Sungai Lembing is a small town in Kuantan District, Pahang, Malaysia. It is about northwest of Kuantan. The town was founded in the 1900s as a tin mining community when the British company Pahang Consolidated Company Limited (PCCL) set up the tin mining industry there after mining activities had begun in 1886. Sungai Lembing had electricity, schools, a cinema, its own petrol station, and a hospital. In 1926, flooding damaged caused mining activities to be suspended for three months. The Great Depression and the Japanese occupation of Malaya greatly affected the town's tin mining industry. Since the independence of Malaya, Sungai Lembing has gone into decline as global demand and prices of tin dropped, resulting in the closure of the mines in 1987. Many residents moved away, causing facilities such as shops and petrol stations to close. After 2001, Sungai Lembing was revitalized as a heritage tourism attraction with the opening of Sungai Lembing Museum. Subsequent government investment has made this area one of the important tourist attractions in Pahang. In 2014, the town had a population of around 5,000. A large fire in 2019 raised concern for the preservation of historical buildings. Etymology There are two suggested etymologies of the Malay name ("Spear River"). One suggestion is based on a local legend in which a ruler saw a vision of a spear in the nearby river and named his town after this vision. Another involves an incident in which a group of Orang Asli threw a spear over a deer that escaped by jumping over the ("Kenau River"). The town has been nicknamed the "El Dorado of the East" because this area is rich in natural resources. History Foundation The tin mining area at Sungai Lembing was the largest and deepest of its time in the world; the tunnel spans around and is between and deep. Mining activity in the area was begun in 1886 by British firm Pahang Consolidated Company Limited (PCCL), which were headquartered in London and employed approximately 1,500 miners to mine tin. At its peak, the mine employed 5,000 workers who produced 4,000 tons of tin annually. The development of the town to support the tin mining industry led to the creation of facilities and amenities such as electricity, housing for workers, schools, shops, a cinema and a hospital. Tin mines in Pahang and neighbouring states were the first places in Malaya to receive electricity.