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The northern part of the city is hillier than the rest; the distinguished truncated flat-peak shape of the Tangkuban Perahu volcano (Tangkuban Perahu literally means 'up-turned boat') can be seen from the city to the north. Long-term volcanic activity has created fertile andisol soil in the north, suitable for intensive rice, fruit, tea, tobacco and coffee plantations. In the south and east, alluvial soils deposited by the Cikapundung river are mostly found. Geological data shows that the Bandung Basin is located on an ancient volcano, known as Mount Sunda, erected up to 3,000–4,000 metres (9,850–13,100 feet) during the Pleistocene age. Two large scale eruptions took place; the first formed the basin and the other (est. 55,000 Before Present) blocked the Citarum river, turning the basin into a lake known as "the Great Lake of Bandung". The lake drained away; the reason for which is the subject of ongoing debate among geologists. Due to its elevation, the climate in Bandung is cooler than most Indonesian cities and can be classified as humid; the average temperature is 23.6°C (74.5°F) throughout the year. The average annual rainfall ranges from 1,000 millimetres in the central and southeast regions to 3,500 millimetres in the north of the city. The wet season conforms with other Indonesian regions, around November to April.
In 1880, the first major railroad between Batavia and Bandung was built, boosting light industry in Bandung. Chinese who had previously never lived in the city flocked to help run facilities, services and selling vendor machines. The old Chinatown district in Bandung is still recognisable in the railroad station vicinity. In 1906, Bandung was given the status of gemeente (municipality) and then later as stadsgemeente (city municipality) in 1926. In 1930s, the Dutch East Indies government considered moving the capital from Batavia to Bandung. R.A. Wiranatakusumah II, the chief administration of the Bandung regency at that time, moved its office from Krapyak, in the south, to a place near a pair of holy city wells (sumur Bandung), the present-day site of the city square (alun-alun). He built his dalem (palace), masjid agung (the grand mosque) and pendopo (public-official meeting place) in the classical orientation. The pendopo faces Tangkuban Perahu mountain, which was believed to have a mystical ambience. In the meantime, the Dutch East Indies government built military barracks, the central government building (Gouvernments Bedrijven, the present-day Gedung Sate) and other government buildings. This plan, however, was cut short by World War II after which the Dutch were not able to re-established their colony. The fertile area of the Parahyangan Mountains surrounding Bandung supports productive tea plantations. In the nineteenth century, Franz Junghuhn introduced the cinchona (kina) plant. With its cooler elevated landscape, surrounded by major plantations, Bandung became an exclusive European resort area. Rich plantation owners visited the city on weekends, attracting girls and businessmen from the capital, Batavia. Braga Street grew into a promenade street with cafes, restaurants and boutique shops. Two art-deco style hotels, Savoy Homann and Preanger, were built in the vicinity of the Concordia Society, a club house for the wealthy with a large ballroom and a theatre. The nickname "Parijs van Java" was given to the city. In 1955, the first Asian-African Conference was held in Bandung, attended by head of states representing twenty-nine countries and colonies from Asia and Africa. The conference venue was at the Gedung Merdeka, the former Concordia Society building. The conference announced 10 points of declaration on world peace promotion and oppositions against colonialism, known as the Declaration of Bandung. In 1987, the city boundary was expanded with the Greater Bandung (Bandung Raya) plan; a relocation of higher concentration development outside the city in an attempt to dilute some of population in the old city. During its development, however, the city core is oftenly uprooted, old faces are torn down, lot sizes regrouped, and what was idyllic residence is bustling chain supermarkets and rich banks.
The West Java people are called the Sundanese, endowed with language and traditions unique to that of the rest of Java. The Sundanese language has 3 distinct hierarchies, starting from the lowly harsh (kasar), middle, and soft (lemes) Sundanese. Many Sundanese words have been adopted into Indonesian, although many of its contributions consist of profanities. Pajajaran Kingdom was the oldest kingdom in the region. The West Java region is also named as Parahyangan or the "Land of the Gods". In its later history, the region fell under influence of the Central Java kingdoms, reflected in elite Sundanese having borrowed much of its vocabulary and grammar from elite Javanese. In Indonesia, the Sundanese people are known to be more easy going and less formal in their temperament than their distant relatives from Central Java and East Java. This is reflected in the grammar of the Sundanese language, which has many forms allowing for meaningless light banter. Interestingly, Sundanese has contributed many swear words to the Indonesian language spoken in Jakarta. The most popular traditional musical instrument is angklung, made of parallel bamboo tubes tuned to specific frequencies with a hammer and is shaken to produce certain notes. Music is performed by a choir of angklung players, each of whom are responsible for sounding certain notes. Its melody is only slightly different from that of Central Java's gamelan ensembles.
In the 1990s, local designers opened denim clothing stores along Cihampelas and since then, Bandung is nicknamed "Tourist Shopping City" (Kota Wisata Belanja). It was a huge success as now the-then residential street has been fully transformed into a "jeans street". The city attracts people from other big cities to buy local fashion wears, as they are cheaper than branded items. There are many food varieties in Bandung. Local traditional foods include peuyeum (fermented cassava), "batagor" (fried tofu and fish), and "martabak" (salted = fried meat/chicken stuffed egg or sweet = baked sweet flour with chocolate/cheese). International food is also easy to be found in many restaurants. Sundanese restaurants are scattered around the city. Bandung also offers nature tourism. Some of them are hiking to the top of the flipped-boat shape mount Tangkuban Perahu, camping around the lake of Patenggang in the middle of tea plantation, and trekking from the end of Dago street to Maribaya, Lembang through the water reservoir park of Juanda. Sports Other popular sports in Bandung include badminton and basketball. The roads leading up to Lembang and Dago are popular routes for mountain cycling during the weekend. In the hillside around Bandung, there are a couple of golf courses.
Bandung has nearly 50 higher educational institutions. Creative-based culture has shaped the basis of Bandung economy. The The distro sell stylish non-trademarked products, made by local designers. Books, indie label records, magazines, fashion products and other accessories are typical distro products. After their products receive large teenagers attention, then these local designers make their own clothing company. Now, there are more than 200 local brand names in Bandung. Distro distance itself from factory outlet in term of its philosophy. Distros come from individual designers and young entrepreneurs, while factory outlet products come from a garment factory.
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reasons. The cooler climate of highland plantation area, the varieties of food, the cheaper fashion shops located in factory outlets and distros, and the friendliness of local people have become the main attraction of the city.
once quiet residential district of Dago has become an important business and entertainment centre. Chic cafes and restaurants are spreading out along Dago Street. In the early 1990s Cihampelas Street became a popular clothing store location.
