In recent years, Ipoh's popularity as an international tourist destination has been significantly boosted by efforts to conserve its British colonial-era architecture.

The sap of this plant, which is poisonous, was mixed with Strychnos latex by Aslians to coat the tips of their blowpipe darts for hunting.

[6] Originally a village, Ipoh began to grow rapidly in the 1880s after huge deposits of tin were discovered within its vicinity.

[7] Its geographic location in the rich tin-bearing valley of the Kinta River made it a natural centre of growth.

[9] By 1895, it was the second largest town within the Federated Malay States, which also consisted of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang.

In March 1942, the Japanese Civil Administration or Perak Shu Seicho was set up at St. Michael's Institution.

[14][15][3][4] With the closure of the tin mines, its urban population was forced to seek employment in other cities within Malaysia.

Hills of limestone, called mogotes, surround the city, which can be found around suburban areas to the northeast, east and southeast.

Ipoh is more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and very rarely has cyclones, therefore it can be described as having an equatorial climate.

Gua Tempurung, near Gopeng, south of Ipoh, is a show cave open to the public and popular among spelunkers.

In its early history, Ipoh as a settlement was built around its mining industry,[23] although inferior to that of Gopeng, some 19 kilometres (12 mi) to the south.

Ipoh was once one of the richest cities in Malaysia[24] and South East Asia, in the days when tin was its major product.

The parliamentary seat for Ipoh Barat is held by Democratic Action Party (DAP) Representative M.

[34] The seat for Ipoh Timor is held by fellow DAP leader Howard Lee Chuan How.

[38] Source:[39] The old interstate Federal Route 1 connects Ipoh with other major towns and cities in peninsular Malaysia, for example to Alor Setar, Taiping and Penang to the north and Tapah, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and even Johor Bahru in the south.

However, it does not have intra-city travel like there is in Kuala Lumpur; the railway only connects Ipoh with neighbouring towns and cities.

KTM Intercity began the Shuttle Train Service between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh from 1 December 2008 while the modern Electric Train System (ETS) shuttle began from 12 August 2010, with an average speed of 145 km/h (90 mph), plying the Ipoh-Seremban route, which cut the travelling distance between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur to 120 minutes.

[citation needed] The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual international men's field hockey tournament held in Ipoh.