Until recently, the royal Selangor Club — affectionately known as “The Dog” — appeared displaced in both time and geography. One afternoon 15 years ago, I sat on the verandah of the mock-Tudor clubhouse sipping gin and tonic as I looked out across the cricket field. The ambience was more English than Malaysian, seemingly fixed in the 1930s.

Yet from this genteel vantage in downtown Kuala Lumpur, club members have long held a front-seat view of the dramatically changing city. It was in Merdeka Square, in front of the club, that the British flag was lowered and the flag of independent Malaysia was raised for the first time on the night of Aug. 30, 1957.

During the following decades, the backdrop to cricket matches was transformed from a crowded mass of rickety tin-roofed low-rises into the gleaming skyscrapers of a modern metropolis. From here you can see the KL Tower, which, from its position atop Bukit Nanas (Pineapple Hill), offers the highest viewpoint in the city.

And that is saying something, because for six years ending in 2004 the Kuala Lumpur City Centre boasted the world’s two tallest buildings, the Petronas Towers. Although that mantle has passed to Taipei and now Dubai, KL locals will proudly tell you that the Petronas Towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world.

The rising skyline is a measure of Malaysia’s ambitions. At independence, its economy was on a par with another former British colony, Ghana in West Africa. Over the past five decades, their fortunes have diverged: Ghana remains poor, dependent on agriculture and foreign aid, while Malaysia boasts a high-tech economy and all the trappings of a consumer society.

If anything, Kuala Lumpur has been too successful. The city is crowded and congested, the air often thick with pollution. To reduce the load, a new administrative capital, Putrajaya, has been built 25 miles south of KL. Spacious and green, Putrajaya is the epitome of modern urban planning and might eventually become the de facto capital of Malaysia.

For now, the nation’s parliament continues to sit in Kuala Lumpur, and the city is unrivaled as the nation’s economic powerhouse. The currents of business swirl through the marble lobbies of the luxury hotels and within the air-conditioned boardrooms of the numerous multinational and Malaysian companies based in the city.

But it is on the streets that you gain the most vivid impression of Kuala Lumpur’s thriving economy and of the diversity that underpins it. The city has long been an ethnic melting pot, with a population made up of Malays, Chinese and Tamil Indians.

Visit Little India or Chinatown and you will jostle amid the noise and color of this multicultural heritage. Street stalls sell everything from market produce and high-quality local handicrafts to dubious brand-name laptops and counterfeit Rolex watches. All of KL life is here, rubbing shoulders, making transactions.

Kuala Lumpur may have reached for the sky, but in places such as Chinatown’s Petaling Street, the foundations of the city’s success are plain to see. KL has always been about trade. It is, perhaps, the only thing about this thriving Southeast Asian city that has remained constant. The fabric has altered beyond recognition.

On my return, a decade and a half after my previous visit, it took some time to get my bearings. Entire districts seemed to have been razed to make way for state-of-the-art highrise blocks.

The cricket field at The Dog had been appropriated as a public space, and from the Long Bar in the clubhouse I looked out on a city whose pace of change is unrelenting. Even this staid 124-year-old sports club has no option but to move with the times and accept its place in the new Malaysia.

LODGING

HILTON KUALA LUMPUR

The Hilton is a two-minute walk from the Sentral Station, which connects to the airport by a high-speed, 28-minute rail link, and is also the main hub of the mass transit sy stem. The 510 guestrooms are packed with high-tech gadgets; the “innovation suites” come with full-blown home theater systems. The Tropical Sun Deck affords great views of the city and features a spectacular 400-foot freeform pool — a great place to take refuge from the city’s oppressive humidity.$$$$
HILTON KUALA LUMPUR
3 Jalan Stesen Sentral
tel 60 3 2264 2264
http://www.hilton.com

HOTEL MAYA

Styling itself as a “boutique urban resort,” the Maya is different by design — quirky and trendy, not just another KL hotel. The 207 guestrooms feature polished wooden floors, huge windows and a modern, airy ambience. The Sky Lounge on the 13th floor offers a great view of the nearby Petronas Towers. The Anggun Spa offers treatments for individuals or couples. Buy a drink in the hotel’s Martini Bar and you get the chance to toss a coin: Call it right, and the next drink is on the house.$$$
HOTEL MAYA
138 Jalan Ampang
tel 60 3 2711 8866
http://www.hotelmaya.com.my

