Ipoh

• Ipoh is a city in Malaysia and is the capital of the state of Perak. It is 200 km (125 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur via the North-South Expressway.
• Ipoh developed into one of Malaysia's main cities due to the booming tin mining industry around the turn of the 19th century. During the British colonial era, Ipoh was Malaysia's second city for administration purposes. There are several notable buildings from the British Colonial era such as the railway station and the town hall. 70% of Ipoh's population is of Chinese origin.
• The name Ipoh is derived from a local tree commonly known as pokok ipoh. The sap of this plant is poisonous and was used by Orang Asli (indigenous people) to coat the tips of the darts of their blowpipes.
• The Cantonese name for Ipoh derives the word Yee Poh (Chinese: 怡保) meaning found treasure. This is because the Hoi San which are Cantonese were the first to move to the area for mining. They then build a small town for trading of food and hardware for the miner. They were happy with the new found tin mining town and name it "yee poh" (found treasure).
• Ipoh is sometimes called "Paloh" (Chinese: 壩羅) among local Chinese, referring to the gigantic mining pump used for early tin ore extraction. This is because the extension of the old town to the new town which was first refer as Paloh Chuin or Poloh Village. It was also called "the Town built on Tin" (Chinese: 锡城) and "City of Millionaires", referring to the vast fortunes made during the boom of the tin mining industries.
• Other nicknames include "The Bougainvillea City" and "Shan Cheng" (Chinese: 山城) which means "The Hill City" in the Cantonese dialect.