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Chinatown / Petaling Street ~ Places to Visit in Kuala Lumpur
KL Visitors Guide

HOME > VISITORS GUIDE > PLACES TO VISIT > KL CITY CENTRE > CHINATOWN

Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Petaling Street, is endowed with a distinct character of its own, this colourful street of shops, restaurants, and hawker stalls bustles with vitality. The main two attractions in Chinatown (apart from the overall atmosphere) have to be the food and shopping.

A vibrant marketplace for Chinese-centric goods such as medicines and herbs to more contemporary items like fashion accessories and electronic products. Affectionately called ‘Chee Chong Kai’, which means ‘Starch Factory Street’, Petaling Street was once a tapioca mill for Chinese labourers. Slowly, it became the large, noisy and popular market it is today as business associations, temples and societies rose up.

 In 2003, the road underwent a major face lift with two large Chinese arches placed at both ends of the street to welcome visitors dubbed as the "Green Dragon". Also a nice long modern canopy roofing has been added over the street, so you can walk and browse rain or shine.

The street is closed to vehicular traffic since and became pedestrian-only, transforming it into a pedestrian shopping mall. It still pulls in many tourists, who go there to shop and will be regarded as a heritage site. Chinatown maintains much of its traditional oriental atmosphere, particularly at night when vendors spread their wares out on the street. It does get very crowded so if you don't like crowds go early.

It is famously known for its hawker stalls for Chinese food to streets full of goodies. The street is long and situated in one of the busiest area in KL. So, you not only can get cheap goods, you can also get some great food.

Shopping
Flanking on both sides of the street are stall vendors selling anything you could ever want and at great prices.. your designer replicas, Gucci winter fur-lined coats even!, t-shirts, leather goods, jewellery, accessories, also copies of latest before-release-in-Europe DVD / CD. Go with an open mind and aim to sharpen your bargaining skills!.

From early afternoon till late at night, the entire street is cluttered with stalls peddling all manner of goods from under the sun. From Holland grapes to Taiwanese batteries and cigarette lighters to souvenir shirts, Petaling Street is a hive of commercial activity.

Perhaps most famous among its goods are pirated products, ranging from the latest movies on DVD to China-made ‘Rolex’ watches and ‘Versace’ jeans to imitation Ray-bans. Don’t forget to haggle! No price is set in stone. The prices are raised extremely high but you can bargain them all the way down, sometimes to more than half the price.

 For watches: Ranging from your basic RM13.00 for replica Gucci ladies watches all the way to those better quality ones which the stall vendors keep behind glass at the back If you're really good, you can bargain a good Tag Heuer down from RM250+ to RM150.

Suggest you master the "art of haggling" when visiting to Chinatown since a lot of vendors tend to double even triple their price so beware. Be cautious with your belongings too since the street tends to get crowded and snatchers might just be around.

Petaling Street is a vibrant mix of Chinese, Nepalese and Burmese traders who all vie for attention selling jewellery, herbal medicines, dried food, designer T-shirts, handbags and wallets.

Knock-offs and fakes abound. Striking a bargain is not always easy. The trick is to throw in a few local terms like “Murah sikit?” (A little cheaper?) or “Mahal sangat!” (Too expensive!) and pretend to leave in a huff. Sure enough, a voice will call out behind you. “Okay lah, Okay lah! Ow-mach-you-wan?”


 Chinatown Food
Chinatown is one place to go for the taste of real street food and the atmosphere as it offers great Chinese food, especially hawker stalls and open-air restaurants. At night, the streets are lined with street food carts, some of which have seating set-up on the pavement. There are also some more established restaurants. There are also many restaurants with a lot of delicious choices to choose from. Some of the restaurants here have been operating for generations!


NOTE
Other sights nearby is the Mahamariamman Hindu Temple, Central Market and
the Chan See Shu Yuen Chinese Temple.


Best Way to Visit - Take Cultural Night Tour
An evening private tour with a a visit here, Mariamman Temple and ending the night with an extravagant Buffet Dinner with Cultural Dance.

PLACES & SIGHTSEEING ~ KL CITY CENTRE
•  CHINATOWN  •  CENTRAL MARKET  •  JAMEK MOSQUE  •  MARIAMMAN TEMPLE
•  THEAN HOU TEMPLE  •  PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS  •  KL TOWER  •  INDEPENDENCE SQUARE
•  KINGS PALACE  •  CHAN SEE SHU YUEN TEMPLE
 

 

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