A former Dutch colony, Semarang is situated smack-dab in the middle of Java's northern coast and is a mainstay on Indonesian cruise circuits for its gateway access to the superlative UNESCO-protected Buddhist site at Borobudur. A bustling city of more than 1.5 million people, this steamy Indonesian port has an atmospheric Dutch-colonial historic quarter, a traditional Chinatown, and a fast-developing cityscape of mega-malls and high rises — all serving its large Javanese and ethnic Chinese population.
