Tracing History, Art and Flavor Through George Town's Mural-Lined Streets

 

My first visit to George Town, some years before the pandemic, was little more than a quick fix; a shore excursion on a cruise that sailed along the Malaysian coast before returning to Singapore. I had barely three hours on land, just enough to sense the outlines of something intriguing: the smell of spices and coffee in the air, the pastel shophouses, the street art that tells a unique story. Ever since, the city has lingered in my mind like an unfinished conversation or an itch I’d been meaning to scratch.

Being playful with the murals on the streets of Georgetow

As karma would have it, I eventually returned. This time I came not as a visitor in transit, but as a traveler with a few days to spare and no itinerary beyond walking. George Town, that storied mosaic of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and colonial influences, revealed itself slowly as a city layered in color and time. 

Angkas

Along with Melaka, it forms part of the Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where stories doesn’t rest behind museum glass but spills, richly, into the streets.

From Colonial Port to Cultural Intersection

The capital of Malaysia’s Penang state, George Town, began as Britain’s first foothold in Southeast Asia, a modest trading port established in 1786 by Francis Light, the English explorer who also founded the colony of Penang.

The streets of Georgetown in Penang is a street photographer's wet dream

Located strategically along the Strait of Malacca, the city offered promise of commerce and survival to immigrants from all over Asia. Soon, Malays, Chinese, Indians, and those from European countries with colonization aspirations tangled into the society of George Town leaving bits and pieces of influences into its culture, architecture and daily life. By the time Britain’s rule faded and Malaysia gained independence in 1957, Queen Elizabeth II had already declared George Town as the nation’s first city.

Heritage buildings are well preserved as well

Today, after centuries of cultural mingling, George Town stands as one of Malaysia’s most visited destination. It is a city where history is told through every narrow lane. Its UNESCO World Heritage Site core, a labyrinth of light-hued shophouses and street art, draws travelers eager to sample its renowned mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian flavors, and to wander through a living museum of colonial and local heritage.

Of Street Art, Strong Coffee, and Timeless Flavors

We touched down in Penang on an early evening flight from Da Nang, Vietnam. After a quick check-in and a moment to shake off the travel fatigue, curiosity got the better of us. We wandered toward dinner near the Central Fire Station, a historic building standing at the intersection of Beach and Chulia Streets. Built in 1908, the building wears its history with flair, an unlikely but elegant blend of Mughal, Edwardian, and classic architectural styles. More than a century later, it still claims its title as Malaysia’s oldest operational fire station.

But first, some Nasi Yummyness

 

After a filling plate of Nasi Lemak Ayam and Beef Rendang for my friend Katie, we ended our first night in George Town at a place we stumbled upon called “China House.” It stretched deep beyond its narrow entrance: desserts at the front, tables framed by an art gallery and a small library farther in, then a quiet garden, and finally, a dim bar where live music intertwined with recitation of poetry. “I love the artsy vibe of George Town already,” I told my friend, not yet realizing how much more the city would reveal the next day.

Notes from George Town: A City Told in Painted Walls and Pastel Houses

Covering 259.42 hectares (109.38 in its core and 150 in its buffer) George Town’s heritage district holds 4,665 historic buildings, each a testament to centuries of cultural exchange that began with Penang’s earliest settlers. For someone from a country that has long struggled to preserve its own architectural past, the scale of such conservation is almost difficult to grasp but amazes me at the same time.

Cafes, shops and restaurants housed in heritage structures like this are aplenty in Georgetown

If in Vietnam on our earlier destination between Da Nang and Hoi An, my friend and I logged 20,000 steps a day, in George Town we reached 25,000 with ease. Every street and alley seemed to pull us in, a coffee shop here, a thrift store there, an art gallery, a Michelin-starred or Bib Gourmand restaurant, or a wall alive with murals. Our first morning’s goal was simple; to find and photograph the city’s celebrated street art, much of it created by the Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic.

You will never know what the next corner will bring you

Many of the city’s most recognizable murals cluster around Armenian Street such as Zacharevic’s Kids on a Bicycle, Boy on a Chair, and Girl and Her Brother among them. Others appear nearby: Indian Boatman by Siberian artist Julia Volchkova, Brother and Sister on a Swing by local artist Louis Gan, and a scattering of whimsical sculptures tucked into street corners. Together, they lend a distinct liveliness to the already storied streets of George Town.

From gourmet restaurants to simple dining nooks and charming cafes to streetfood, Georgetown's culinary scene is something to explore widely

Between meals at the half-dozen eateries we tried, we paused to cool off with Penang’s famed Teochew chendul, especially at one stall so popular the line seemed never to end. The dessert, a mix of shaved ice, coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, red beans, and pandan-flavored green jelly noodles, offered the perfect balance of sweetness and relief from the afternoon heat.

Ernest Zacharevic’s “Little Children on Bicycle” Mural

George Town, ever the city of curiosities, is home to an eclectic mix of museums. Along our walk, we stumbled upon several and among them the Ghost Museum, the Upside Down Museum, the Wonderfood Museum, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, and the Indian Heritage Museum, each one providing a small window into the city’s layered art and history.

City Hall 

Getting around never feels like a chore here. The sidewalks are wide and safe, the rows of muted-colored shophouses turn every walk into a presentation of history and architecture, plus a free bus loops through the heritage district with clockwork precision.

The waters of the Strait of Malacca offers a picture of calm

“If only we had a heritage quarter this well preserved back home,” I found myself thinking. But as so many of our own historic buildings have slipped away, George Town stands as a reminder to us and to travelers from everywhere, that within its walls and timeworn establishments, the past continues to speak, to be reimagined, and to persist.

 

This article first appeared on the December 2025 issue of asianTraveler Magazine