Pekanbaru - City of Indonesia

Pekanbaru is the capital of Riau, a province in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra.Located on the Siak River, which drains to the Strait of Malacca, Pekanbaru has direct access to the busy strait and was long known as a trading port.

The city is divided into 12 subdistricts . The Sultan Syarif Qasim II International Airport serves Pekanbaru with direct flights to Batam, Jakarta, Malaysia , Singapore and other destinations in Indonesia.

Some tourist attractions in Pekanbaru are the Great Mosque of An-Nur, Alam Mayang Fishing Garden, Sang Nila Utama Museum, Riau Cultural Park, Princess Kaca Mayang Garden, and Sari Valley Artificial Lake. Pekanbaru is becoming known as a center of Malay culture; a Malay culture festival was held there in 2004.

Pekanbaru is one of the cleanest big cities in Indonesia and in 2006 received the "Adipura" award in the category of large city, again, for the second consecutive time in 2007. The city is also notable for its wide streets, which are in the city's main. Pekanbaru regularly suffers, however, from smoke or smog due to forest fires, particularly in the dry season, since there is no rain to put the fires out. The fires also can be traced from people simply burning their trash or freshly cut grass. Most of the fires are intentionally started, but unintentionally grow into dangers.

Because Pekanbaru is a major gateway into Indonesia from Singapore, the city is becoming a favorite stop before travelers go further inland Indonesia. The Pasar Pusat market is a food-trip destination and a household-goods trove as well. Pasar Bawah and Pasar Tengeh in the port area have Chinese goods, including ceramics and carpets.