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This seafront street and promenade now forms part of George Town's Central Business District (CBD). Home to upscale shopping malls, an eponymous hawker centre and towering skyscrapers, it is also a good place to unwind and stroll along.
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Founded in 1845, this Thai-style Buddhist temple is famous for its 33 m reclining Buddha, one of the world's longest. The temple was built on a piece of land given by Queen Victoria to Siamese trustees as a gesture of goodwill to boost trading relations with Thailand. The guardian dragon and statue at the entrance are both ostentatious and spectacular. A small Siamese community still resides within the vicinity of the temple, which is the focal point of the annual Songkran festivities.
A Burmese Buddhist temple founded in 1803. At the entrance a pair of white elephants, which are sacred in Buddhism, guard the temple while within, a bodhi tree and wishing pond greets the visitor.
Waterfall Temple
Located at a hilltop next to the Penang Botanic Gardens, the Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple was built in the mid-19th century, making it one of the oldest Hindu temples in George Town. It was last renovated in the 2000s, with visitors now having to climb over 500 steps to reach the temple. It also serves as a focal point of the annual Thaipusam celebrations.
The gardens were established by Charles Curtis way back in 1884; it's generally known as the Waterfall Gardens by the locals because of a waterfall within it. The botanical gardens hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna, including orchids, cannonball trees and monkeys. Many locals will come to the gardens to perform their daily exercises like walking, jogging, jungle trekking, aerobic dance, and to practice Tai Chi or Qi Gong.
A 16-lane bowling venue for bowlers within the city centre.
The burial site of early European administrators and merchants, including Captain Francis Light, Thomas Leonowens and Michael Arratoon Anthony. Filled with crumbling, vegetation-covered tombs, it bears witness to a century of colonisation. There are around 500 burial sites here, a quarter of which no longer bear readable inscriptions. Accessible through a gate in the rear wall is the Roman Catholic Cemetery, most of whose graves are so old the inscriptions are no longer readable.