Ipoh (Chinese: 怡保; pinyin: Yí bǎo Tamil: ஈப்போ) developed into one of Malaysia's main cities due to an early 19th century tin mining boom. During the British colonial era, it was Malaya's second administrative centre after Kuala Lumpur (the Straits Settlements of Singapore, Penang and Malacca were administered separately). A post-independence economic decline let the city escape the towers of concrete that represent 1970s ideas of progress and its colonial importance still shines in the grand old buildings, such as the railway station and the town hall, which complement the rows of shophouses. These days Ipoh is perhaps best known for its excellent restaurants, hawkers, and famous local dishes. This can still be confusing as many locals still refer to the former colonial road names. The following list showing the old and new names is useful: Ipoh road names - old and new
Ipoh features a tropical rainforest climate. Temperatures are about the same throughout the year, showing little variation. The city's average temperature is 28 degrees Celsius. Ipoh sees high precipitation throughout the year with an average of 200 mm of rain each month and averaging 2427.9 mm of rain per year. The wettest month is October where on average 297.2 mm of rain is seen. Ipoh's driest month is January which has 132.3 mm of rain fall on average.
