Where is Pekalongan?

Pekalongan is a small city and regency on the northern coast of Central Java. It lies arround 100 kilometres west-ward from Semarang, Central Java's Capital. The city is known for its batik and fishery.

The Style of Pekalongan Batik Designs

There are two main area in Pekalongan that produce batik: Kedungwuni (Kedoengwoeni) and Wiradesa. Old Pekalongan batik motif was influenced by Dutch, moslem, & chinese. Dutch influenced Pekalongan designs because Dutch have colonized Indonesia for over than 250 years. When Dutch colonizing Indonesia, there was a legend of batik maker in Pekalongan, she was Eliza van Zuylen.
As a batik city, Pekalongan is the place where batik strongly influenced by European/Dutch culture began its life. Resilient batik Belanda (Dutch) enterprises made their appearance here, followed by Chinese & Arab owned business likewise producing batik Belanda. Between 1840 & 1940, Pekalongan was the batik Belanda center.
As the others town, there is a china town in Kedungwuni. Chinese trader came with their culture & philosophies. In batik making, they used to use Chinese culture such us Hong bird, dragon, etc as motifs.