Toward sunset, Kimberley Street in George Town’s Chinatown comes alive with street stalls. Vendors flip oyster omelets and stir-fry sizzling woks of char kway teow; dessert specialists serve up Chinese sweet soups; and visiting foodies enjoy specialties such as Penang laksa and Hokkien prawn noodles.
Part archive and part exhibition space, the Penang House of Music focuses on the diverse musical heritage of this historically and culturally rich city. Visitors to the museum, opened in 2017, can play radio announcer, view vintage films, and learn about puppet theater, Chinese opera, local dances, musical instruments, and Malaysian pop bands.
A visual feast of red and gold with a towering Buddha, the 19th-century Dhammikarama Burmese Temple is one of few Burmese Buddhist temples outside Myanmar. Besides a gilded stupa, a spire-clad pavilion, a candy-colored bell tower, and a fish pond, a wealth of multi-colored temple guardians protect the incense-wreathed prayer hall.
Perched on a hilltop just outside George Town, the Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple is one of the largest Lord Murugan temples outside India: Its main gate stands as high as a 7-storey building. During the Thaipusam festival, the grounds can accommodate as many as 800,000 celebrants.
Penang’s oldest Chinese temple and a hub for the Chinese community, the Goddess of Mercy Temple (Kuan Yin Teng) sits amid Muslim, Christian, and Hindu places of worship on George Town’s Street of Harmony. Devotees burn paper money in metal vessels and neon pink incense sticks smolder, while protective dragons guard the inner sanctum.
The Kapitan Keling Mosque’s Mughal-style onion domes and soaring minaret stand out on the George Town skyline, making it a highlight of the “Street of Harmony” that bears its name. Penang’s Indian Muslim community built the mosque in 1801, and today its airy prayer hall has space for 1,500 worshippers.
Opened in 2014, the Asia Camera Museum Penang displays antique and modern cameras from across the globe, including vintage cameras from Japan, Sweden, and the United States. The permanent exhibition features more than 1,000 cameras and photographic accessories, some of which you can pick up and play around with.
Home to a wealth of trompe l’oeil art, many with a distinctive Penang flavor, the Penang 3D Trick Art Museum offers the chance to photograph quirky poses at 30-plus illusions. You can simulate skydiving, pose with painted pandas or in the jaws of a giant python, or travel back in Penang time by bullock cart, trolley bus, or rowing boat.
