Seberang Perai Attractions

The number one attractions within Seberang Perai is the town of Butterworth, where much of the action takes place. Particular favourites within Butterworth include the Penang Bird Park, which is excess of 300 different species of birds live, originating from throughout South-East Asia.

Bird Park

The first and largest of its kind in Malaysia, Penang Bird Park’s 5-acre land area is home to more than 300 species of birds from all over the world, including some rare and exotic ones.

More than 150 cages, including two massive walk-in aviaries that imitate the birds’ natural habitat, house thousands of birds for breeding and conservation purpose. Its beautifully-landscaped gardens feature an impressive collection of flora amidst free-roaming pelicans, flamingoes, swans, storks and ducks. Penang Bird Park is also a home to a variety of wildlife species such as deers, reptiles and tortoises.

Mengkuang Dam

The biggest dam in Penang with a storage capacity of 23, 639 million litres of water is located in the Mengkuang Valley north of Bukit Mertajam on the mainland. It was officially opened by the former Governor, Dr. Tun Awang Hassan in 1985.

At the same time, here is also a haven for nature lovers, the dam features a well-landscaped garden with rubber, pinang and pine trees and some wildlife. Besides using the jogging tracks and walking trails, fitness buffs also hold regular sporting and recreational activities.

Mengkuang Dam is also one of the venues for the annual Penang International Dragon Boat Festival. A lively afffair, the festival is a fiesta of colour and noise, in which traditionally-built boats race through the waters of this dam, the boats are cheered on by enthusiastic spectators. The race begins with a slow beating of the drums by the helmsmen. The beat increases steadily, going faster and faster, and then rising to a crescendo as the boats cross the finish line. The ornate and beautifully painted 'dragons' on the boats' prows add to the gaiety of the festival.

St. Anne’s Church, Jalan Kulim

It was built asa small chapel on a small hill in 1846 by a French priest Adolphe Couellan. There are Chinese characters still visible as the early congregation were mainly Chinese Catholics of Bukit Mertajam.

The church was named after St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and has a sitting capacity of 1,800. Celebrations are held on a grand scale annually in conjunction with the annual St. Anne's Feast (in the month of July) which is usually followed by two nights of candelight procession by thousands of devotees at the church grounds.

The St. Anne Feast of Bukit Mertajam is one of the 20 biggest Catholic pilgrimages in the world, drawing about 40,000 to 60,000 devotees each year. Within the grounds of St. Anne's Church is the ancient Hindu inscriptions of Cherok Tokun, called the Cherok Tokun Relics.

Every year on 29 July, the St. Anne’s Festival is an annual event where Penang’s Catholics congregate in St. Anne's Church to pay homage to their patron saint. Saint Anne's Feast is held here annually at the end of month of July. This attracting thoudsands of crowds up to a quarter of a million and culminating in a candle light procession.

Temple of the "Ninth Emperor God" (Nine Emperor Temple)

This temple will be decorated for the annual Nine Emperor Gods (Kew Ong Yeah) festival on every 9th month of Chinese Lunar Calendar. This is a very beautiful temple. The building architecture is impressive.

The sculptures and carvings are very neat and nice! The temple was constructed in 2000 by about 50 craftsmen from China which has three grand prayer halls, replaces an older temple that was built next to it in 1971.