Acrobatic show by Hebei China International Acrobatic Troupe

The acrobatic performance by Hebei China International Acrobatic Troupe at 1 Utama shopping complex on Jan 30, 2009.

There were plenty of breathtaking stunts which had the crowd completely mesmerised by the talented acrobats from China.

An amazing stunt. Great balance and flexibility.

Lifting one leg up in the air and another touching the ground while arching and pushing with the hands next to the head in order to stand up.


Bending like rubber. The acrobat resting her head and chest on the floor.


This involves full-body activity. A great spectacle of balance and strength.


Showing off her hula hoop skills.


Twirling and rolling the hula hoops around the limbs and hands.


Ribbon dances to traditional Chinese music.


Gravity-defying stunts. The human body is pushed far beyond what nature intended.


Making the captive audiences forget the heaviness of gravity.


Balancing on one hand. This stunt requires tremendous arm strength.


Bricks are stacked up as the acrobat balances precariously on top.


An amazing display of strength and agility.


Doing acrobatic stunts in her rope.


Incredible foot juggling of umbrellas.


Balancing an umbrella on foot.


These Chinese acrobats are athletically gifted and very entertaining.

Teluk Intan famous original "chee cheong fun"

Teluk Intan is famous for it’s chee cheong fun.When you visit Teluk Intan next time, I strongly recommend that you should try the famous original chee cheong fun or rice noodle roll served fresh and hot straight from the hot oven only at Liew Kee Chee Cheong Fun wooden house-turn-shop located in No. 725, Jalan Hill, Teluk Intan, Perak.

It is an authentic local food and thus a popular breakfast food for the locals in Teluk Intan.


The freshly steamed chee cheong fun is served takeaway (ta-pao) only due to lack of space in the wooden house-turned shop. The soft and slippery steamed rice noodle roll is cut into small pieces and packed with old Chinese newspaper wrapping.


The main ingredients for the chee cheong fun are rice flour, fried dried shrimps (hea bee) and turnip (sengkuang), salt and water; and is eaten with pickled green chillies. The current price is RM3.00 per packet (for two pieces of the rice noodle rolls). During Chinese New Year period, like all unscrupulous traders taking advantage of the festvie season, the owner has increased to RM4.00 per packet!


Be prepared for long queue from the doorstep up till the roadside to get your delicious and mouth-watering chee cheong fun but it's worth the long wait for the great taste! There are chairs provided for those whose legs are tired.


No jump queue please! The notice prominently displayed for all to see.


The Liew Kee (Ah Lek) Chee Cheong Fun shop is located at No. 725, Jalan Hill, 3600 Teluk Intan, Perak. If you can't find the shop, ask any residents who are proud to guide you to the shop which opens for business only in the evening till next morning! Business Hours : Tuesday to Friday 7.00 pm - 7.00 am, Saturday to Sunday 6.30 pm - 7.00 am. Sunday night & Monday closed. Phone order accepted, call Tel No. 05-6216884, but you have to give your car registration number for identification purpose.

Mr Sow Ah Lek, 55, (left, in blue shirt and short pants) operates the business together with his wife Khor Seu Eng, 52, and two Indonesian workers.


Madame Khor Seu Eng scooping the white watery mixture of rice flour and salt from the container into aluminuim trays.


Madame Khor Seu Eng then add turnip (sengkuang)and fried dried shrimps (hea bee) to the white watery mixture in the tray.


Madame Khor Seu Eng checks to ensure that the turnip (sengkuang) and fried dried shrimps (hea bee) bii) are evenly spread out on the white watery mixture tray before placing it into a huge custom-made machine that steams and turn into tray of chee cheong fun.


According to Mr Sow Ah Lek, his late grandfather Sow Liew who came from China more than 70 years ago started the first chee cheong fun stall in the 1930s on the riverbank in Teluk Intan. Later the family moved to the present premises in the 1970s and has since been operating for more than 30 years till today.


The famous Teluk Intan chee cheong fun is also available at many food stalls in the mornings at the hawker centre in Jalan Maharani.


Ah Lek’s chee cheong fun is also sold at one of the chee cheong fun stalls in the mornings at the hawker centre in Jalan Maharani.

Chinese New Year celebration in Teluk Intan, Perak

Chinese New Year starts on the eve of the New Year. Closed family members (who do not include married daughters and their families) gather to have a reunion dinner. It is the most important feast for everyone in the whole year.


A cardboard replica of Choy San or God of Prosperity welcoming shoppers at the entrance to The Store Supermarket in Jalan Ah Cheong, Teluk Intan, Perak.


On Chinese New Year's eve :


Remembering family ancestors. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family. Before the reunion dinner, family members pay respect to their ancestors, for guidance in the New Year, by offering prayers and arranging a great feast in midday with meals of chicken, fish, and special vegetables to acknowledge their presence because they are responsible for the fortunes of future generations.


Burning ritual golden paper and money notes to ancestors. The Chinese believe these will turn into money in the after-world.


Close family members get together for the reunion dinner to rejoice in tossing the yee sang and enjoy the prosperity meal.


