After breakfast, start the day with the Railways station which was built from Taiping to Port Weld. In 1885, the construction began from the grounds of the present King Edward School, and later shifted to the present site in 1900. This railway track has been closed from the late 1950s. Port Weld is now known as ‘Kuala Sepetang’.

Government Hospital was set up in 1880. The entrance to the hospital was along Station Road. Yeng Wah Hospital (1880) was set up by the Chinese Mining Community. There were also small hospitals called as the Prison and Police Hospitals. The government hospital was run by one Thomas Prendergast, a qualified ‘Apothecary’ and his title was Sub-Assistant Surgeon. The two hospitals came to be one later.

The Taiping Clock Tower is an iconic landmark of Taiping, a history, architecture, and photography aficionados. It was originally constructed as a wooden building in 1881, and served as the first police station in Taiping and in what would have been Taiping’s main square. It was popularly known as The Fort among locals. It was later rebuilt in 1891 as a fortified stone building. In 1908, the building began to serve a dual purpose, that of Taiping’s police station, as well as its fire station, considered to be the very first fire brigade in the Federated Malay States. The clock tower itself, a fortified tower with chambered slits for gun slots was most probably erected much later. A wind vane in the shape of a rooster sat at the peak of the tower. The Clock Tower continued to serve as a police station till it was abandoned in 1950. In 2018 restoration works were completed and the clock began chiming again after a 10-year silence. Not to be missed is the Red Phone Booth just outside the tower, the only one of its kind still in its original location in Taiping. The Clock Tower served as the main Tourist Information Center in Taiping in the days preceding the Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia. It is now temporarily closed to the public. 

The New Clock Tower, or Retro Clock Tower, popularly known among Taipingites,as Halaman Pasar), located at the entrance to the Market Square and is a major landmark in the city. The site where the tower stands was originally the site of a very large and ornate cast iron fountain, donated by Ng Boo Bee. This fountain was relocated when this clock tower was built, and is now at the Lotus Pond in the Taiping Lake Gardens.

• Wet market 1874 - Free-standing non-religious market.

• Food market - Siang Malam.

• Tamil School.

• Convent Taiping.

• Rest House now Hotel Lagenda.

• Indian Association .

• The King Edward VII School.

• English School (Part of King Edward school).

-English School Teachers Training(Part of King Edward school).

-Malay School (Part of King Edward school).

-Readlia School (Part of King Edward school).

• St. Georges School.

• The Government Offices Buildings.

Taiping Market was built in 1884, from the main road extending to the Kota Road. Fish, vegetables and meat are sold there. There was also a specially built Water Fountain by the tin miner Ng Boo Bee in 1905 inside the market. Now it has been removed. Other business activities were selling provisions, liquors, salted fish and many consumer goods. There are two building blocks, one built in 1874 and the other in 1875 across the main road was the largest free-standing non-religious wood-and-cast iron structure in the country. It is also famous for its array of dishes and is a hangout for the young and old, day and night and it is called Siang Malam by the locals. In fact, the market has been a focal point for the locals since it was built in 1874-1875.

Recently the market needed a reshape and will be conserved and not demolished, and be treated like any other heritage building.

It was projected and took two years starting December 2020 till 2022, as agreed, the façade of the building remained. All structural work will be based on the original design while the facilities for the traders will be based on today’s demands.

Wet market 1874

Free-standing non-religious market

Food market - Siang Malam 1875

Tamil School was established in 1918. The school building is known as Young Men Hindu Association (YMHA). Situated at the Upper Station Road. The pioneer was Dr. A. Viswalingam. Tamil education was started in the estates as early as 1906, at the time the Rump Labour Code began, and largely left on their own initiative. 

Convent Taiping is an all-girls school located on Convent Lane in Kota, Taiping. In 1899, established the first convent school at Kelian Pauh, Taiping.  In 1931 the Kelian Pauh Convent was shifted to the town centre at Convent Lane, Kota and this institution was renamed to Convent Kota. The convent nuns conducted classes for the masses and an orphanage for the unwanted children. The present buildings for secondary school dated back to 1938, with expansion of building blocks and situated next to the St. Louis Church. 

Rest House was built in 1894, in front of the King Edward School, Station Road. Now known as Hotel Lagenda. 

Indian Association was situated at the main road, first established in 1896, and officially opened in 1906. Founder member who donated the building is Shaik Nunammer Shah. He was a Apothecary and also a planter, who came from South India. All those who came from India irrespective of their religion, were generally called as Indians. The early presidents were Dr. Mohamad Ghows, Louis Thivy, Kher Singh, Seenivagasam Pillai, Muthukaruppan Chettiar and R. Manacksha. During the Japanese occupation, the Indian Freedom Fighter, Subash Chandra Bose, was invited by the Tamil Leader Muthu Ramalingam Pillai to address the Indians, at the Association. The IA was accorded the privilege and honour, for having opened by the H.H. the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Iskandar Shah in the year 1925.

