Singkawang

Singkawang is a city in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Understand
The city of Singkawang is along the west coast of Kalimantan, about halfway between the provincial capital Pontianak and the border with the Malaysian state of Sarawak. About 70% of the population of Singkawang is of Chinese descent, with most being Hakka people. Singkawang is small trading town and it is famous for its multi cultures and religions people. Singkawang had many nicknames, such as "The City of One Thousand Temples", or Amoy City (Amoy means "Girl in Hakka dialect.)

Indonesian government had given Singkawang honors for being one of the cleanest city in Indonesia.

Climate
Singkawang has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.

Talk
Almost all of the Singkawang people use either Indonesian or Hakka Chinese for conversation.

Get in
There is no airport at Singkawang; it is served by Supadio International Airport. It is connected by road, can be reached by bus or taxi from Pontianak. Take a bus from Pontianak to Singkawang. The trip takes about three hours or 150 km and cost around Rp20,000. It is also connected by road to Kuching in Malaysia via the Aruk/Biawak border and Sambas.

See




Eat
Chinese food especially Hakka style dominates the food stalls or small restaurants, but Teochew style is also available. Minang style food can also be found here. Unique food like Rujak Ju Hie (鱿鱼炒; rojak with dried squid) is one of delicacies in Singkawang. Tofu (bean curd) Singkawang is famous in West Kalimantan, also Kembang Tahu (腐皮; silky smooth tofu with sugar gravy) is very popular in this city. Singkawang is also famous for its cakes. The variety of cakes is surprising and available from early morning till midnight. Choi Pan (菜粄:Steamed vegetable dumplings) is one of the many special traditional Chinese delicacies. Believed to be of Hakka origin, it consists mainly of fragrantly stir-fried yam bean wrapped in a slightly chewy translucent skin and is steamed to perfection. There are also have several Malay food such as Bubur Paddas (Malay's spicy porridge), Pedak (fermented shrimp paste) and Nasi Lemak. One may enjoy various food in Pasar Hongkong from porridge, kwetiau, fried rice, nasi lemak, rujak (fruit & vegetables salad), cakes coffee stall. And the prices of the food are surprisingly cheap.

Drink
Kopi tiam (咖啡店; local coffee shop) with strong bitter robusta coffee can be found every where. Peaceful and safe feeling for everyone makes Singkawang to be one of the cities with lively night.

Stay safe
There have been allegations of human trafficking in Singkawang, based upon the town's mail order bride illegal business. Most of the men who travel to Singkawang looking for young women to marry are from Taiwan, Mainland China, or Singapore. These men arrive and get in touch with brokers, these brokers then approach families with suitably aged daughters and generally offers these parents some money for each girl.