batu Ferringhi. If you plan to stay on one of the tropical islands in Malaysia, like Tioman or Pangkor, you can easily give them a miss, as much better beaches await you. The northwest corner of the island houses the only pristine forest left on the island and is now designated as a national park.

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The majority of the people on Penang island are of Chinese descent, namely 55% compared to only 30% Malays and about 10% Indians. The Malayan language (Bahasa Melayu) is the official language of the country and understood by most people. Many Chinese people speak the so-called Penang Hokkien dialect, a local variant of the southern Chinese Min Nan dialect and related to Taiwanese and Hainanese. Mandarin, however, promoted by the government among the Chinese people of Malaysia, is on the rise. English is understood widely around Penang, especially by shopkeepers or tourist industry employees.

Climate in Penang is hot and humid the whole year, like the rest of Malaysia. Average daily temperature is always between 25°C and 30°C. Rainfall is abundant from August to November, and January to March are the driest months. Most precipitation comes in the form of heavy but short rain showers, alternating with dry and sometimes sunny periods.

The Malaysian Ringgit or RM is the local tender to be used, with RM1 around 25¢. Due to the proximity of Thailand, Penang is one of the cheapest destinations in the country. A decent meal is available for the standard Malaysian price of RM5-15, but a good double room can be rented for below RM20 in one of the Chinese-run businesses. In George Town these can be found in and around Lebuh Chulia street. No. 431 houses the "Swiss Hotel", with doubles for RM20-30. The rooms are clean but small, and the building looks a little bit like a prison inside. Across the street is the slightly cheaper similar Yeng Keng hotel.

Penang is a paradise for Asian cuisine enthusiasts, comparable to the country capital Kuala Lumpur. Because many people originated from south China, Penang Chinese food is largely influenced by this region, making it more spicy and less greasy then in other parts of Malaysia. Some of my favourite Penang Chinese dishes include Char Kway Teow (fried thick seafood noodles), Hokkien Mee (spicy thin noodles with bean sprouts), and Mee Goreng (stir-fried noodles with mutton). Indian food includes the excellent Nasi Kandar curry rice dish and the flat Roti bread, served as breakfast with fried eggs (Telur) or curry. Good Malay dishes are satay (meat skewers with sweet 'n spicy sauce) and BBQ fish (Ikan Bakar). Nonya cooking is a mix between these styles, apparent in the excellent Penang Laksa, a spicy sour noodle and fish soup.

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Within the city centre in George Town, all sights are within walking distance from the hostel district around Lebuh Chulia. An excellent free shuttle bus does a cycle tour of the city, taking in 20 stops between bottom of the high KOMTAR building and the Jeti (ferry terminal on the eastern edge). During the day, there is one bus every 15min, stopping near tourist spots like the Kapitan Kling mosque or the blue Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. For island transport e.g. towards Batu Ferringhi or Ayer Hitam, buses congregate at the KOMTAR building, sometimes passing the Jeti bus terminal as well. Price of theses buses are normally around RM1-3 (20-80 ¢), depending on the distance you are going. A taxi ride will cost ten times as much, but do agree on the price in advance, as taxis are generally not metered.

The Jeti ferry terminal on Weld Quay offers regular ferry services to Butterworth on the mainland for only RM 0.60 round-trip. From Butterworth two trains a day leave south to KL (around RM 30 for a second-class seat) or north to Hat Yai in Thailand (RM15). Tickets can be pre-booked from the ferry terminal. Long distance buses leave from the Butterworth terminal to Singapore (RM50), Hat Yai (RM20), KL (RM20), Ipoh (RM10) and other Malaysian cities. Buses crossing the Penang Bridge leave from the Sungai Nibong terminal on the island, but this is less convenient for people staying in George Town. Private minibus companies, however, offer convenient tickets at slightly augmented prices, but picking you up at your hotel. From the Swettenham Pier in ferry terminal, you can take a boat to Langkawi island (RM45 one way) and Medan on Sumatra, Indonesia (RM100).

