Bagansiapiapi

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Bagansiapiapi (also known as Bagan) is a small town near Dumai, Riau, Indonesia. It is located at the delta of Rokan River, east of Sumatra, across the strait west of Malacca. The town area is populated mainly by Chinese who arrived at the end of 19th century or the beginning of 20th century. Eighteen Chinese immigrants sailed to Bagansiapiapi around 200 years ago and finally settled at this place. All were from the same family named Ang / Hong.^{[citation needed]} Later on, more people followed and came to Bagan to find new life and avoid economic hardships in Hokkien (China) at that time.

Every year, the Chinese community celebrates the Bagan's Anniversary on the 16th, 5th month of the Lunar year. It is believed that the group (Chinese) landed on Bagan on that day.^[who?]

Chinese in Bagansiapiapi mainly are Hokkien originated from Tang-Ua (TongAn, now part of E-Meng/Xiamen), Kim-Mng (JinMen/Kinmen), and Cin-Kang (JinJiang/Jinjiang). There are some Teochew living mainly at the southern part and a minority of Khek/Hakka. All Chinese there communicate in Tang-Ua dialect of Hokkien.

Bagansiapiapi had been one of the largest fish producers in the world in the late 1980s or early of 1990s. It ranked third in the world.^[who?] Other than fishing, people in Bagansiapiapi now focus on production of bird's nests by building houses for swallows. Indonesia's bird's nests are famous for its quality and well liked by consumers.

Most of young Baganese will leave their town after finishing their senior high school to further their studies or find jobs to support their families back at home. They will normally comeback during Chinese New Year for family reunion.

Bagansiapiapi is the capital of Rokan Hilir Regency in Riau Province, Indonesia. It is a 6 hours travel by road from Pekanbaru, capital of Riau, and 2.5 hours from Dumai. Transportation has been an area that needs continuous improvement by the government. Currently there is no airport and the main transport is mainly by road. The local government has been improving the town infrastructure in last few years, for example by widening roads and improving street lighting.