Chowrasta Market is a famous wet market facing Penang Road, in the centre of George Town. The market has an indoor section with market stalls spilling out onto the streets, mainly, Chowrasta Road, Tamil Lane and Kuala Kangsar Road (see map). Below are some street captures of the outdoor market activities that start to wrap up before noon.
stalls lined along Jalan Kuala Kangsar
(left) fishmonger selling off his remaining fish by the roadside; (right) a boy intrigued with swimming goldfish
scene of the local community at Chowrasta
hanging up chinese dried pork sausages (lap cheong) at a sundry shop
market vendor packed up for the day
Just around the corner is another popular local morning wet market open, the Campbell Street Market. This heritage building of Victorian style stands at the intersection of Campbell Street and Carnarvon Street.
facade of the Campbell Street Market
the signboard at the front of Campbell Street Market with the historical names of Campbell Street. Originally called ‘Sin Kay’ in hokkien which literally means a ‘new street’, it also has a double meaning with the play of words, meaning ‘fresh chickens (prostitutes)’ straight off the boats of migrants arriving from the port of Macau.
i’ve been to penang road but never bump into this wet market.. does it open on a specific day? =)
how man..you took very colourful pictures.
Love the 3rd one, the boy with yellow short, red shirt, and the gold fish. Everything is beautiful.
Cheers and thanks for sharing..
yeah and i wanna eat the cendol not far away from the market…at penang road?? lol
Exploring a local market is one of my to-do list in my travels. I just love the authentic local feel in them! That photo of the little boy is fascinating.
I love seeing the action at wet markets. You have capture it well.
That pork sausages look so good! I like the name of “Wet Market”. We call it “Traditional Market”. Is it specifically for the “Wet” items only?
interestng. i like wet markets!
btw, Kota Kinabalu’s mountain is interesting, though it’s very high. how many days will it take to go to the summit?
Did anyone sort of “harrass” you when you were shooting the market scenes? I don’t dare to photograph people at the market. They might get upset.
Oh! Have an old street called 福隆新街 in Macau, it was a red light district in long time before, I know the meaning now!
I’m surprised that the signboard mentions about prostitution. I thought those conservative politicians would think this is a national disgrace.
woah i miss buying goldfish from the roadside
kenwooi: should be open daily but stalls start packing up at 11am, so gotta be there earrly
Photovigor: heya.. thanks for the compliment.. looking forward to more landscape photos from u!
fufu: which one is ur fav? quite a few around
Nomadic Pinoy: i like the outdoor ones better… the indooor wet markets are less pleasant to walk around/shop at
Autumn Belle: i like photographing markets too coz it’s usu so colourful and depicts the local lifestyle
micki: u have the pork sausages in taiwan too right? We call them wet market here typically coz these markets sell meat and fish and the floors are wet!
chyng: i heard from friends who’ve been up there. if u’re relatively fit, about 8 hours to laban rata which is 2/3 up, where u have early dinner, stop and rest overnight. then take off at about 1am or so for another 3-4 hours right to the top to catch sunrise. although it’s 4000m high, u start hiking from the base at 1800m high. Looks like Ron & Monette just conquered it.
Mei Teng: i usu take them from afar so as to be less intrusive. penang is full of tourists so i think they could be quite used to it. (i’ve been told off in markets in other places though). however for stalls that i go up to in penang, to take close ups (more in the coming post), i usu ask before i take – most of them don’t seem to mind but some say not to take their face but can take their hands in action.
Rafael: wat does the street name 福隆新街 mean?
khengsiong: oh well, it’s something of the past i suppose… prob more like a history lesson for us
Nicholas Leong: reminded of childhood days eh?
Finally update new post ya
I also never been to Penang wet market le…hehe!
some of them look sad and look happy.
have you buy any things from them? else …they will say “don’t take my photos”
I was like the little boy when I was young!!
I could stay there looking at those goldfish for hours!
Those days……
wow~ bring back alot of memories..used to follow my mom everytime to this market when i was a kid, and play with the gold fish
Yes, we do have pork sausages in Taiwan. Especially during the holidays, people start to make their secret ingredient sausages!
uLi: yeaaa… no more cari tulang…
CHVoon: didn’t buy anything… was lucky not to be told off – most of the shots are of them looking down or engrossed in their own activity
LondonCaller: haha .. in penang as well?
taufulou: do u live near chowrasta?
micki: secret ingredients eh… hmmm spicy ones and all i’m assuming..
This Chowrasta Market looks like a perfect place for street photography
Definitely LOVE to visit this vibrant wet market!!! LOVE the traditional wet hawkers depicted in your pictures. It reminds me of Pudu wet market 
Cheers!
ALex Loke
u’ve got excellent coverage on Pudu markets… i should pay a visit to kl markets one of these days.. so far have been photographing markets out of kl only
The signboard of the sign maker may not seem like good advertisement considering the state it is in. However, it is a traditional practice not to change the original to avoid bad luck. At least that is what I was told when I was a young boy.