Kuala Lumpur in 4 days

Twin 452-metre, 88-floor towers completed in 1998 and the world's tallest until 2004, built on the plan of an eight-pointed Islamic star.

A 421-metre telecoms tower on Bukit Nanas hill; its open-air Sky Deck and glass Sky Box hang higher than the Petronas Skybridge.

Chinatown's covered market street; the real interest is nearby: the Sin Sze Si Ya and Sri Mahamariamman temples and the murals of Kwai Chai Hong.

A Bukit Bintang street that turns into an open-air food market each evening, mostly Chinese: grilled chicken wings, sambal stingray, Hokkien mee, satay and durian.

The former cricket ground where the British flag came down at midnight on 31 August 1957, facing the Moorish-style Sultan Abdul Samad Building.

Twelve galleries under blue tiled domes near the Lake Gardens, covering Mughal India, Muslim China, the Malay world and the Ottoman Empire.

A six-tier Chinese temple on Robson Heights, opened in 1989 by the Hainanese community, dedicated to Mazu, protector of seafarers, and hung with red lanterns.

A limestone cliff of caves north of the city, Malaysia's main Hindu shrine, where a 42.7-metre golden Murugan statue guards 272 painted steps.