Batik and songket
Authentic hand-drawn and hand-woven Malaysian textiles.
Wee Hong — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Aumars — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bearsmalaysia — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bearsmalaysia — CC BY-SA 3.0
A pale-blue Art Deco building from 1937 that was once the city's fish and vegetable market, saved from demolition in the 1980s and turned into a market for Malaysian crafts. This is where you buy genuinely Malaysian gifts rather than souvenirs made somewhere else. Inside, lanes of small shops sell hand-drawn batik, songket woven with gold thread, wood carving and the pewter Malaysia is known for, with a food area upstairs. Beside the building, the covered Kasturi Walk is lined with street-food and juice stalls, a pleasant place for a break. Bargaining is accepted in some shops and less in others; prices run a little above the street markets but the quality is more reliable. Much of the food on offer is halal, with some non-halal stalls nearby, so ask before you buy. The market is air-conditioned and open daily, a good refuge from heat or rain, and it sits minutes from Petaling Street in Chinatown and from Merdeka Square, with Pasar Seni light-rail station right by it.
Authentic hand-drawn and hand-woven Malaysian textiles.
A 1937 blue market hall saved from demolition.
Covered food and juice stalls beside the market.
Jalan Hang Kasturi, by Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur
Sri Maha Mariamman TempleA twenty-two-metre gateway tower covered in hundreds of painted carved figures r3 minutes walk4.5
Petaling Street (Chinatown)A street under a long green canopy, lined with stalls of bags, watches, clothes 3 minutes walk4.0
Sultan Abdul Samad BuildingGleaming copper domes, horseshoe arches and a forty-one-metre clock tower: finis5 minutes walk4.6
Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek MosqueThis is where Kuala Lumpur was born. At exactly this spot the Klang and Gombak r5 minutes walk4.5
Merdeka SquareAt midnight on 31 August 1957 the Union Jack came down here and the flag of an i6 minutes walk4.6For genuine Malaysian gifts like batik and pewter, Central Market is more reliable. Petaling Street in Chinatown is cheaper but more crowded and largely sells copies. They are next door to each other, so do both.