Kuching

Kuching (formerly Kucing ) is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. With 634 517 inhabitants ( 2006) it is the largest city on the island of Borneo.

  • 2.1 The White Raja
  • 2.2 people
  • 3.1 Flavours

Geography

Geographical Location

Kuching is located in northwest of Borneo a few miles above the mouth of the Sarawak River, the South China Sea.

Climate

The climate in Kuching is tropical, consistently hot and rainy. The average annual rainfall is 4,000 millimeters. Most rain falls during the monsoon from December to February. The temperature is 26 degrees Celsius throughout the year.

History

The white Raja

The name of the city of Kuching ( kucing ) means cat in the Malay language and comes from " Bukit Mata Kuching Air ", a hill in the center of the city. Kuching was the capital of the white rajas of Borneo. By the second white Raja Charles Brooke Johnson most of the historic buildings in the city were built. So the old Sarawak Museum was built in 1891 in the style of a French town hall. Fort Margherita was named after the wife of Charles Brooke, Margaret Alice Lili de Windt, the Rani, named.

Population

During the 20th century, mainly Malays, Chinese and members of various indigenous Dayak ethnic groups such as the Bidayuh, Iban or Kenyah have settled in Kuching.

The Chinese population consists mostly of Fujianese ( Hokkien ) in the urban areas and Hakka in the rural areas.

Kuching is divided into a northern and a southern part; Both districts have their own mayor. The one part is mainly inhabited by ethnic Chinese population, the other by Malays.

Culture and sights

Sights of the city are the Sarawak Museum, Cat Museum, Fort Margherita, the Kuching Waterfront to the Chinese Museum, the buddisthische Tua Pek Kong Temple, the main bazaar with the nearby wet market and various cat statues all over the city. The weekend opens the huge weekend market; He has local food, tropical fish, vegetables and fruits in the jungle offer.

A large building that dominates the skyline of the city at that time, the DUN complex, which houses the Parliament of Sarawak among others. The building is located between the Fort Margherita and the Astana ( the former residence of the Rajas ) opposite the Kuching Waterfront. It is around 125 meters high and 200 meters wide, including attachments. A special attention is paid to the roof structure, the already noticeable from a distance by its golden color and its rocket -shaped appearance.

In the vicinity of Kuching many attractions such as the longhouses of the Iban in the interior, the museum village of Sarawak Cultural Village at Mount Santubong (810 m) with views of the surrounding mangrove forests and the Damai Beach, the famous Bako National Park, the Kubah - National Park with the Matang Wildlife Centre, Jong 's Crocodile Farm and the orang Utan Wildlife Sanctuary and about two hours from the Gunung Gading National Park - with the Rafflesias, the world's largest flowers. See also National Parks and Protected Areas in Malaysia.

Culinary

Kuching maintains numerous local specialties for its visitors. These are slightly sharper usually seasoned, but still suitable for the " European stomach ". Drinks are rather more sugared.

Are very popular for breakfast Kolo Mee ( noodles with meat small deposit, usually beef), Wantan Mee, various other pasta dishes with seafood as a deposit, Pau (stuffed dumplings ), Dim Sum and a variety of sweet rice cakes.

For lunch and dinner are almost available everywhere: Laksa ( Noodle soup with various inserts such as chicken, fish or shrimp ), chicken ( boiled or fried) with rice or noodles, curry, mixed vegetables with rice, various beef and pork dishes, the most are offered with rice, fried noodles and fried rice, which is then available with either chicken, beef or duck and vegetables.

Special features: The most hot dishes such as soups, rice and noodle dishes are also available as " special". This is either a stronger wort or to the incorporation of organ meats such as liver, heart and stomach. Particularly good and fresh here all the dishes, the marine animals are include. The Seafood Kitchen is very pronounced and varied, both in the choice of animals as well as in the preparation.

Infrastructure

Just 15 km from the city center is the Kuching International Airport in 2006 advanced, modern airport. The low cost airline AirAsia offers several domestic routes and plans in the future with its subsidiary to operate routes even abroad. The airline MASwings, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, offers some stretches to within Borneo. Indonesian airlines control Kuching also.

Twinning

  • China People's Republic of Kunming, People's Republic of China
  • People's Republic of China Xiamen, People's Republic of China
  • People's Republic of China Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China
  • Indonesia Pontianak, Indonesia
  • Malaysia Johor Bahru, Malaysia
  • Saudi Arabia Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  • Flag of South Korea Guro -gu, South Korea
  • United States Seattle, United States

Sons and daughters of the city

  • Mohd Azlan Iskandar ( b. 1982 ), squash player
  • Tsai Ming - Liang ( b. 1957 ), film director
  • James Wan ( born 1977 ), screenwriter and film director
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