Lasem

Lasem is a small town on the north coast road that was a significant port under Majapahit and later a centre of Chinese settlement, and what survives is unusual: streets of walled Chinese courtyard houses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, some restored and some derelict, in a density found almost nowhere else in Java, which is why it is called the little Beijing. Its history includes the Geger Pacinan aftermath - after the 1740 massacre of Chinese in Batavia, Chinese and Javanese fought together against the Dutch East India Company from 1741, and Lasem was a centre of that rebellion, a fact the town's local historians emphasise. Lasem batik is its other product, distinctive for a deep red dye and Chinese motifs, worked in small home workshops that take visitors.

What you actually see

• Chinese courtyard houses - walled compounds in a density unusual for Java.
• Lasem batik - the deep red dye and Chinese motifs, made in home workshops.
• The 1741 rebellion ground - where Chinese and Javanese fought the Company together.
• Restored and derelict together - the town's conservation is uneven.

When to go

May to September. A day.

Honest expectations

Many houses are private and derelict - viewing is from the street unless a workshop or restored house is open. The north coast road is heavy with trucks. Facilities are limited.

Nearby

Rembang is west; the north coast road runs east to Tuban and Surabaya.