14-02-2012 KL China Town Photo Walk
@ 街拍茨廠街 KL China Town Photo Walk (click here to Google Map)
Petaling Street vicinity, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS Location: 3°08'37.4"N 101°41'51.9"E
Budget: free
Parking: DBKL parking or Private Parkings
Petaling Street vicinity, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS Location: 3°08'37.4"N 101°41'51.9"E
Budget: free
Parking: DBKL parking or Private Parkings
Camera: Samsung Note 8
Thoughts: Photo outing, mainly to explore KL Petaling Street vicinity on the 14th day of the Chinese New Year plus Valentines days. It is more than 2 years since the Covid 19 to step foot on the streets of KL China Town.
Looking forward to explore KL streets again with the phone camera of Olympus OMD1, hopeful.
Fun Facts: The Original "KL China Town" was actually centered elsewhere on Market Square (or now as 中央藝術坊 Pasar Seni) at 敦李孝式路 Jalan Tun H.S. Lee (which was called High Street during the British occupation). The reason for the name "High" Street was likely because this location was higher than the rest of the town and was less prone to floods; and as such, and the wealthier population and some pioneer Chinese businesses was inclined to build their shophouses here.
Fun Facts: The Original "KL China Town" was actually centered elsewhere on Market Square (or now as 中央藝術坊 Pasar Seni) at 敦李孝式路 Jalan Tun H.S. Lee (which was called High Street during the British occupation). The reason for the name "High" Street was likely because this location was higher than the rest of the town and was less prone to floods; and as such, and the wealthier population and some pioneer Chinese businesses was inclined to build their shophouses here.
This pioneer town started around the start or before the 20th Century (in the early 1900s), with 男性廣東客家移民 immigrants of Cantonese and Hakka (mainly Male) from 南中國 Southern China with the aim to find livelihood in trade, or working in 錫礦 Tin mines as 苦力 coolies. The Chinese here then were governed by Headmen called "甲必丹 Kapitans" (appointed by British Rulers). Unfortunately, the 雪蘭莪內戰 Selangor Civil War or 巴生戰爭 Klang War in the 1870s disrupted the economy and the tin mines were abandoned, neglected, and flooded; resulting in the mines unworkable after the Civil War. It was Ground Zero after the Klang War, and many people lost hope, but 甲必丹葉亞來 Kapitan Yap Ah Loy persuaded the miners and coolies to remain in KL and also persuaded the Malays in surrounding districts to grow rice. Some Historians argued that it is the efforts and persistence of 甲必丹葉亞來 Kapitan Yap Ah Loy that paved ways and foundations for Kuala Lumpur to emerge as what it is today.
茨廠街 Petaling Street is probably as "Old" as 吉隆坡 Kuala Lumpur itself which was late 19th Century. Entrance to 茨廠街 Petaling Street (ie the Centre of China Town) is flanked by two distinctive Chinese arches on its two ends, roofed by a giant green sunlight awning cover dubbed the “青龍 Green Dragon”. The "青龍 Green Dragon" was constructed in 2003 as part of a larger scheme to revitalize one of KL’s oldest commercial districts into one of the KL’s main tourist destinations, along with the decision to fully pedestrianize much of the street, transforming the area into a large and vibrant street mall. This part of the China Town is famous for street vendors offering everything imaginable; from 服裝 clothing, 鐘錶 time pieces, 華人祈禱物品 chinese prayer items, 玩具 toys, 家居裝飾品 home decorations, 書籍 books, and even 小工具 gadgets; these street vendors used to be Chinese only but for some years now, you can see more of 外勞 foreign workers managing the stalls. 茨廠街 Petaling Street is also famous for its traditional hawker joints and kopitiam style eateries for delicious, cheap eats; and some "old shops" are into its 3rd or 4th generation family owned business. Many shop houses are also beautifully restored, and preserves the nostalgic aesthetics and traditional designs as modern Cafes.
Parking around 茨廠街 Jalan Petaling aren't cheap; DBKL parking is now rm$2.50 per hour and I believe limited to 2 hours only (via the "Smart Park" App), while private parking are at least rm$4 to rm$5 or more for the first hour although with a maximum rate of rm$15 for parking the whole day. BUT the cheaper and perhaps more convenient option to reach Petaling Street (Chinatown KL) is to take the 格拉那再也線 Kelana Jaya Line LRT Train from 吉隆坡中央車站 KL Sentral to 中央藝術坊輕軌站 Pasar Seni LRT Station or via the Monorail Line from KL Sentral to 馬哈拉惹樂拉地鐵站 Maharajalela MRT Station.
CNY around KL Petaling Street
Valentines day in KL Petaling Street
Backlanes of KL China Town
街拍茨廠街 KL China Town Photo Walk
