Across the river from the red buildings of Dutch Square lies the part of Malacca where people have always lived and traded: Chinatown, a grid of narrow streets lined with old shophouses, where for centuries Chinese, Malay, Indian and Portuguese Eurasian families have lived a few doors apart. This walk starts on Jonker Street, the old main street, visits the grand townhouse of a Peranakan family and the oldest working Chinese temple in Malaysia, and passes a mosque from the 1720s. Then it leaves the old town behind and follows the river upstream to Kampung Morten, a Malay village of wooden houses on stilts, ending at a Portuguese Catholic church more than three hundred years old. It is a little over two kilometers, flat and gentle, and one of the most varied self-guided walking tours in Malaysia. Four faiths and four peoples, all in an easy late afternoon.

Before you set off

Allow about half an hour of walking, and two to three hours with time inside the museum, the temple and the mosque, which is the whole point. The route is flat, but Malacca is hot and humid all year, so the best time to start is in the late afternoon, around four. The worst of the heat has passed by then, and you reach the river just as the light softens and the lights along the water come on. Carry water and an umbrella, because heavy afternoon showers are common, though they rarely last long, and the covered walkways in front of the shophouses make good shelter. Wear clothes that cover your shoulders and knees, and shoes you can slip off, since you will be visiting a Chinese temple, a mosque and a Catholic church. The mosque welcomes visitors outside prayer times, and women may be asked to cover their hair, so carry a scarf. On weekend evenings Jonker Street becomes a crowded night market, which is great fun but slow going, so if you want to see the street itself, start a little earlier. The museum runs guided visits at set times, so check before you go.

Jonker Street

You are standing at the river end of Jonker Street, a few steps from the bridge that links Chinatown to Dutch Square. The street's official name is Jalan Hang Jebat, after a legendary warrior of the Malacca sultanate, but almost everyone uses the older name, Jonker, which dates from the Dutch era. Look down the street. On both sides run rows of shophouses, two stories high and narrow at the front, but stretching far back from the street. The family's business was on the ground floor and the family lived upstairs. In front of each shop runs a covered walkway, the five foot way, which gives you shade and dry shelter from the rain. Look up at the facades, decorated with carved wooden panels, painted tiles and plaster flowers, each a little different, and at the gold Chinese characters on the signboards, many naming clan associations, the old self help societies of families from the same district of China. Antique dealers, coffee shops, and small family businesses fill the street. Try a bowl of cendol, shaved ice with coconut milk, green rice flour jelly and gula Melaka, the dark palm sugar named after the town. On weekend evenings, the street closes to cars and fills with a night market. Then walk a few steps up the street, turn left into the first cross street, and turn right at the end onto Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock. The museum is a couple of minutes ahead.

Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum

You are on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, which the Dutch called Heeren Street, the street of gentlemen, and which was home to the richest families in town. The grand townhouse in front of you, really three houses joined together, with its carved doors and painted facade, is the Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum. It belonged to the Chan family, wealthy Peranakan Chinese who lived here for generations, and it has been kept almost as they left it. The Peranakans, also called Straits Chinese, descend from Chinese traders who settled in Malacca centuries ago and married local women. Their families kept Chinese faith and customs but spoke a form of Malay, wore the sarong and the fitted lace blouse called the kebaya, and created a cuisine of their own, rich with coconut milk, chilies and spices. Men are called Babas and women Nyonyas. Under British rule many became merchants, lawyers and community leaders, and the man this street is named after, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, was a Malacca Peranakan who became one of the founding leaders of independent Malaya. Inside, the house blends Chinese carved and gilded woodwork, European furniture, colored tiles and fine porcelain in a way that is unique to this community. The guided visit is worth taking; follow the guide's rules on photography. Afterward, walk back the way you came, cross Jonker Street and continue one more block inland to the next parallel street. Turn left and follow it as it becomes Jalan Tokong. The temple is about four minutes ahead.

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple

The Malacca River You are on Harmony Street. That is the nickname given to this lane, Jalan Tokong, and the street that continues it, because within a few hundred meters it holds a Chinese temple, a mosque and a Hindu temple. On the way here you passed the Kampung Kling Mosque, built in the 1700s, and the Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple, built by Malacca's Chitty community, Tamil descendants who, like the Peranakans, took on many Malay ways. In front of you is the oldest of the three, Cheng Hoon Teng, the Temple of the Green Clouds, which is often called the oldest working Chinese temple in Malaysia. It was founded in the 1600s, in the early years of Dutch rule, and it is dedicated mainly to Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, though it serves Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian worshippers alike. Look up at the roof, crowded with dragons, phoenixes and figures made from fragments of colored porcelain set in plaster. Craftsmen from southern China built much of what you see, and a careful restoration won the temple a UNESCO heritage award. Inside, incense coils hang from the ceiling, burning for days, and worshippers shake bamboo sticks to seek answers to their questions. Step over the high threshold rather than on it, move quietly, and avoid photographing people at prayer. Then walk back a few steps along Jalan Tokong and turn left at the junction onto Jalan Kampung Hulu, heading north. The mosque is about three minutes away.