George Town was founded on 11 August 1786 by Captain Francis Light, a trader for the British East India Company, as base for the company in the Malay State. He obtained the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah and built Fort Convollis on the north-eastern corner of the island. The fort became the nexus of a growing trading post and the island's population reached 12,000 by 1804.
A fascinating fusion of eastern and western influences, Penang is Malaysia’s most tourist-visited destination. The island manages to embrace modernity while retaining its colonial traditions; due to its well-preserved heritage buildings Penang’s capital, Georgetown, has been accorded a listing as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.
Although Georgetown’s landscape is dominated by Chinese storefronts – most in need of a good paint job – there are also swanky shopping complexes, refurbished Chinese manors, rowdy pubs and artsy boutiques, cafés and studios. The city is a mainstay on the Malaysian tourist scene yet it is also a popular expat enclave; besides that, the food here– a hotchpotch of Indian curry and Chinese noodles – is for many the best in Malaysia.
Georgetown Overview
Noteworthy as the only state in Malaysia to have a Chinese majority population, Penang’s sub-culture is a mixture of Asia itself. Rather than feeling mono-ethnic, it exemplifies the country’s colonial past and mixed-heritage future brilliantly. It isn’t Malaysia’s most beautiful state yet it does posses a certain charm – the oldest of the British Straits settlements, this state is arguably one of its most tolerant and cosmopolitan.
Georgetown, Penang’s capital on the north-eastern corner of the island, is dotted with idiosyncratic Chinese shop lots, narrow roads, old-fashioned colonial-era mansions, clan houses, numerous schools, ornate temples and Little India districts. It goes without saying that the city is an exceedingly rewarding destination – skirting the conurbation is a landscape of beaches, forests and lakes.
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