Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown in Petaling Street has long attracted tourists. Originally a tapioca-producing area, it's known locally as Chee Cheong Kai; said to mean Starch Factory Street. A visitor lamented that the Chinatown had changed drastically since his last visit there 15 to 20 yrs ago. Then, I remember having to catch an express bus home in Puduraya bus terminal, now known as Pudu Sentral; and since the terminal is a stone throw away from the Chinatown, I'd inadvertently visit the place each time I traveled home to the north. The Chinatown then was a colourful, bustling flea market which offered everything from clothes and electronics to perfumes, CDs and street food. I would go there to eat and shop even. The Chinatown presently is as colourful and bustling as ever but in 2003, it underwent a major RM11 mil face lift. Two Chinese arches had been added to the street and the whole street itself had been covered by a green roof, dubbed the Green Dragon. Probably, with the roof; come rain or shine, one would able to ply and shop in the street in comfort.The visitor was just lamenting that the traders a decade ago used to be mainly Chinese but now they are slowly replaced by Nepalese, Myanmar and Bangladeshi. That he said, resulted in a Chinatown without a Chinese feel.
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