Just over two hours on the train from Kuala Lumpur is Ipoh, capital city of the Malaysian state of Perak and home to just over 800,000 people. Situated on the Kinta River, it is a city divided into two parts, the old and the new and in recent times has been compared to Georgetown in Penang as a city on the move with its street art, centuries old shops, beautiful colonial architecture, food and coffee cafes, museums and galleries. Ipoh has a history and heritage worth exploring.

We arrive in Ipoh having come by bus from the Thai border town of Hat Yai and only have a couple of days in the city, drawn by an interest in the street art. We leave the crowded bus station, find a taxi and before too long we are on the highway into the city. It is surprising to see the name Ipoh, spelled out in very large white letters on the side of a cliff, Hollywood-style, informing us that yes, we are indeed in Ipoh. It appears there was some controversy over the cost of the imposing signage when it was originally erected, even so, the whiteness of the huge letters set against the lush greenery of the cliff side makes for an impressive entry into Ipoh.

Ipoh’s early history is connected to tin mining which became an important commodity giving rise to a thriving, wealthy tin mining community. As a tribute to this prosperous period in the late 19th and early 20th Century, the Ipoh City Council has created the Tin Mining Heritage Trail in Hale Lane to allow visitors and residents a chance to reflect on this fascinating history.

Capturing the early history and heritage of Ipoh with ‘Art of Old Town’ is the artwork of Ernest Zacharevic, a young Lithuanian born artist, who has also completed a collection of street art paintings in Georgetown, Penang. In Ipoh, he has illustrated the proud heritage of this tin mining town with a collection of eight wall murals some of which include a huge face of an old Uncle drinking coffee, a worker adding cardboard to his trishaw which is already heavily laden with black plastic bags, his trishaw a free standing structure, and a gigantic humming bird, in mid flight, dominating the wall it has been painted on. It is an easy walk to follow the maps that are available to view the street art.

We found the street art appears to have taken on a life of its own. Wherever you walk in the old town, you are likely to come across inspiring works from local artists that evoke the essence of old Ipoh. We decide not to follow a map but rather to just meander, finding many interesting art murals, an open air market selling antiques and bric-a-brac and grand colonial architecture such as the impressive railway station, affectionately known as the ‘Taj Mahal’ dating from the time the British were in Malaysia.

After a devastating fire destroyed a large section of Ipoh in 1892, the town was rebuilt to a new more orderly design. New lanes were included in the new design. Yau Tet-Shin, a wealthy mining tycoon oversaw the development of what is today called New Town and bought three lanes in the Old Town for the women in his life - the first, Wife Lane (Lorong Hale), the second, Concubine Lane (Lorong Panglima) and the third, Second Concubine Lane (Market Lane). It is supposedly the place where wealthy mining tycoons and British officers kept their mistresses. It is also believed that this area housed gambling and opium dens. Although we are interested in the street art, with such an illicit history, we are equally interested in Concubine Lane.

It’s Sunday, mid morning and already the day is heating up as we arrive at the entrance to Concubine Lane. We know we are there as an interesting street scene on the side of a building depicting an elderly gentleman sipping coffee at a table with a slender dark haired young woman with a diamante clip in her hair sit below a sign that informs all that this is Ipoh Concubine Lane. Although weekends are the busiest time, at this early part of the day there are not too many tourists.

Red Chinese lanterns zigzag across the lane high above the heads of shoppers and are prolific over the entrance ways of shops along the lane. The red lanterns come in all shapes and sizes, smaller ones with heavy red tassels and larger red lanterns, embossed in gold lettering with yellow tassels, adorn shop windows.

Concubine Lane, the busiest of the three lanes is a mixture of architectural styles. Some of the old buildings have been attractively repainted and restored, while others are a reminder of years long gone. Buildings with rough stonework, chipped and cracked with patches of faded paint, ancient rusted windows barred and shuttered and electrical cables winding along the street like black strands of spaghetti snaking into buildings.

Shoppers and tourists make their way along the narrow lane browsing and inspecting all the lane has to offer as traders display their goods from jewellery, souvenir and trinket stands to fashion boutiques and food stalls including street food. While the ice cream shops are busy — who would have thought you could find a mango sticky rice ice-cream on a stick — the coffee shops of Ipoh are also a popular stop-off point.

Ipoh White Coffee with its rich, frothy distinctive taste has a long history. It is not only popular throughout Malaysia but was named along with Tokyo and Chiang Mai as one of the three top coffee spots in Asia by Lonely Planet in their Global Coffee Tour Book.  The introduction of white coffee dates back to the early days of tin mining in Ipoh and was introduced to the community by the Chinese who modified the flavour of Western coffee to suit their own tastes. Although named white coffee, the coffee is actually a deep golden colour with the coffee beans being slow roasted with margarine and once brewed, served with condensed milk.

Mark Yoi Sun Soo, in his memoir, My Days in the Sun, writes of his time in Ipoh as a young doctor in the 1960s and says his father’s friend informed him that “Ipoh is a metropolis of concealed charm” and that “there is no better way to know Ipoh than by visiting all its coffee shops . . .”  And if you are a coffee connoisseur, then Ipoh White Coffee is a must as is visiting the many wonderful, artistic and quirky coffee shops.

One such coffee shop in the old town is The Happy 8 Café. We came upon it almost by chance as it is hidden behind a cluster of tall bamboo plants that have tiny red lanterns strung through the bamboo like a red necklace. Inside the café, I am immediately captivated by the eclectic décor; it is artistic and creative. We order coffee and then proceed to inspect the artistry of this shop.

Murals of large winter grey oak trees with twisted spreading branches adorn the walls. High on the branches are perched various colourful parrots along with a tawny owl and a pheasant watching over her nest that holds two eggs. Elsewhere, an abundance of wooden blocks cut in random shapes and sizes hang like forgotten icicles from the ceiling while along a section of a side wall a large white, galloping plaster horse has been sculpted on to the wall. This café has a personality all of its own and is like a small art gallery with its interesting décor and is further testament to the artistic community that breathes life into Ipoh. And of course, the coffee was as expected – excellent!

A short walk from the café is Han Chin Pet Soo History Museum, once the Hakka Miner’s Club and only available exclusively to members. The white painted building with its ornate façade and window shutters is stylish and elegant. This museum tells not only the story of the tin mining industry and the Hakka people but the impact of opium, prostitution, gambling and the triads on the Hakka people.

We arrive at the museum only to find that a booking is essential, which we don’t have, so we are required to sit outside and wait until the next tour begins in over an hour’s time. As we wait, other visitors arrive to join the increasing queue. By now, it is very late in the afternoon and we can see we will run out of time as we have a prior booking for dinner. It is with regret that we leave without having entered the museum to view the fascinating history on offer but we know we will return to Ipoh. There is much to see and do in this fascinating town.

Header image: © Vin Coffey