Tossing the yee sang to a good and prosperous New Year. Everyone will toss the colourful salad together high into the air with chopsticks and auspicious words and wishes are shouted out loudly. Everyone make their wishes for wealth, health, good luck and prosperity for the New Year. It is believed that the higher it is tossed, the better your good luck.

On Chinese New Year's eve, children stay up late, the later the better, and have fun playing with sparklers (fire crackers are banned in Malaysia).

On the first day of Chinese New Year :

Family love must not fade away. Four generations of the Tan family celebrate the first day of Chinese New Year family get together in Teluk Intan, Perak. At 85 years old now and getting on in years, great grandmother Ooi Ah Nung's best gift of her life is to watch, before her eyes, her four generations grow and prosper; and still get together on the 1st day of New Year - the most important of all Chinese festivals in the entire year.


Two lions performing a lion dance during a house visit on the first day of Chinese New Year to chase away evil spirits and bring good luck and happiness to the house occupants.


The lion performing Choi Cheng or ‘Picking the Green’, the green here referring to cabbage leaves which are tied to a piece of string on a long stick which also has a red packet attached containing money. The lion munches both the leaves and the red packet, then spit out the leaves signifying that there will be an abundance of everything in the coming year.


Letting off firecrackers as a finale to the lion dance performance to signal a joyous occasion.


The famous Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan is decorated with bright Chinese red lanterns to welcome the Year of the Ox. Thumbs up to Majlis Perbandaran Teluk Intan.


Many Chinese homes are brightly decorated with lighted Chinese red lanterns and red lights hanging in the porch area.

Kuala Lumpur's bustling Petaling Street sets the mood for Chinese New Year

Petaling Street, usually bustling with activity, was more crowded than usual as hordes of Chinese New Year shoppers thronged stalls and shops offering all kinds of must-have festive goodies to usher in the New Year.

It was quite sometime I had walked through Petaling Street, so I decided to visit it this Chinese New Year season to do a photoshoot. It was lunch hour time when I walked through Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. With Chinese New Year just around the corner (which begins on Monday, January 26, 2009), I could feel the cheer and festive spirit of shoppers who are still spending albeit cutting back due to the uncertain economic future.

To those celebrating Chinese New Year, I wish you Xin Nien Kwai Le. Have a wonderful and prosperous Chinese New Year.

Enjoy the photo gallery.

Accessing Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur's famous chinatown, from the main road Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock. The other entrance is via Jalan Sultan.


The hustle and bustle of Petaling Street never fail to attract continuous stream of shoppers and visitors.


Petaling Street was adorned with hanging red lanterns to welcome Chinese NewYear shoppers and visitors.


It's not Chinese New Year without these waxed ducks from China. It's the tradition to have lap ngap or waxed ducks for Chinese New Year. Waxed duck is made by preserving a flattened, deboned duck in salt, spices and fat. They are known as waxed ducks not because they are coated with wax to preserve them. The "wax" in the name refers to the cycles of the moon. They look like they have been waxed.


Chinese sausages or lup cheong, they are normally snapped up fast and you cannot get anymore stocks nearer to Chinese New Year.- For the Cantonese and Hakka, Chinese sausages and waxed ducks dishes are a must for the reunion dinner.


There seems to be big demand for Mandarin oranges. Mandarin oranges are a must have in Chinese New Year. Its Cantonese name 'kum' means gold.


For Chinese New Year, a ready-made cheongsam is the most sensual dress.


Look good this Chinese New Year with dazzling lucky stones to spread some good fortune.


Pineapple shaped lanterns are normally hung at the doorway to attract more wealth and luck.


Chinese lanterns crafted in beautiful red plastic grab attention. Chinese red lanterns are a symbol of happiness and good luck.


This shop is filled with red and gold decorative items, symbolizing good fortune and prosperity.


Red banners with Chinese auspicious words for display in the house to welcome good luck.


Peach-shaped food items made from flour used as docorative items and offerings at the prayer altar of many homes.


In Chinese culture, the peach is a symbol of long life and is regarded as the strongest defense against evil.


The lotus flower symbolizes many auspicious things. It is one of the most auspicious Chinese symbols.


Pussy willow to usher the arrival of prosperity this Chinese New Year.


Colourful artificial flowers such as pink cherry blossom to decorate your home.


A stall that grills and sells 'bak kua' or barbeque pork or chicken meats. The best bak kua is charcoal grilled.


The bak kua or barbequed meat delicacy remains the all-time favourite during Chinese New Year.


Chinese New Year is the peak period for bak kua sales, so be prepared for long queue for your share at Syarikat Kew Brothers shop in Petaing Street. You should see the long queue which snakes its way from the shop to the street.


Another bak kua shop next door to Syarikat Kew Brothers in Petaling Street enjoying brisk sales but the queue is shorter as compared to Kew's.


I look forward for Chinese New Year as I get the opportunity to taste all the lovely traditional cookies like kuih kapit, kuih bangkit, nian gao, peanut cookies and jam tarts.


The entrance to Petaling Street via Jalan Sultan (coming from Klang bus stand)