The city was laid out in a grid that segregated the races. It was a typical way of the British to deal with their colonies.
At the cape area, from Fort Cornwallis going south, along Beach Street, Bishop Street, Church Street and part of Weld Quay, was the Eurasians zone.
Going to the east, the zone included Light Street and Farquhar Street as well.
Now, however, Beach Street remains as one of the longest streets and is well known as Penang banking district instead. A lot of heritage buildings are now headquarters of premier banks in the state.
Hmm, do I see eyes twinkling with dollar signs now? Yes, Penang has quite a number of wealthy millionaires who made their fortune, especially by trading. Stories of rags to riches are quite plenty in this part of the world. For example, the story of Boon Siew, the Honda motorcycles multi-millionaire who started only as a boy washing buses. The rise of Cheong Fatt Tze to become a Chinese Mandarin is another Penang success story.
I know that young material girls would swoon if you were to tell them that their husbands-to-be are some tycoons from Penang. By the way, the colloquial name for a rich businessman is "towkay".
*A bank in Beach Street, Penang that occupies a heritage building
* Church Street Pier, established since 1897
Material wealth aside, Penang Heritage City is rich in art and culture too. But then, please remember that this wealth made the patronage of art and culture possible for any civilization.
During the British rule, Chulia Street, part of King Street, Queen Street and Market Street formed Little India. The Chinese merchants were allocated China Street but later occupied part of Armenian quarters too. Besides these areas, small streets in between were designated as the guilds for various trades.
* Garden of the E&O Hotel, a great example of a heritage hotel
Most people forgot that Penang Heritage City is, first and foremost, a port. It still is a busy one until now. Even the creation of "nasi kandar" (one of Penang's most favorite food) originated from the needs to feed the multitude of stevedores who worked back in the late nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century.
Port Swettenham on the north of the Weld Quay is now the berthing place for cruise ships as well as ferries to Sumatra and Langkawi.
The newly renovated Church Street Pier is now a high-end waterfront place of leisure where a century ago, it was the main pier for small boats to unload their wares. Newly built Tanjung Marina Club next to it provides services for yachts from all over the world.
This ferry service is a very important transportation mode for the people on the island.Before the Penang Bridge was built, it was the only way to get to the island on a daily basis (except for the flights that flew in to Bayan Lepas International airport).
* The faithful ferry service, a major connection to the mainland from Penang.
