Tangerang

A layover in Pasar Lama with Boen Tek Bio and the Benteng Museum

A long layover at Soekarno-Hatta is enough for Tangerang's old quarter. Take a Grab car or the KRL to Tangerang station, walk into Pasar Lama beside the Cisadane river, visit Boen Tek Bio, the city's oldest Chinese temple from the 17th century, and the Benteng Heritage Museum in a restored shophouse.

Tangerang rewards a short visit, especially if you have a long layover or a late flight.

The incense-blackened halls are busy with worshippers from early morning, and outsiders may look around quietly.

Late morning. Walk a few steps to the Benteng Heritage Museum on Jalan Cilame, set in a restored merchant's house with carved woodwork. Guided tours explain the Cina Benteng community, Chinese migration to Java and the voyages of Admiral Zheng He, with objects from opium scales to an ivory mahjong table and old photographs.

Lunch. Eat in the market lanes, where vendors serve laksa and other Peranakan dishes.

Afternoon. Stroll the Cisadane riverbank promenade and look for the dragon-boat house if Peh Cun is near. Riverside cafés make a shady place to sit out the hottest hours.

Evening. Return to Pasar Lama after dark, when the food street fills with stalls, before heading back to the airport, which is about 30 minutes away outside rush hour.

Laksa Benteng, soy sauce and the Pasar Lama night stalls

Cina Benteng cooking in Tangerang is a Peranakan blend of Hokkien technique and Sundanese and Betawi spices. Seek out laksa Benteng, rice noodles in a turmeric-yellow coconut broth with chicken, usually a morning dish, buy locally brewed soy sauce, and eat at the Pasar Lama night stalls.

Cina Benteng cooking is a Peranakan blend: Hokkien technique with Sundanese and Betawi spices, often eaten with rice and sambal. The dish to seek out is laksa Benteng, also called laksa Tangerang, a bowl of rice noodles in a turmeric-yellow coconut broth with chicken, quite different from Malaysian or Singaporean laksa. It is usually a morning or lunch dish sold from small family stalls.

Pasar Lama is the city's best eating street. By day it is a working market; from late afternoon the road fills with tables and grills serving nasi campur with roast pork, noodle soups, pork satay, bakso, fried snacks and Chinese-Indonesian desserts. Halal and non-halal stalls stand side by side, so check before you order.

Tangerang's food heritage also includes kecap, sweet soy sauce, long brewed by small Cina Benteng family workshops; a bottle from a local brand makes a good souvenir.

Along Jalan Raya Serpong and in the new towns of Lippo Karawaci and Alam Sutera, the choice runs to large Indonesian restaurants. Seafood houses grill crab, prawns and gourami, and Sundanese places serve nasi timbel with fried chicken and long lists of sambal. The malls have the usual food courts and chain restaurants, and the airport terminals offer late-night options for transit travellers.

Peh Cun dragon boats and Imlek on the Cisadane

Tangerang is hot all year, 31 to 34 C, with the wet season peaking at about 346 mm in January, when afternoon storms can delay flights. The Cina Benteng community's calendar is the draw: Imlek, Chinese New Year, fills Pasar Lama, and Peh Cun brings dragon-boat races on the Cisadane river.

Tangerang's weather is classic lowland Java. Highs sit at 31 to 34 C all year, with nights around 22 to 23 C. The wet season peaks in January at about 346 mm, with February and March close behind, and storms that roll in during the afternoon can delay flights at Soekarno-Hatta. From June to September rain falls to 68 to 94 mm a month, and September is the hottest month.

The city's festivals belong to the Cina Benteng community. Peh Cun, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, usually late May or June, is the highlight. Teams race long dragon boats on the Cisadane near Pasar Lama, families gather on the banks, and there is a ritual of standing an egg upright at noon, said to be possible only on that day.

Imlek, Chinese New Year in January or February, fills Boen Tek Bio and the other temples of Pasar Lama with worshippers, red lanterns and lion dances, and Cap Go Meh closes the season two weeks later.

The Muslim calendar shapes the rest of the year. During Ramadan, evening food markets open near mosques, and around Lebaran the airport and toll roads are among the busiest places in the country as millions travel home.