SHANGRI-LA HOTEL KUALA LUMPUR

Approached from one side, the Shangr-La is the archetypal city hotel, situated at the intersection of two busy thoroughfares in the heart of downtown. But this luxurious, urban hotel has a secret in its backyard — lush gardens and, a short distance beyond, the 27-acre Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, a fragment of tropical rainforest in the heart of the city. Rooms on the garden side look out on tropical vegetation, while on the city side you get the full panorama of downtown.$$$$
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL KUALA LUMPUR
11 Jalan Sultan Ismail
tel 60 3 2032 2388
http://www.shangri-la.com

DINING

BIJAN BAR & RESTAURANT

Some purists argue that to sample Malay cuisine you must go to the stalls that line many of the city’s streets. They may be authentic — and cheap — but they hardly constitute an all-round dining experience, and the ingredients are not always the freshest. Bijan offers genuine Malay specialties, made from the finest ingredients, in a sophisticated environment. Local dishes include rendang daging, dry beef curry slow-cooked for several hours. For dessert, try the chocolate durian cake — the durian is a fruit that smells dreadful but tastes wonderful.$$$
BIJAN BAR & RESTAURANT
3 Jalan Ceylon
tel 60 3 2031 3575
http://www.bijanrestaurant.com

PRECIOUS OLD CHINA

Located in the art deco Central Market, this popular restaurant specializes in Straits Chinese, or nyonya, cuisine, and serves some of the finest food in the city. The restaurant is abundantly decorated with Chinese antiques, which are for sale. Chef John Locke, of Eurasian ancestry, has put together a menu that draws on influences from throughout Malaysia, with emphasis on the dishes of the Chinese communities of Malacca and Penang. One of the house specialties is Precious fried chicken, marinated in ginger, garlic and spices.$$$
PRECIOUS OLD CHINA
Lot M2 Central Market, Jalan Hang Kasturi
tel 60 3 2072 5195
http://www.oldchina.com.my/pocindex.htm

THAT INDIAN THING

Maybe the owners knew what they were doing when they conjured up the name, or perhaps it was an unfortunate accident. Either way, their restaurant has become popularly known by its risqué acronym — TIT. Situated on one of the city’s most fashionable streets, Asian Heritage Row, this trendy eatery serves inventive Indian fusion dishes. For starters there are tabla skins (an Indian take on Tex-Mex) or po poy purses (marinated spring chicken). Main courses include O My Josh, a variation on the old Indian favorite rogan josh. Or try Spaghetti Korma, which tastes better than it sounds.$$
THAT INDIAN THING
52 Jalan Doraisamy
tel 60 3 2698 6357

DIVERSIONS

On a clear day, there are two great places from which to enjoy panoramic views of Kuala Lumpur. The first is the KL Tower (http://www.menarakl.com.my), the 1,381-foot communications tower atop Bukit Nanas, the forested hill in the middle of downtown. Enjoy the views either from the observation platform or from the revolving restaurant, Seri Angkasa (http://www.serimelayu.com). The second viewpoint is the Skybridge linking the 41st floors of the Petronas Towers (http://www.petronas.com.my). Admission is free, but you need to be in line before 9 a.m. to snap up one of the 1,400 tickets issued daily, Tuesday through Sunday.

At the foot of the towers is the Suria KLCC Mall (http://www.suriaklcc.com.my), the most prestigious of the city’s many indoor shopping malls. The Kuala Lumpur City Centre development, which includes a landscaped park and a conference center as well as the Petronas Towers and the mall, is effectively the epicenter of modern KL. The city’s historic heart is Merdeka Square, fringed by the Royal Selangor Club (http://www.rscweb.org.my) and the photogenic Sultan Abdul Samad Building, a 19th-century British colonial office that combines Moorish and Mogul architectural elements. Petaling Street is the main artery of KL’s bustling Chinatown and throngs with traders and food stalls.

INFO TO GO

International flights arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), 31 miles south of the city. A high-speed rail link, KLIA Ekspres (http://www.kliaekspres.com), links the airport with the city’s Sentral Station, departing at 15-minute intervals. Passengers with Malaysian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Royal Brunei Airlines can check in their luggage at the KL City Air Terminal (XKL) at Sentral Station.