Chan She Shu Yuen Temple, Kuala Lumpur

The Chan She Shu Yuen Temple started off as the Chan She Shu Yuen Clan Association over a hundred years ago and has strong historical ties with Kuala Lumpur. It is one of the few surviving clan houses in the city of Kuala Lumpur, the house of the Yuen family. When people migrated from China to Kuala Lumpur, the Chan She Shu Yuen Clan Association was the home for those who had Chan, Chen and Tan surnames since they had ancestral ties with the Yuen. The Clan House gave the migrants initial refuge and helped them establish themselves in the city.

In the late 1890s, the Clan House began construction of a new building that was completed in 1906. Built in Chinese Baroque style on Petaling Street in the Chinatown, the construction went through many hardships which were documented. All men and materials required for the construction came from China. The result of this painstaking endeavor are beautiful carvings in wood, limestone and stone, curved ceramic glazed tiles and the Chinese motifs on the tiles of the Chan She Shu Yuen Clan Temple, as you see it today.

The worship hall, called the De Xing Hall in Chinese, honors the ancestors of the Yuen family. This beautiful temple is open from 8 am to 5 pm seven days a week and has no admission fees. So, when you plan to visit the Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, put the Chan She Shu Yuen Temple on the must-visit list.