“Madam, DVD? New dress? Come inside?”
I’m in the heart of Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, and it’s like Patong on steroids.
But the difference is here, the touts chase you down the street. “Madam, come here, DVD? Come back, come for a look,” a man says as he grabs my arm, making me flee.
I quickly manage to submerge myself into the bustling crowd and find a quiet alley down the side of the busy walking street. Here, locals are purchasing every type of food, ranging from fresh fruit, to dried whitebait (I think) and beans and peanuts of all different sorts.
Out on the main street is mainly fake goods, including any type of watch, bag, t-shirt or brand of jeans you can think of – plus food galore. One man, known as ‘the pancake man’, is cooking up a storm of pancakes of all different shapes and types. The one I sampled was full of peanuts, and tasted delicious.
A nearby English speaker translated a conversation with the man saying prices for the ingredients were so high these days, he had to keep continually raising the price of the pancakes to make a profit. He looked like he had been making pancakes for years, as his hands flashed back and forth as he created the batter.
Fresh fruit, including ripe round cherries, are available on every corner, and there are also restaurants nestled in between the stores.
Silk is also a sought-after item in Chinatown, with many people heading to the area specifically to purchase such items, likewise with nearby Little India.
Clothes shopping opportunities are endless, and although mostly in Asian-style fashion, tamer outfits can be purchased for as little as B50 at times. All are made in China, obviously, and the quality isn’t the greatest, but the variety is huge and the sizing extensive.
Good public transport in KL means Chinatown is very accessible and it is located near KL Sentral, the hub of the city’s public transport. Taxi prices are about one third of the price of Phuket’s, and public transport is relatively efficient and cheap.
Nearby Little India, which is only a two minute walk from the Pasar Seni Rapid KL train station, is also recommended for travellers, if you aren’t already weary from the madness of Chinatown.
Little India is more subdued though with not quite so much haggling, and a lot of it is contained inside Central Market mall. Little alleyways on the mall’s ground floor are quaint and full of souvenirs, jewellery, more silk, fabrics, traditional clothing, and even a resident palm reader. Salespeople are less obtrusive, and are happy to let you sift through the endless items for sale, even if you’re not making a purchase.
While perhaps not as big as Chinatown and Little India suburbs in Bangkok and Singapore, the ones in Kuala Lumpur are still worth a visit if you have time to spare while in Malaysia’s capital.
– Claire Connell