The King Edward VII School, was officially opened  by the Sultan of Perak, Raja Idris Shah in 1906, there are reports in the Old Edwardian’s Association Magazine that it was formed out of an earlier school called the Central School which had been operating in wooden buildings under an attap roof since 1883. It was named after King Edward who succeeded to the British throne in 1901 on the death of Queen Victoria. From 1876 to 1937 Taiping was the capital of the State of Perak. Later it replaced Kuala Kangsar in that role, and with the discovery of large tin deposits in Perak in the middle of the 19th century, the town grew rapidly with the large influx of labour, especially from China, to work the mines, and it became the biggest town in the State.

Its initial enrolment was 150 boys and the first headmaster, Mr. R.F. Stainer, B.A., London. He was responsible for designing the school’s shield in red and black, and its motto “Magni Nominis Umbra” (“Under the Shadow of Greatness”). In the 1920s, it also was proud to establish an Army Cadet force as well as a Scout Group. After the Japanese occupation in 1946, students increased to over 1,000 pupils with Captain C.R. Holliday as principal. Further school buildings were constructed and in the 1950s a sixth form was created with girls accepted, and the school was divided into separate Primary and Secondary sites.

English School was established in 1883. It was earlier known as the Central School, at the main road near the hospital. First headmaster C. Greene 1895-1905 and later named the King Edward VII School in 1904. Started with 13 students the first year, second year 38 students.

English School Teachers Training 1907, for the Malay States, Normal Trained Teachers, started at the King Edward School, Taiping, by R.F. Stainer, who was the Principal of the school from 1905-1921. 

English School Teachers Training 1907, for the Malay States, Normal Trained Teachers, started at the King Edward School, Taiping, by R.F. Stainer, who was the Principal of the school from 1905-1921. 

Malay School was established in 1900. About this year there was a significant Malay population in the Kota area, Malay education was left to their own initiative, and according to the elders, there was a classroom building at the Kota-Main Road junction. The English showed interest to give the Malays, English education especially to the elite class of Malays, as early as 1905. (Part of King Edward school)

Readlia School was established in 1932. This was a Private English School, started by Andrew S. Read, and named it as ‘Readlia’, situated at the main road, opposite the hospital, the building is still seen at the same place. This was the first private school in Taiping. (Was part of the King Edward School).

St. Georges School, also popularly referred to as St. George’s Institution (its name upon founding), is one of the oldest schools in Taiping, and Malaysia, having stood for over a century. The school is a public secondary school (high school) and teaches pupils from Forms 1 to 6. Students from Forms 1 to 5 are all boys, while Form 6 education is inclusive of girls. 

The Government Offices Building was structured in 1892. Building work started in 1892 and completed in 1896, at Kota Road. Built by Caulfield, F.I.S.O the State Engineer.

The Magistrate Court, set up by Capt. T.C.S. Speedy, who also acted as the magistrate. A timber building with attap roof was set up in 1874, at the same place where the present court building stands.

Post Office & Telegraph was built in 1884. It was a timber building, then a concrete building built in 1900. Situated at the far end of the Barrack Road.

Treacher Methodist Girls School or The Lady Treacher Girls’ School was the first English girls’ school in the Federated Malay States and was established in 1889 in Taiping, Perak. Its first name was English Government Girls’ School. The school’s establishment was devoted to Lady Treacher who was the wife of the then British Resident of Perak, Sir William Hood Treacher.

The Taiping Prison, was set up by Capt. Speedy in 1879. A timber building with fencing all around. Prisoners were handcuff or their legs would be chained to cement concrete slabs. It is still at the same place where the present prison stands.

Taiping museum, the oldest and the first in Malaysia, founded in 1883 and housed in a fine heritage building opposite Taiping Gaol. It started out as a repository for a vast collection of ethnological, anthropological and zoological items curated during Sir Hugh Low’s tenure as Resident of Perak (1877 - 1889). It has a complete skeletons of an elephant and a tiger among others. The exhibit of the Bull elephant’s skull which derailed a train at Telok Anson in 1894. There are many sections in the museum namely the Nature Gallery, Culture Gallery, Indigenous People Gallery, Temporary Gallery, Outdoor Exhibits, Gift shops and the Verdict.

The New Club was originally a social club founded in 1885. In 1890, the existing Perak Club disenfranchised some members when the British Resident Sir Hugh Low decided to limit membership to the Perak Club only to senior officers and miners. This irked members from other trades and some senior members of the Perak Club, who left and formed the New Club in 1892. The New Club’s membership was open to government officers, farmers, miners, and foreign businessmen. It quickly became a focal point of social interaction in Taiping as it accepted a wider membership. A plot of land was granted to the New Club by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Idris Shah in perpetuity, as long as the name “New Club” is retained. 

The New Club is also credited as having the first golf club in the Malay States as well as having the first golf course, and the second in Southeast Asia. Both the Perak Club and New Club were exclusively patronised by the British until the late 1940s. During World War II, the club temporarily ceased operations, and reopened on 20 November 1945, presently, under the administration of the Indian Gymkhana Club. (The Indian Gymkhana Club was a social club formed by government officers and workers of the British Raj in India in 1916).

Cricket Club was established 1881 under the Perak Club and it was the first Cricket Club to be formed in the Malay State, and it was founded in Taiping. It was also the previous (Perak Club.) The members were all Europeans, and their teams played at Kuala Kangsar, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.(It then Merged with the New club later).

