Chinatown or Shu Chong Gai is one of the popular destiny in Malaysia. This place is located at the Petaling Street which is close to an iconic hotel called Lok Ann Hotel. Chinatwon is one of the place that has all you need to know about the food and culture. One the things you must do is to taste some of the local food. The local food like Pork Noodles, Beef Noodles, Beef Balls Noodles, Seremban Baked Bun, Dry Wanton Noodles, BBQ Pork, Roast Pork and Pan Mee are some of the examples of food in the Chinatown. On top of that, you will experience the different coffee culture like one of the coffee shop near Jalan Tun H.S Lee, it is one of signature drink to try.
One of the reason that people come here is to know what makes this Chinatown special is the settlement of Chinese immigrant in Kuala Lumpur. During the time of 19 century, Chinese immigrant migrant from China though agents like Yap Ah Loy to work as miner. Besides that, the begin of Chinatown slowly take place as more people dealing with trading become the main source of income. The progress of the Chinatown become a trademark as it reflect on the Chinese who work there and they livelihood in that place. Those immigrants who migrant to Malaysia are Fu Chow, Teow Chew and Guang Dong. There is a mix of different dialect in a Malaysia.
For traveler, this is definitely a place to explore. The first place to go is the Kwan Ti Temple which located at the Jalan Tun H.S Lee. The temple has two fierce looking guardian who protect the temple from evil and in the front of the temple, there is two lion sitting there. When the moment you look up the hall of the temple, you will see a spiral incense. The best time to visit this place is when Chinese New Year and the 15th days after Chinese New Year. What you will see is the people will gather that place to pray for good job, successful and of course have a good life. One of the tradition is to pray to one of the God to help you go though a difficult time. If you are born in certain Zodiac, you might experience some bad thing or worse ever difficulty, you have to pray. During the time of 15th of Chinese New Year, there will be people going round and round the temple and praying. This possession is continue for follower who really believe in Kwan Ti.
The second place to see is the Sri Mahamariamman Temple. It is a iconic place because it has been built for more than a century. It has a beautiful architecture at the front entrance. The masterpiece of art at the entrance is really reflect the Hindu religion in town. The art work has been repair and preserve by a trustee who manage the temple.
The Third place to go is Chinatown market. The Chinatown market has a lots of traditional food that you haven't taste in other parts of world. One of it is the Stuffed Fish Paste in Vegetables or Yong Tau Fu. The Yong Tau Fu stall has been selling more than 50 years. It has been one of the main dish in Chinese diet. Besides that, you will a stall selling Chee Cheong Fun. The name Chee Cheong Fun means pig's intestine noodles or simply means the rice sheet roll similar to pig's intestine. This dish usually serve with chili sauce and sweet sauce. The Chili sauce is make of hot chili and the sweet sauce consist of fermented prawn paste. There is also one stall selling Asam Laksa. Asam Laksa is one of the local dish that has the unique blend of sweet and sour. The sour is come from the Tamarind and the sweet is come from the fermented prawn paste. It is dish that gives you a boost in the morning because it is light and tasty.
The Fourth place is to visit the beef ball noodles shop near Jalan Tun H.S Lee. This place is located at the opposite of Lai Foong Coffee Shop. This shop is called Sin Kao Yu. The reason why I introduce this place is because it has a history. This place have been carry on for decade and it is one of favorite noodles shop. Just imagine, Chinatown use to have a theater full of people, you will know the food here should be good, otherwise it will be long gone. The shop serve the fresh beef balls around the town. Lucky enough, it is air conditional. The beef balls mixed with some spices that create a distinctive flavor which enhance the freshness of the beef. Besides that, the soup is pack with fresh beef flavor. Indeed, this is also one of the iconic place to go.
The Fifth place to go is the Central Market. It is located at the opposite of Pasar Seni station. The main thing to try is the local coffee. If you haven't try one, you better try it now because local coffee has one kind of a smell. The aroma of the coffee is mainly come from the process of roasting it. It certainly don't have the taste of Italy coffee or even the Spanish coffee, but it has the flavor of roasted coffee. The main attraction there is the variety of local products. Some of the local product is from the East Malaysia. The place is used to be a wet market for people to get they food supply. It has change because of the inconvenient of the place to the public. So, it becomes a traveler place.
The Sixth Place to go is the Lai Foong Coffee Shop. One of the oldest and iconic shop in Kuala Lumpur. They have few hawker stall selling local delight such as Pork Noodles, Beef Noodles and Chicken Rice. This one of a kind experience because you will seldom stay in such a old coffee shop to drink the coffee and eat the food.
The Seventh place to go is the Sin Tze Ya Temple. It has a rich history and the place have a different atmosphere. Compare to Kwan Ti temple to this temple, this temple is a very small temple. This temple is building by the famous Yap Ah Loy. This temple is devoted to the death of Kapitan Shin because his blood is white not red, it is consider as saint. Since the death of Kapitan Shin, the miner worship him as a saint.
The Eight Place to travel is the Seng Kee. This place is located at the back of Furama Hotel. At the back of Furama, there is one lane to the Chinese school. When you walk into the lane, walk straight, then you will discover this shop. This place offer some traditional food like Cantonese style noodles, is one the best dish in this restaurant. It is good to come here during the week day because weekend is really crowded. Sadly, this shop doesn't have third generation to take over the shop, it is about to gone in the history.
The Ninth Place is to visit the Chinatown. Chinatown is one of the place to experience the food culture in Malaysia. One of food you will probably heard of is the BBQ pork. It has the sweet taste from the soya sauce, sugar and oyster sauce. Another food you will want to try is the roast pork. The roast pork is not like the German or the Spanish roast pork. This roast pork is done by using the chimney to roast the entire pig. It often comes up crunchy skin and soft meat. Another thing to try is the dry wanton noodles. One drink you have to try is the soya bean milk. This soya bean milk has been selling for decade. So, it has some history over there. When you walk to right of the street, you will see people selling curry puff and biscuit. Then, you will saw someone grilling a thin slices of meat on a grill. It is one of the snack in the town. When you go at night, it is one of the different experience. There have stall selling bags, perfume and purse. Besides that, the local food like the Portuguese grill fish and Fried rice is one of the favorite.
The Tenth Place to go is to visit the Kuan Yin temple next to Monorail Maharajarela. If you going to this place during the full moon in Chinese calender, you can see the devotee sharing some food in there. This place is worth to seen as one of the temple in Kuala Lumpur.
When you come over to Kuala Lumpur, you have experience the food and the culture over here. It is unique because the Chinese here is not totally from a same state, but there are from either Kuang Dong , Fu Chow or Chew Chow. There is a unique blend of they food and how they interpret the food in Malaysia. When you are sampling some the local food, you definitely know the food is from either Cantonese, Hokkien, Teow Chiew and Fujian. Besides that, you will witness the belief in Chinese god and goddess is one of the significant in Chinese settlement in Malaysia. Therefore, the food is unique and different to the Chinese from China.
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