King Street, George Town

King Street, George Town, Penang (31 January 2024)


King Street, also known today as Lebuh King, is a street within the historic core of George Town Unesco World Heritage Site. Today it is a one-way street with traffic flowing from Chulia Street to Light Street. King Street dates to the late 18th century, and was already in the original grid laid out by Francis Light. In the earliest days, the street leads from Light Street, which was reserved for Europeans, towards land parcelled out to the Chinese community. By the mid-19th century and into the 20th, as Europeans moved away into the suburbs, wealthy Chinese began to buy up the real estate all the way until Light Street itself.

The Hokkiens in Penang call King Street by different names, depending on its location. The section from Light Street to Bishop Street was called Kau1 Keng3 Chu1 Au33, meaning "the back of the nine townhouses". This name refers to nine terrace houses with their front towards Penang Street and their back to King Street. They were the favored addresses of the Chinese nouveau riche.

The section of King Street between Bishop Street and China Street was the heart of the Cantonese community in 19th century George Town. A number of Cantonese district associations and temples are located here. The Hokkiens called it the Kin1 Tang3 Tua3 Pek1 Kong3 Kay1, in reference to the Cantonese Tua Pek Kong Temple located there.

The section of King Street between China Street and Market Street was called Ku Ho Seng Kongsi Kay, meaning "Former Ho Seng Association Street", because the Ho Seng Secret Society used to have its base at 53 King Street, next to Poe Choo Seah.

From Market Street to Chulia Street, King Street enters the Little India part of George Town. In the 19th century, this section was inhabited by the South Indians who were dock workers at the Penang harbour. Understandably, the Hokkiens called this section Kelinga Kay, or "Southern Indian Street". The Tamil name for King Street is Padahukara Teru, meaning "boatmen's street".¹.

Map of King Street, Penang

Street Art

Sights along King Street

Coffee Shops and other Eateries on King Street

Commercial Buildings on King Street

Businesses on King Street

Getting there

Take the Free Rapid Penang Shuttle Bus to Bus Stop No. 5 (Bank Negara) and walk a short distance down Light Street to King Street.

Property Numbering

Starting from Light Street and heading towards Chulia Street, note that properties on the left side of King Street have odd-number addresses while those on the right side have even-number addresses.

King Street, George Town (11 February 2013)


King Street, Penang (25 July 2012)


Anglo-Indian-style building, King Street (25 July 2012)


King Street's Cantonese-style temples (15 September 2012)


Lebuh King road sign (12 November 2008)



King Street history plaque (12 November 2008)

References

List of Streets in Penang and Streets in Malaysia

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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.

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