Bayan Lepas International Airport is located in the south of the island. It has regular flights to a few Malaysian cities and to other South-East Asian destinations, like Bangkok or Singapore. It is serviced by Malaysia's low-cost carrier AirAsia, offering cheap flights to KL, Bangkok, and Medan. From the airport, yellow bus no. 83 goes to the Jeti.

The capital of Pulau Pinang is an interesting historical city in the northwest corner of Malaysia. It is located in the east of Penang Island, opposite the mainland city of Butterworth. The city was settled by the British at the end of the 18th century as a trading post for the British East India Company and named after King George III. It became an important trading post in present-day Malaysia and population soon rose to its current 250,000 people living in the city proper. More than half of the population in George Town is of Chinese origin, the highest rate on the Malay peninsula after Singapore.

The oldest building in town is Fort Cornwallis, at the eastern tip facing the Penang Straight and Butterworth. It was first constructed as a defence stockade made of palm tree wood. Soon it was replaced by the current star-shaped brick and stone structure, dating from the beginning of the 19th century. Entrance to the fort is RM1 (25¢). You can climb the walls, dotted with old cannons, for a nice view on the surroundings and there is a souvenir shop inside. Just south of the fort, on the roundabout formed by Lebuh Pantai (Beach Street) and Lebuh Light, is the moorish style 20m tall clock tower, a landmark to the city dedicated to Queen Victoria. Around the clock tower are several colonial buildings, now housing financial and official institutions. Just north of the fort below its walls is the nice Esplanade along the Penang straight. Hawker stalls selling the excellent Penang-style food congregate at the northern end of the Esplanade.

West of the clock tower starts George Town's Chinatown, stretching about 1km inland until the Jalan Penang and Jalan Maxwell intersection. The best preserved 19th and 20th century Chinese shophouses are located in the beautifully named Love Lane, Pitt Street and King Street. Chinatown is also THE place in town to get budget accommodation, mainly in Lebuh Chulia and side street Love Lane. I stayed in the Swiss Hotel (431, Lebuh Chulia) with clean but small rooms (RM20-30), in a building with an interior that looks a bit like a prison. Across the street are other decent hostels like Yeng Keng. The best dorm accommodation can be found in the Love Lane Inn, with dorm beds starting at RM8 or double rooms for RM20-30. Lebuh Muntri, parallel to Lebuh Chulia, houses the cheapest places in town, like the SD Motel (no. 24) or Travellers Lodge (no. 75) with doubles for as low as RM15 (4€).

The eastern part of town, bordering Penang Straight, is George Town's Chinatown. This is the most interesting place in town, with beautiful Chinese shophouses, many of them restored. A free shuttle bus does a circle tour of Chinatown between the white KOMTAR tower and the Jeti (jetty) every 20 min. or so, passing the town's most interesting historical buildings. Near bus stop 7 is the impressive dark blue painted Cheong Fatt Tze mansion (Lebuh Leith) that can be visited on a guided tour twice a day (RM5). The reasonable Penang Museum (RM1) with pictures and art works of local artists is also in Lebuh Leith. A short walk away, in Jalan Kapitan Kling (Pitt Street) is the Chinese-style Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) temple. Some other famous buildings, the Hindu Sri Mariamann temple on Lebuh Queen, the old Kapitan Kling mosque and the Khoo Kongsi clan house (see separate entries for more info) can be found near shuttle bus stop 15 or 16. A few km north of Chinatown is an interesting Thai-style temple, complete with a gold-plated reclining Buddha statue (Wat Chayamankalaram in Lorong Burma), reachable by minibus 31 or 88.

On the western edge of Chinatown is the highest building in Penang, the round white office tower KOMTAR (Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak), reaching over 230m or 65 storeys. You can go to the top for a view over the island or shop at one of its bottom floors or next door in Prangin Mall. At the basement is one of the local transport hubs in George Town, with buses and minibuses all over the island, including to the Sungai Nibong terminal in the south of the island with long-distance buses. Private long-distance minibus companies offer slightly more expensive tickets from the KOMTAR building to Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands or Hat Yai (Thailand).