European Club started in 1885, under the New Club, now known as the Taiping Club merged with the New Club.This was an attap hut, then re-named as the New Club in 1894, situated at the entrance of Lake Garden. The first President was H.A.W. Alybery. (Now merged with the New Club).

Soccer Game (Football team) was established in 1890, and the first person to organize a team was Col. R.S.F. Walker and the players were his men. Other teams came from Kuala Kangsar, Matang, Telok Anson and Batu Gajah.(Now merged with new Football teams in Taiping).

Golf Course established in 1894 (now merged as the New Club) It was the first in the country, 9 hole in the Lake Gardens. Exclusively for the high ranking British Officers, and later only the Europeans were allowed to play the game. The Asians played golf only after the Japanese War period. One of the first player was Dr. Lim Swee Aun of Taiping.

The original building of the golf course under the clubhouse consisted of a reading room, billiard room, card room, a large dining room, five residential chambers, and a croquet pitch. The site of this building was on an elevated plain overlooking the Esplanade. Across the Esplanade was the clubhouse of the Perak Club. A friendly rivalry started between the New Club and the Perak Club members, which was often played out on the Esplanade, the field separating the New Club and Perak Club buildings. The main sporting activity of New Club members was golf.

The Esplanade built in 1890, was an open ground. Used for functions like Marching and Processions. First initiated by Col. Robert S.F. Walker, as he was the Commandant of the Police and Military Force.

British Residency was built in 1874. The First Assistant Resident was Capt. T.C.S. Speedy. At the beginning he was in Matang, then moved to Taiping, when he became the Assistant Resident. He was first employed by Menteri Ngah Ibrahim.

British Residents was built in 1879. The Residency used to be at Kuala Kangsar, then later moved to Taiping, at the Lake Gardens.

Maxwell Hill Resorts was planned in 1888 and started when William E. Maxwell was the British Resident at 1250 metres above sea level. The temperature varies from 15 Celsius to 25 Celsius during the day. Now called as ‘Bukit Larut’ renamed in the year 1978. In the early years, British officers and wives were carried up to the hills using sedan chairs or rattan baskets by Indian workers.

State Raja Rest House was built in 1895, at the entrance of Lake Garden, from Kota Road. It was used by the Sultans and the Raja Muda of Perak. Demolished in 1970, now it is a public car park.

Lake Gardens was structured in 1880, still in the same place. A rich mining area that has been depleted of tin and abandoned. The vision of one man (Col. E.S.F Walker) to restore dignity to the land, and he did it, with the help of his police force, during his free time. The vibrant beauty of the land remains till today, and enjoyed by Taiping folks.

Horse Racing was established in 1885, at the old race course road, near Kelian Pauh, (this place has been taken over by school buildings.) Chung Ah Yong, was the first owner of race-horses in Taiping, who employed an European to take care of the horses.

Hindu Temple was built in 1895, known as Lord Subramaniam at the foot of Maxwell Hill (Larut Hill), but later shifted to the present site at Kota Road junction. Owned by the Chettiars Community. Shifted in the year 1928.

Maxwell Hill Resorts was planned in 1888 and started when William E. Maxwell was the British Resident at 1250 metres above sea level. The temperature varies from 15 Celsius to 25 Celsius during the day. Now called as ‘Bukit Larut’ renamed in the year 1978. In the early years, British officers and wives were carried up to the hills using sedan chairs or rattan baskets by Indian workers. 

The Commonwealth War Grave was erected in 1945, situated on the way to Bukit Larut (The Waterfall Road). This grave is a good tourist attraction, a good number of visitors come from overseas to visit their loved ones whose names are on the stones.

“We have hosted several memorials here over the years,  including a visit in 2017 by the then His Royal Highness Prince Charles, but our annual remembrance event usually takes place in Kuala Lumpur. 

Chinese Association was established in 1858, the history has it the association were formed according to their clans ancientry. The first known is ‘The Khoo Kongsi’ (1858) in the Tupai-Coronation roads junction, Nine Emperor Gods. The ‘Tseng Lung’ Accociation in 1887, the Hokkian Association (1918). There are many associations in Taiping, started as early from the beginning of the Larut Wars, but the name and dates are difficult to be ascertained. One of the oldest is in front of Taiping Prisons, along the main roads, where the victims of the Larut Wars are buried. Some grave stones are seen till today.

Taiping Airport or Aerodrome built in the year 1940-1941. There was an air trip in the place about the year 1939. During the Japanese War, it was fully developed by the Japanese Military Officers, with the help of the local people. The Japanese Military used it fully. Two Asian Leaders, President Sukarno and his Vice-President Dr. Mohamad Hatta, arrived at this airport in the year 1945 to discuss political matters with the local leaders, they arrived in the Japanese War Plane. The other leader was ‘The Freedom Fighter of India’ Subash Chandra Bose in 1944, by a Japanese plane, and met a local Tamil leader, to discuss the formation of the Indian National Army.

After a long day of adventuring the entire slogan 'First of the First' of it's heritage, have dinner and return to hotel. Overnight in Taiping.