KL is a cosmopolitan city where the past is still present in the evocative British colonial buildings such as the former cricket club Dataran Merdeka or Chinatown midnight lamps on the Petaling Street night market. The city’s bustling streets, its shining and modern office towers project an unbounded spirit of progress and symbolize Malaysia’s unhesitating leap into the future.



In 1857 a group of 87 Chinese miners in search of tin founded a thatched-roof village which they called "muddy confluence” -literally Kuala Lumpur- which would one day become one of Asia’s richest cities.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Sultans of four states decided to unite under the umbrella of the Federated Malay States, and Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the capital. The city became a classic centre of British colonialism. The city today is a combination of ethnic groups (Chinese, Malay, Indians...) living together with their own cultures, religions and languages.

The 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers is a symbol of the city and the place from which to see KL. Other places to visit include:
 Chinatown (Petaling Street)
 the Islamic Arts Museum
 the Textile Museum (fabrics from all parts of Malaysia)
 The Railway station (architectural delight built in 1885)
 Sri Maha Mariamman Temple (built in 1873 near Chinatown, the temple is said to be the most ornate and elaborate Hindu temple in the country)
 Batu Caves (limestone caves, just 15km outside the city)