Soo Hong Lane

Soo Hong Lane, George Town, Penang (30 June 2012)


Soo Hong Lane is the title-holder for being the narrowest named lane in George Town. The lane is so narrow that motorcycle can barely pass through it. It is located in the heritage enclave of George Town, between Armenian Street and Ah Quee Street. It comprises two parts, the main, wider lane that links Armenian Street to Ah Quee Street, and an offshoot branch also emerging at Armenian Street. From a bird's-eye-view, the lane has the appearance of the letter "h".

Soo Hong Lane at night (1 July 2012)


Soo Hong Lane was named after Khoo Soo Hong, who was a member of the board at nearby Khoo Kongsi during the mid 19th century. Soo Hong Lane was developed around the land belonging to him, which is on the northern part of Khoo Kongsi. The northern entrance of Khoo Kongsi leads to Soo Hong Lane.

The narrowest portion of Soo Hong Lane is the bottleneck in the middle where the shophouses face one another over a short distance. In terms of width, Soo Hong Lane is actually second to Boatmen Alley, however the latter is not signaged, so Soo Hong Lane holds the distinction of being the narrowest alley in George Town with a road sign.

Properties on Soo Hong Lane

A selection of photographs showing the properties along this lane.

15 Soo Hong Lane, George Town (30 June 2014)


15 Soo Hong Lane is a restored townhouse. It appears that the original wooden shutters on the upper floor has been replaced by glass louvres. The front porch appears quite plain. There is a pair of double-doors flanked on either sides by plain wooden windows with verticle grill bars, and topped with air vents.

16 Soo Hong Lane, George Town (30 June 2014)


16 Soo Long Lane is a restored townhouse. The entire property has been restored and repainted. Hanging over the front door is a plaque which reads 西河 (Penang Hokkien: Si3 Ho2, Pinyin: Xīhé).

Soo Hong Lane, George Town (23 June 2013)


Soo Hong Lane (11 January 2014)


Like a finger jutting off from the main portion, this section of Soo Hong Lane contains five double-storey townhouses (Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Soo Hong Lane) built in the 19th century. Each of these houses have timber shutters that run the length of the upper level, below which are spandrels with green ceramic air vents.

Getting there

From the Weld Quay Ferry & Bus Terminal, use the pedestrian crossing to go across Pengkalan Weld, then turn left and walk south down until you reach the junction of Armenian Street Ghaut (Gat Lebuh Armenian). Turn right and go along Armenian Street Ghaut. Go acrss Victoria Street (Lebuh Victoria) and Beach Street (Lebuh Pantai) and continue along Armenian Street (Lebuh Armenian) until you arrive at Soo Hong Lane on your right.

Lorong Soo Hong road sign (7 July 2010)

Street Art

View Soo Hong Lane, George Town, Penang in a larger map

List of Streets in Penang and Streets in Malaysia

Private Guided Tours of Penang

If you are seeking private guided tours of Penang, message Penang Tour Guides at penangtourguides@gmail.com and enquire with them.

 Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang

Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

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.