Tan Jetty

Tan Jetty is one of the six historic Clan Jetties at Weld Quay in George Town, Penang, within the Timur Laut District. Built on wooden stilts over the sea by the Tan clan, it is part of the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site. The jetty retains traditional stilt houses, a wooden walkway, and a close-knit clan community, offering visitors a glimpse into late 19th-century Chinese immigrant settlement heritage.

Visitors can expect a narrow wooden plank walkway extending over the water lined with traditional stilt houses on both sides. The settlement is residential, with modest homes, small shrines, and fishing boats moored below. The waterfront offers open sea views and views back toward Weld Quay. Visitors can walk the length of the jetty, observe daily life, take photographs of the wooden architecture and coastline, and explore neighboring clan jetties within the same waterfront area.

Tan Jetty was established in the late 19th century by Chinese immigrants of the Tan clan as part of the Weld Quay waterfront settlements. The jetties were built to provide housing and mooring for clan-based communities working as labourers and boatmen. Together with the other Clan Jetties, it forms part of the historic waterfront of George Town, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.

The jetty represents the traditional clan-based social organization of early Chinese settlers in Penang. It preserves a living waterfront community lifestyle with stilt-house architecture, clan identity, and small community shrines, reflecting Chinese Malaysian heritage within George Town's multicultural historic urban landscape.