The second transport hub is the Jeti (jetty) area on Weld Quay, just south of the clock tower. Main service here is the 30min. ferry ride to Butterworth (RM 0.60) where you can take buses or trains to many national and international destinations. Swettenham Pier offers boats to Langkawi (north of Penang, RM35) and Medan (Indonesia, RM100). The Jeti bus station services fewer destinations than the one at KOMTAR, but is more conveniently located for people coming from one of the ferries. If you buy a bus or minibus ticket to Penang from e.g. KL, be sure to check wether it will drop you in George Town or in the Sungai Nibong terminal near the Penang Bridge and the airport, where you have to take a local bus to Jeti or KOMTAR.

Near the free shuttle bus stand no. 15, in Lebuh Cannon off Jalan Masjid Kapitan Kling (Pitt Street) is one of the most beautiful buildings in Penang, Khoo Kongsi or the clanhouse of the Khoo family. The entry to the clanhouse is marked with a signpost in Lebuh Cannon, leading into a small unremarkable passage. At the end of the passage you'll pay the entrance fee of RM5 (1 €). You will come to a square (Cannon Square) surrounded by houses, administrative buildings, an opera stage and the clan temple of the family.

The Khoo family began to emigrate from Hokkien province (China) in the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th century they became one of the wealthiest families in both Malacca (Melaka) and Penang. The clan complex was built in the 19th century and burned down after it was struck by lightning at the end of the century. The temple was replaced by a smaller construction because it was thought that the fire was provoked by the gods due to the resemblance of the complex to the emperor's palace. In this period the family was at the height its wealth and power.

The most magnificent structure in the complex is definitely the beautiful Khoo clan family temple, Leong San Tong, located right on Cannon Square. It is a Chinese-style temple with wonderful wood carvings painted in bright colours, an ornamental roof, statues of deities and heroes and even plaques commemorating honourable members of the clan. Across the square is an ornate Chinese opera stage, still used today at Chinese New Year and other festivities.

Near the Khoo clan house there are two other interesting clan houses in George Town. The first one, Yap Kongsi, is near the Khoo Kongsi entrance passage on the other side of the road. The only surviving structure is the beautiful Yap clan temple, right on the corner of Lebuh Cannon and Lebuh Armenian. If you walk southwards along Lebuh Armenian, there will be another small passage on your right towards Khoo Kongsi (unmarked and sometimes closed) and a little further on your left a narrow passage will lead to the temple compounds of the Cheah clan, similar but smaller than the one of the Khoo clan. You should ask permission at the offices in front if you would want to enter the clan temple or other buildings.

The Kapitan Kling mosque (Masjid Kapitan Keling in Malaysian) is one of the largest and oldest on Penang island. The large square central prayer hall was built at the beginning of the 19th century, facing towards the Muslim Holy city of Mecca according to the islamic Kiblat rule. Only 100 years later the mosque reached its present shape with the addition of the minaret tower and the replacement of the then roof by a large onion-shaped copper dome. The ochre yellow domes were painted black during the 2003 restoration of the mosque.

The mosque is located in Jalan Masjid Kapitan Kling (also known as Pitt Street), near shuttle bus stop 15. The entrance to the mosque is free, but you should register at the small office near the entrance gates. They will provide you some information on the mosque and on Islam in general. The dress code in the mosque is rather strict, but they will provide you the correct attire for free if you are not properly dressed according to them.

The building was supposedly founded by Cadeer Mohideen, the headman of the South-Indian Muslim settlers in Penang during the early 19th century. The mosque's name comes directly from this man and means Captain of the Kelings, the group of local leaders of British South-India during these days. Nearby Acheen Street mosque, on the spot where Lebuh Cannon runs into Acheen Street (Lebuh Acheh), was built in the same period by Hussain Al-Aidid, an Achehnese (North-Sumatra) Muslim of Arab descent and member of the Acheh royal family. It was constructed as a prayer building for the Penang Muslim population of Arab, Malay and Chinese descent, rivalling the Masjid Kapitan Keling. Still these days this split continues, with Indian Muslims flocking the Kapitan Kling and Muslims of other descent praying in the Acheen Street mosque. During its restoration at the end of the 20th century the towering minaret and the mosque were painted in its present blue and white colours. Visiting conditions are similar for both mosques, but the Acheen Street mosque entrance is a little harder to find. It is the unmarked small passage in Lebuh Acheh, just opposite Lebuh Cannon, next to the remarkable minaret.

