Chinese New Year: Georgetown & Ipoh

This was a trip the weekend after Lunar New Year to Georgetown and Ipoh. Georgetown is probably just more famous of the two cities. But we did not spend enough time there, as we only spent one night and one full day there before taking a bus down to Ipoh. Georgetown is a fabulous little city located at the north of Penang Island, which itself is near the northern border of Malaysia. It used to be old British outpost. The fort there is named Fort Cornwallis after the same British general who surrendered at Yorktown. It was very interesting to wander on the old town. As we wandered on the old town, we ran into a food hall. There was a massive news year celebration going on. Tons of locals and a couple tourists were hanging around watching dragons, march up and down the aisles. Performers were handing out oranges and creating a really lively experience. A lot of it seem to be pre-planned. Many tables were pre-reserved with large amounts of food and drinks. It was a giant public festival.

Georgetown food hall

We ran into a similar festival in Ipoh. There we found another large feast going on in the old quarter that we did not know about. Hundreds of people were gathered having a large meal. Everyone has dressed in red for the new year. And there was a performance going. We hung out and watched it; it was a fun site. We later learned that the attendees were the local government of the town, coming together to celebrate the year of the rabbit.

Ipoh Celebrations

A Giant Buddha and I

Going back to Georgetown, there was another incredibly impressive temple. This one is located in the foothills and is absolutely massive. From a distance it looks like a giant Christmas light display with all kinds of different colored lights lighting up the entire temple. Cars heading to it were backed up for miles; we had to walk over a mile in and out to get where a taxi could drop us off. Inside it was awe inspiring to walk around between the different pavilions and buildings LEDs and lights stretched as far as I could see. This temple was not as refined as the Kuala Lumpur one, but the scale was incredibly impressive. It was wild to see this temple.

Kek Lok Si Temple