Most people believe Bau was named after the hill which Hakka Chinese settlers called 帽山 Maw San or "Hat Mountain" because it is shaped like a hat. Bau was the English way / pronunciation derived from the Chinese word Maw 帽 or hat.
Alternatively and less well known, Bau could be derived from the Bidayuh (Land Dayak) phrase Kupua Baauh which means "new village", a name given by Bidayuh tribesmen who traded with the Hakka Chinese miners of Maw San. Bau was the English way of pronouncing Baauh (means new in Bidayuh).
As our plane was landing in Kuching International Airport, I pointed out to my travel kaki, "That could be Maw San, hor?" 🤔
One of the first things I mentioned to Chai (left), our Kuching expert buddy was "Please show me Maw San" 😂
For this trip exploring the Kuching Division from the Cat City, to Bau, Siniawan, Lundu, Sematan, and Telok Melano, we chose the free and easy self drive option 🚗
This drive was relaxing as this route is well served by the Pan Borneo Highway which starts at Telok Melano. We travelled around 400km in total during the 6 day driving holiday.
Pekan Bau town is about 30 km from Kuching city centre - very near.
My first sight of Maw San. Can you see it? The Hat Mountain. Known as Gunung Krian in Malay.
Does that not look like a hat?
That's Maw San for sure.
Jalan Bau Lama or Old Bau Road which leads to the original Bau or Maw San miners' settlement.
The name 帽山 Maw San was coined by Hakka Chinese settlers who came here in the 1820s.
At that time, a group of Hakka Chinese miners left Sambas in West Kalimantan due to conflict with Dutch colonisers. The Hakkas found gold and antimony here, and so set up their base, calling it 帽山 as the hill where the minerals were found was around the foot of the hat shaped mountain.
But, the golden era did not last very long before disaster struck (in 1857).
The site about 100 metres from the archway (previous photo above) was probably the centre of the then thriving mining settlement of Maw San with about 4,000 miners and their families.
Raja Brooke established his Kingdom of Sarawak in 1841, and soon disputes over taxation broke out between Brooke and the Hakka miners.
On the fateful night of 18 Feb 1857, the miners' leader Liu Shan Bang and 600 men sailed up to Kuching by Sarawak River and raided Raja Brooke's residence at Astana. They killed several of Brooke's officers.
Brooke and his troops counterattacked, catching up with the raiders as they fled back to Bau, killing Liu Shan Bang and most of the 600.
Brooke and his troops launched a reprisal which razed the old 帽山 Maw San settlement to the ground and most of its population decimated.
All that remained is this old wooden flag pole holder (blacken for preservation).
Because of this episode, there is an often cited urban legend that the name Bau which coincidentally means "a bad smell" in Malay was derived from the smell of decaying corpses from the sacking of Maw San by Brooke's forces in 1857.
This is unlikely, as the name Bau was already in use before 1857. Bau is more likely to be either the English phrase for the Chinese word 帽 Maw or Bidayuh phrase Kupua Baauh (new).
In the 1880s, Raja Brooke brought a second wave of Hakka Chinese miners to exploit the gold and antimony deposits. The modern town of Pekan Bau known as 石隆门 was established by this second wave of Chinese miners.
This is the new Pekan Bau 石隆门 today and yes, that is the legendary Maw San looming in the background.
By the 1940s, most of the gold and antimony had been extracted. The depleted gold and antimony mines of Bau finally closed in the 1990s.
According to legend cited in Chang Pat Foh's book The Land of the Freedom Fighters, miners found a human shaped stone at the bottom of the mining pit. The miners removed the stone, angering the deity inside. The stone deity then flooded the pit to punish the miners.
Today, this 91 metre deep old mining pit filled with water is the popular recreational attraction named Tasik Biru or Blue Lake because of the water's blue colour.
Tasik Biru Resort City offers stunning mountain side views of the amazing rock cliff, tranquil natural waterfall that flows into the lake, lush secondary forest and not forgetting the unique turquoise blue lake itself. Visitors, especially families, can paddle the fun boats or the more adventurous ones can take the exhilarating guided speed boat ride.
Visitors can wine and dine at the lake view restaurant or just chill at the cliffside Rock Cafe. Children and even the young at heart can enjoy fish feeding fun. Trek the lush green hill trail, walk the floating walkway or simply enjoy the floating water fountain from the viewing platform of Tasik Biru.
It takes at least half to a day to truly appreciate the many activities Tasik Biru Resort City offers. Visitors staying the night can experience a unique stay at the Roxy Tasik Biru Floating Chalets.
At Tasik Biru in Bau, you can try the lau po bing or lo po peng "wives biscuit" from Blue Berry Cake House.
I like their lo po peng as the golden brown buttery crust is flaky and subtly crisp. The gummy softly chewy candied winter melon filling was not overly sweet. Good stuff 👍
We tried the chup chai png (economic rice) stall at Sin Chan Hiong Food Shop (kopitiam), a few doors from Blue Berry Cake Shop.
Just yong tau foo pieces, pork ball soup and fried chicken. Everything was good and the fried chicken was particularly memorable.
The chicken was fresh, and fried till golden brown outside. The marination was just lightly savoury sweet which complemented the natural chicky sweetness of the moist, tender fresh flesh well 👍
More details about the lo po peng and dishes here in a future post.
After our simple lunch, we got back into our car and headed for our next stop, Fairy Cave.
"Is this Maw San?"
"No, this is not Maw San."
"Is this Maw San?"
No Tony, no..... 🙄 No more..... 😂
Story of our Kuching journey, to be continued 🚗
Written by Tony Boey on 27 Jan 2024
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