Kau Keng Chu, Kek Chuan Road

Kau Keng Chu, Kek Chuan Road, George Town, Penang (26 October 2011)


Kau Keng Chu (GPS: 5.41517, 100.32453), Penang Hokkien Taiji Romanisation: Kau1-keng3 Chu3 , literally "nine houses") is a row of nine colourfully painted restored pre-war townhouses along Kek Chuan Road in George Town, Penang. These were converted from residential townhouses to commercial shophouses, and the Kau1-keng3 Chu3, are stylized as 9KC.

Each of the Nine Shophouses of Kek Chuan Road is painted a different colour. From left to right, the colours are sky blue, lilac, lemon yellow, cobalt blue, ash, grey, torquoise, amber and pink.

Since the restoration of the Kau Keng Chu, another row of shophouses has been similarly restored. The Pink Row along Kimberley Street is a row repainted in shocking pink.

Updates on Kau Keng Chu

3 June 2023
House Beautiful selected Kek Chuan Road as one of the 40 most beautiful streets in the world, on the strength of buildings such as Kau Keng Chu.

Getting there

Take Rapid Penang Bus 10, 101 or 104 to Macalister Road, alighting at bus stop near Menara JKP.

Part of the Kau Keng Chu (26 October 2011)


Kau Keng Chu, Kek Chuan Road, George Town, Penang (26 October 2011)


Kau Keng Chu five-foot way (25 November 2012)


Nine shophouses in rainbow colours (26 October 2011)

Kau Keng Chu is on the Map of Kek Chuan Road, Penang

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.