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The lion is not native to China, and it is thought that the Lion Dance may have originated outside of China from countries such as India or Persia, and introduced to china via Cental Asia. The Chinese word for lion itself, shi, and may have been derived from the Persian word for lion, ser. Lions were originally presented to the Han court by emissaries from Central Asia and the Parthian Empire.

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KOMTAR is a 65-storey complex housing, shops, food-courts and officesand including the Penang central government's office. KOMTAR is an acronym of Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak, in honour of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, the late Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein Al-Haj. Since 1985, it has been Penang's tallest building at a height of 232 metres (761 ft). This landmark located in the heart of George Town, was the tallest building in Asia when it was topped out.

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Penang harbour as seen from the end of one of the Weld Quay jetties

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Construction of the temple began in 1893 and was inspired by the chief monk of the Goddess of Mercy Temple at Pitt Street. With the support of the consular representative of China in Penang at the time, the project received the sanction of the Emperor Guangxu, who bestowed a tablet and gift of 70,000 volumes of the Imperial Edition of the Buddhist Sutras.

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The primary benefactor of the Kek Lok Si Temple in 1906 was Kapitan Chung Keng Quee.

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In 1930, the seven storey main pagoda of the temple or the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas, was completed. This pagoda combines a Chinese octagonal base with a middle tier of Thai design, and a Burmese crown; reflecting the temple's embrace of both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.

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