A runway in the middle of a village? That’s exactly what ‘Lawan Kuda,‘ a quaint village snuggled amongst the green hills near the town of Gopeng in Perak features.

It’s the first thing you’ll notice as you pull into the village.

Built by the British as an emergency landing strip and referred to as ‘feigeichang’ by the locals, this runway is no longer in use for aircraft. It is now the main road that runs through this Chinese New Village.

The village name – ‘Lawan Kuda’ which translates to ‘horse battle’ or ‘horse contest’ is credited to a polo ground that used to be located at the entrance of the village.

This ground used to be a weekend recreation spot for British officer and servicemen from the Ashby Road army camp in Ipoh during the colonial period.

The main economic activity in this village today are tropical fruit farming including community coffee growing, and tropical fish farming in the disused mining pools and lakes – a legacy of Gopeng’s rich tin mining history.

Thank you to Vin Loo of Gopeng Heritage Society for pictures of Lawan Kuda runway.