The Kek Lok Si temple complex is arguably the most impressive structure in Penang province. It is located right in the centre of the island on the slopes of Penang Hill near Ayer Hitam village (sometimes spelled Air Itam; called "Black Water" in English). Ayer Hitam village can be reached by bus 101 or 130 from the white KOMTAR building in Georgetown (RM1 or 25¢) or a taxi ride here from anywhere in Penang will cost you around RM15-25. Take the bus to its final stop in the village, where a short walk eastwards will bring you to a narrow stepped passageway leading up to the temple. The path is lined with stalls selling tourist stuff like T-shirts or more spiritual items like inscence sticks. The atmosphere here is not very religious but feels more like a market and some sellers are quite a nuisance. Once you climb the steps leading towards the real entrence shopkeepers are not allowed to do their businesses anymore and everything gets suddenly more quiet.

Just beyond the entrance lies the "turtle liberation pond", a little pond where people released a turtle to set their sins free. This practise is now discouraged because the animals didn't seem very liberated anymore in this overcrowded pond. A little further on the left side is the coulourful Hall of Bodhisattvas, the oldest building of Kek Lok Si. Inside are beautiful statuettes of notable Bodhisattvas, persons who are assisting others to reach Buddhahood, sometimes erroneously translated as "gods". Here you may be able to get a free and very useful guide booklet in Chinese and Englsih about the temple complex. Just nearby is the beautiful Garden Pavilion of Lord Buddha, a small pavilion with a statue of Buddha teaching the monks. From here you have a beautiful view on the higher levels of the temple, reachable via a stepped pathway around the pavilion and the nearby Lotus Pond pagoda.

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The steps from the Garden Pavilion of Lord Buddha will bring you to the higher levels and newer additions of the temple complex, built after 1915 and enclosed by a concrete wall. The first building you see is the Amitabha Buddha pagoda, dedicated to a person who reached Buddhahood due to its merits. The temple roof is topped with a pagoda containing a yellow Buddha statue flanked with red and white painted greeting figurines. From the temple's terrace you will have excellent views on the whole complex and Penang island. Another notable temple is the Hall of Devas, with beautiful statues of the four heavenly kings or devas, Buddhist deities watching over each of the four cardinal directions. If you walk a little further, you will pass the Mahawira Hall, a brightly coloured temple housing a few golden statues, and the Hall of the Buddha of 5 regions with stone carved pilars and windows.

An impressive sight here is the bright white Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, completed in 1930. The structure is 30m high and contains 7 storeys and a gold-coloured roof. It is visible from far away already. The name comes from the many carved Buddha figurines you will see when taking the staircase to the top of the pagoda. At each storey you can exit the pagoda to a terrace where panoramic views on the island will unfold. Take an inclined lift ride (RM2) from behind the great prayer hall to the top-most building in the complex, devoted to Kuan Yin, the Bodhisattva (a kind of deity) of Compassion. Alternatively you can go out of the complex from entrance 2 and walk further up along the road towards entrance 3 to get there. The oldest temple here, next to a pond, is topped with a painted bust of the goddess. A little further is the great hall. You can take the stairs to its flat roof, where the latest addition to the temple complex is located, an awesome 30m high bronze statue of the "Greatly Compassionate and Sagely Kuan Yin" and two other statues of ugly guardians. From the roof you have an excellent view on George Town and the Penang Straight.

For even more stunning views on the island walk back to nearby Ayer Hitam village and take the funicular (RM 5 or €1; 30 minutes) from the station to its final stop at Penang Hill (830m). On a clear day you can see the whole island and as far as the mainland. On the top you can find a kiosk, souvenir stalls and a restaurant. After you've enjoyed the views, you can do the same way back or walk downhill for 1 to 2 hours along the paved road towards the botanical garden entrance, where you can take a bus or taxi back to George Town.