Sumedang
| Sumedang | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 | |
| Nickname(s): Sumedang Larang | |
| Motto(s): Sumedang Tandang Nyandang Kahayang | |
  Sumedang Location of Sumedang in Indonesia | |
| Coordinates: 6°57′S 107°34′E / 6.950°S 107.567°E | |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Province | West Java |
| Time zone | UTC+7 (IWST) |
| Website |
sumedangkab |
Sumedang (former official name: Soemedang) is a town in West Java, Indonesia, approximately 46 km northeast of Bandung. It is the capital of Sumedang Regency. The town is just south of the volcanic Mount Tampomas, which is 1,684 m (5,525 ft) high and is usually climbed from the subdistrict of Cimalaka, 7 km from Sumedang.
Sumedang is home to several public universities: Padjadjaran University, Bandung Institute of Technology, and Institut Pemerintahan Dalam Negeri.
Sumedang's museum, Prabu Geusan Ulun, houses a collection of traditional Sundanese weaponry, as well as some crown jewels and other finery. It is on Geusan Ulun Road.
The town is famous for tahu Bungkeng, a local variety of deep fried tofu which was first made by a Chinese immigrant, Ong Kino.
In the district surrounding the town lies Cadas Pangeran, a section of the trans-Java postal road constructed on the order of Dutch governor Willem Daendels during the first quarter of the 19th century. The section is famous due to difficulty during the construction, which required blasting of a mountainside. Hence "cadas" which means mountain rock in Sundanese. The section was finished due to cooperation between the governor, regent Kusumadinata known as "pangeran kornel", and the people of Sumedang, although with considerable ill-feeling on the part of the regent and the people due to forced labor practice. A statue commemorating this event is erected on the section.
The town housed the exiled Indonesian national heroine Cut Nyak Dhien from Aceh during her old age, after she was captured during the Aceh War at the beginning of the 20th century. Her tomb is near the town.
Tahu Bunkeng
"Tahu Bunkeng" is one of the oldest tofu stores in the city of Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia. The authentic "Bunkeng" tofu was first made by a Chinese immigrant by the name of Ong Kino, who came from Anxi County (Traditional: 安溪縣; Simplified: 安溪县), Quanzhou City (Traditional: 泉州市; Simplified: 泉州市), Hokkian Province (Traditional: 福建省; Simplified: 福建省), the People's Republic of China (Traditional: 中華人民共和國; Simplified: 中华人民共和国), in the early 20th century.
Ong Kino started making tofu for the consumption of his family members, but afterwards he started to sell the tofu to his neighbours. Increasingly, more people came to like the tofu and a business was established due to this. In 1917, Ong Kino's only son, Ong Bunkeng (Traditional: 王文卿; Simplified: 王文卿), came to Sumedang and inherited his parent’s business; Ong Kino and his wife decided to return to their hometown in China.
When Prince Soeriatmadja of Sumedang was on a journey to Situraja subdistrict, he stopped by "Tahu Bunkeng" to taste the tofu. He made a remark in Sundanese: “Geuning ngeunah ieu kadaharan teh, moal burung payu geura” (roughly translated as “This tastes so delicious, many people will surely buy it”).
"Tahu Bunkeng" is in Sumedang's city centre on Jalan 11 April No. 53, Tegalkalong. There are several branches in the city on Jalan M. Abdurahman No. 50, Jalan M. Abdurahnam No. 155, and Jalan Prabu Gajah Agung.
References
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sumedang. |
Coordinates: 6°50′24″S 107°55′15″E / 6.84000°S 107.92083°E