Malaysia: Malacca – Old Chinatown
While the Portuguese settled on the high ground hill area of Malacca, the Chinese and Malay populated the right bank of the Malacca River in a compact area known as Old Chinatown. In fact, the Chinese traders arrived here in early 1400s, about half a century before the Portuguese. Malacca became the first and largest Chinatown outside of China and a lot of Chinese arrived to the trade post, establishing a community. Walking the narrow streets of the old town, you see many centuries-old buildings, quite a few ancient Buddhist temples, a couple really old mosques. Everything is in Chinese here. Old Malacca Chinatown centers around three streets – Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Jonkers Street (next post), and Jalan Tokong.
