Petaling Street

Petaling Street was the centre of Yap Ah Loy's Chinatown in the nineteenth century and it is still the street everyone means by Chinatown, though what happens on it now is a market: a pedestrianised lane roofed over with a green canopy in 2003, lined end to end with stalls selling counterfeit watches, bags, sunglasses, T-shirts and phone accessories, with fruit sellers and food stalls between them. The trade in fakes is what the street is known for and what most guides mention. Around it, though, the older Chinatown persists - the Guandi and Sin Sze Si Ya temples, the Sri Mahamariamman Hindu temple, the coffee shops and the food streets of Jalan Hang Lekir and Madras Lane, where the noodle and porridge stalls are the reason to come rather than the merchandise.

History

The original Chinatown centred on Market Square and High Street, now Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, which stood higher than the rest of the town and so flooded less, and wealthier residents built their more ornate shophouses there (Wikipedia, Petaling Street).

The main sights

• A covered market lane - roofed in 2003, stalls the whole length.
• Counterfeit goods - watches, bags and clothing, what the street trades in.
• Old Chinatown around it - Guandi, Sin Sze Si Ya and Sri Mahamariamman temples.
• Food lanes off the side - Madras Lane and Jalan Hang Lekir stalls.

When to go

All year; evening for the market, morning for the food stalls. Two hours.

Before you go

Hard selling is constant and prices open at several times what things are worth - bargain or walk. Goods are largely counterfeit. It is crowded and hot under the canopy.

Nearby

Central Market, Merdeka Square and Merdeka 118 are all within a short walk.