Melaka Trip: Bukit Cina and Poh San Teng Temple

14:30 28/4/2012 After stuffing our stomach with delectable food at Pahlawan Mall food court. We drove one kilometer to reach Bukit Cina. We wound up and encircled the area before we halted at the foot hill. It seems getting lost was normal on that day. If we haven’t seen the Chinese temple we’ll surely go to limbo. We’re so lucky that only a few people visited the place at that time. We heard it’s crowded whenever Chinese tourist  pays homage to this historical site. We passed through the  Poh San Teng Temple main entrance. The temple looks so ordinary and anyone can guess it was built in contemporary time. 

But don’t let the physical look deceived you, it’s been there for more than 200 years. Upon looking the exterior of Poh San Teng Temple we recall our visit in Kuan Ti Temple in KL. The stone lions , the arch, and the Chinese lantern were familiar things we both seen on the two temples.

When we got inside the premises, we’d been stuck for a moment and amazed of its antiquity. The old lanterns hanging on the wood truss catches our attention. It looks so ancient and pretty sure it has a lot of stories to tell if one could just speak. Looking at the pictures and old newspaper posted on the wall. We could say, this place was no ordinary. Prominent people visited here, like diplomats, businessmen, and tourist who have Chinese ancestry. And even the previous President Of China, we forgot the name but you can check it on old newspaper cut out   had also pay homage here.

Continuing on what we read, we’re able to connect why the temple was built on the Bukit Cina foot hill. Bukit Cina was the graveyard and temple was their shelter when they offer prayers for the dead. So it would be convenient for the family member just to pray at the temple, instead of climbing on the steep hill where the graves were located.

Big Joss Stick

 

 

 

 

Our local guide whom we still didn’t know his name, lead us to the hill. We can’t complain since we’re really eager to see the graves and knew the Princess tomb was on top of the hill. It was a 10-15 minutes walk before we reached the top. If you didn’t know Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill) it was touted as the oldest Chinese grave in Malaysia found in Melaka.

 

Summer and Chin Wang

 

Summer and Olga aka “Paris Hilton”

 

Temple and Grave Raider

Summer and Sky


This is part of our Melaka Trip Series

01 Restrospecting Melaka an Overview

What to Do
02 Finding road to Melaka
03 Historical Sites and Museums
04 St. Paul Hill and Church
05 A Famosa
06 Melaka Sultanate Palace
07 Jonker Walk
08 Vibrant Night of Historical Melaka
09 Flor de la Mar
10 St. Francis Xavier Church
11 Bukit Cina and Poh San Teng Temple
12 Melaka Zoo
13 Melaka River Cruise

Where to Eat
14 Foodie Trail
15  Jonker 88

Where to Stay
16 Temporary Abode: L’Armada Guesthouse