Penang went to find another Minnan ✅
Just in time for heavy rain, so I decided to write a few words under the Kek Lok Si temple.
The plane landed last night and it was already dawn. It wasn't until today that I had the chance to catch a glimpse of Penang. Penang is pronounced similar to "Bin Lang" in English, named after the betel nut trees on the island.
I have been looking forward to Penang for a long time. Whether it was the "Ah Xian's Trip to the Market" I saw a few years ago, or "Rain" by Wong Kam Mun, they all made me fascinated with this land in Nanyang. Recently, I have been reading "Global Bodyhunting" which mentions the research method of "overseas ethnic history" in anthropology. The Minnan cultural community of the Malaysian Chinese and the Minnan cultural circle in China are discussed here as a community that abandons world geography and only focuses on world narratives. On the way to the Seven Streets Market, I saw the sign for "Yingchuan School". Seeing Yingchuan naturally reminds me of the "Yingchuan Yanpai" mentioned on the plaques in Minnan, which refers to the origin of surnames and clans. The Chen family of Yingchuan was a famous family in the late Han Dynasty, and later the population migrated and dispersed all over the world. The term "Cheng" on the road signs, similar to Quanzhou Xiaoxicheng and Taipei's Da Daocheng, reveals some cultural similarities.
👉 Peranakan tiles should be a significant representation of Nanyang architecture. Nowadays, they can still be seen in Dongshan and Quanzhou, but they are almost everywhere in Penang.
🌟Five-foot ways, also known as "qi lou", are a type of modern commercial and residential architecture. The ground floor of the building is set back from the street to leave a public pedestrian space. For example, Xiamen's Zhongshan Road has this type of architecture, but in Malaysia and other places, it is called "five-foot ways". The advantage of five-foot ways is that they are extremely friendly to pedestrians. I personally enjoy walking under this kind of architecture. In Minnan, there are often typhoons and sudden sun showers in the summer. It often rains heavily and then clears up quickly. Therefore, five-foot ways are good places for people to watch the rain or seek shelter. Qi lou generally only has two or three floors, which is very similar to the area of Zhangzhou's Taiwan Road and Hong Kong Road, but the renovation of Zhangzhou's ancient city has been too thorough, pursuing a unified visual effect and destroying the original appearance of the buildings. Penang's streets can see buildings from various periods, from modern to the early days, from Buddhism to Islam. It is the diversity and inclusiveness that have created Penang as it is today.
✨The architecture of Penang is somewhat similar to Xiamen. It is a small island, and the buildings and culture resemble an enlarged version of Zhangzhou, Zhao'an, and the Chaoshan region. The architecture here doesn't strive for uniformity but instead showcases a diverse array of styles, which is incredibly beautiful.
The Chinese community in Penang largely consists of immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong, so there are similarities in cuisine and language as well. I am delighted to find a large green square here, as I have always believed that a central square is an essential element in a city. It is reminiscent of the layout seen in European cities, where the central square extends to the surrounding areas, providing a simple route for exploring the city.
👉Sitting by the seaside, basking in the sun, I feel joy in the rich diversity of the world. The waves gently brush against the pebbles, small crabs come out of the water and sunbathe on the rocks, birds sing in the trees, and as for people, we blissfully enjoy everything that we have.
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Ideas: Penang History, World Tour, Penang Penang, Penang Tourism, Penang Arcade, Penang Pentaport
Blog ID: 46643
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