The streets of Malacca with their two-storeyed linked shop-houses look typically Chinese. Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, the street which during colonial time housed the city's richest Chinese merchants look pretty narrow and some shop-houses built in the mid-1700s are Dutch-influenced and do not have clay roof tiles.That the shop-houses are influenced by the Dutch and the streets of Malacca look Chinese is understandable. The Dutch had in 1641, colonised Malacca. They had defeated the Portuguese and henceforth, ruled Malacca from 1641 to 1798. Mass settlement of Chinese had occurred earlier, during the reign of Parameswara and today, there is a hill called Bukit Cina or Chinese Hill (inset) in the vicinity. Local folklore has it that a daughter of the Ming Emperor of China, Hang Li Po, married Sultan Manshur Shah who reigned from 1456 until 1477 and her 500 attendants married locals and settled in the said hill. In the streets of Malacca today, you'd be delighted to be be confronted with gaily decorated trishaws. Marks of the past add gaiety to the streets!
Can you spot anything Chinese or Dutch here in Malacca?
More things Chinese at Dragon Descendants!
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