Bandung is the capital city of West Java, and the third largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta and Surabaya. Nicknamed Parijs van Java (Paris of Java) by the Dutch for its resemblance to Paris and European atmosphere back in colonial times, Bandung also earned another nickname as Kota Kembang, literally meaning the Flower City since Bandung used to have a lot of flowers.Located at the altitude of 768m and surrounded by the lush and beautiful Parahyangan mountains makes the climate mild and pleasant. The city has been well known for its universities, aclothing and a great place for gastronomic adventure. Nowadays, Bandung has become a very popular weekend escape for Jakartans, who would crowd the city on weekends and national holidays.
History
Although the oldest written reference to the city dates back to 1488, there were numerous archaeological finds of Australopithecus (Java Man) that lived on the banks of Cikapundung river and the shores of Bandung's Great Lake.
In the 17th-18th century, the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) created small plantations in Bandung, with a road to Batavia (today's Jakarta) completed in 1786. In 1809, Louis Bonaparte, the ruler of the Netherlands and its colonies, ordered the Dutch Indies Governor H.W. Daendels to improve Java's defences against the threat of the British, who occupied the nearby Malay peninsula. Daendels responded by building the Great Post Road (De Groote Postweg) that stretched about 1000km between the west and the east coasts of Java. Because the north coast had impassable swamps and marshes at the time, the road was diverted through Bandung along what is now Jalan Asia-Afrika.
Daendels liked Bandung's strategic location so much that he ordered the capital to be moved there. Military barracks were built and Bupati Wiranatakusumah II, the chief administrator of that area, built his dalem (palace), Masjid Agung (the grand mosque) and pendopo (meeting place) in the classical Javan alun-alun (city square) near a pair of holy city wells (Sumur Bandung) and facing the mystical mountain of Tangkuban Perahu.
Powered by its cinchona (for malaria drug quinine), tea, and coffee plantations, Bandung prospered and developed into an exclusive European style resort with hotels, cafes, and shops. Many of Bandung landmarks, including the Preanger and Savoy Homann hotels, as well as the shopping street of Jalan Braga, are still available today. The Concordia Society building, now Gedung Merdeka, was built with a large ball room as a club for rich Europeans to spend their weekends.
Pasopati bridge flyover, a new landmark of Bandung.
In 1880, the first major railroad between Jakarta to Bandung opened, boosting small industries and bringing in Chinese workers. The first of Bandung universities, the Technische Hogeschool (TH) was established on July 3rd, 1920. One of the its alumni members is President Soekarno himself. That university is now known as the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB)
In 1942, after Japanese soldiers landed in coastal areas of Java, the Dutch retreated from Jakarta to Bandung, but were driven out from there as well and surrendered soon after. After the end of the war, first the British and later the Dutch came back trying to reestablish the pre-war colonial situation, but on 24 March 1946, during the struggle for Indonesian independence, the city of Bandung was burned down by retreating forces of the TRI, because they would not comply with the order given by the British forces to move out of Bandung to the south (Bandung Sea of Fire/Bandung Lautan Api). For the TRI this act was a sign of refusal to surrender. Over 200,000 people fled the city during the incident.In 1955, the Asia Africa Conference (Konferensi Asia Afrika) was held in Bandung, paving the way for the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961. The Indonesian parliament was located in Bandung from 1955 to 1966, but was moved back to Jakarta in 1966.
Orientation
Today's Bandung is a sprawling city of 2.7 million people and suffers from many of the same problems as other Indonesian cities. Traffic is congested, old buildings have been torn down, and once idyllic residences have turned into business premises.
Jalan Asia-Afrika, the former Grote Postweg, still remains as one of Bandung's main thoroughfares and connects together the alun-alun (city square) with many of the city's colonial landmarks.
Please refer to the district map of Bandung: the most important district for tourist majority are located in north of Bandung. The easiest landmark for your orientation is the north/south border by the railway and or the new Pasupati elevated road. Once you identify whether you are located north or south of Bandung, identify the area immediately, the landmark will be the major road in the intended district/area and the major building / tourist attraction on that road. Discuss using compass direction (north/east/west/south) of that major building / major road. Since Bandung is not organized in blocks, this is the way local organize themselves and is a very effective way to discuss way to go with local.
Road in bahasa Indonesia is translated into Jalan and abbreviated into Jl.; this applies to all kind of road from small road to major road. You will see a lot of Jl. in front of the road name in this guide. Very small road that cannot by passed by car is called Gang and abbreviated into Gg.
