China Town, or Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur is the traditional hub for Chinese New Year countdown every year. Many Malaysian Chinese are coming here to buy dried foods, flowers and decorative for the festive season. I came here every year mainly to buy Bakkwa (Rougan,肉干) or dried meat as new year gifts to relatives.
I blogged about the same trip to Petaling Street last year. The scene is similar. This year I shot with my Nikkor 35mm f1.8 instead. You may spot the difference! Haha.
This year, a new version of Bakkwa came out. Instead of using minced or sliced meat, they are using bacon! It tastes marvelous but more costly. These smoky scenes are seen everywhere in China Town!
If you’ve seen how it looked along the covered terrace at Petaling Street last year, this is how it looks this year. Any difference?
These are some traditional Chinese candies made from ginger, melon, plums, lotus seeds and etc. A must in Chinese New Year!
Red means happiness in Chinese culture…. so everything must be in reds! 
Another season delicacy, Chinese styled waxed meat! They are mainly from China or Taiwan and could be in the form of waxed sausage, waxed duck or waxed meatloaf. Chinese waxed sausage is made of either minced or sliced pork meat and both are also my favourites.
Chinese chestnut. I missed this last year and managed to capture it this time. Look at the little photo within. Is this called the Kung Fu chestnut??
Also missed out last year, this little hawker stall selling Longan (Dragon eye, 龙眼) herbal drinks is the most popular drink stall in Petaling Street. For only RM1.20 per cup, every traveler to China Town deserves a try!
UPDATE: Click the above slideshow to view all photos taken during the Chines New Year 2010
UPDATE: Click Here to view the original high resolution version of the above photos
As usual, we went to China Town last weekend to have a walk at night. We bought many many bags of dried meats or Bakkwa, waxed sausages also some Chinese candies for Chinese New Year gifts to our relatives. Before we go off, we had a cup of Longan drink to ease our thirst. Not showing in photos here (but you could spot in in my last year post) are also those many seafood restaurants with roadside seating which are the foreign travelers’ favourite eateries. Come here to visit this China Town aka Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is the only place where you could really appreciate the festive feel of Chinese New Year in K.L. See ya! – Travel Feeder, your ultimate travel photo blog
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8 Comments to “More Chinese New Year countdown photos from China Town, Kuala Lumpur”
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Wow..I’m really envious of you. It seems that you have unfair advantage to the others during this Chinese New Year 2010 when it comes to photography.
Hope you’ll take lots of pictures from the festival and share on this blog. Thanks
.-= Sapawi´s last blog ..8 products for Chinese New Year =-.
My grandma used to love her waxed duck. I don’t eat those stuff. Not very healthy.
Hey I go to Chinatown every year to buy bakwa as well. Haha
Have not bought our bakwa yet this year.
hey there, great captures of the food in chinatown laid out – can feel the festivity! ahh bacon type bakwa… i heard the price in general for bakwa has gone up RM10 this year again.. btw HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
Hi,
I will be visiting Malaysia for the first time this year. The dates are 2nd to 5th Feb. My first planned destination was Chinatown. Is it open to tourists during the Chinese New Year? Could you recommend a date during my trip that would be most suitable? I was hoping to find chinese jewelry, showpiece items, Buddhist items etc.
Thanks,
Uma
@Uma,
Great you are coming to Malaysia! Welcome! Yes. Chinatown is still open during Chinese New Year but some of the stalls would be closed. The best bet is to visit it on the 2nd Feb which is the new year eve for Chinese here. It would be the most crowded night before new year and you can find all sorts of items here especially Chinese foods, fashion goods and Chinese New Year decorative.
However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to Chinatown only as there are many shops selling those items you need in most shopping malls in KL. So go explore our shopping malls such as Sungai Wang, Time Square, Mid-Valley, 1-Utama and so on…
Cecil, thanks for such a warm welcome.
Your response is really helpful. I will go to Chinatown on the 2nd evening as I had originally planned and had been wondering about (when U heard about CNY) until I saw your reply. I also plan to go some malls, such as Times Square, KLCC, Sungai Wang and Bukit Bintang Plaza as they are closer to where I will stay. But as a tourist who really liked Singapore’s Chinatown, I really look forward to Chinatown.
@Uma,
You are welcome. I’ve been to Singapore’s Chinatown as well and I would say Singapore’s Chinatown is more comprehensive in terms of Chinese products if compared to KL’s Chinatown. You may disappoint on this as KL’s Chinatown is larger which includes few roads that adjacent to each other and there are more than just Chinese products. Anyway, you should see it yourself and sure you will still love it.