Miri is the ideal place for buying traditional crafts and other souvenirs from neighbouring places. Sarawak pottery makes wonderful souvenirs.

Want to know the best places to shop in Miri or the best deals in town? Check out our Miri Shopping Guide for all the answers. If you get hungry during your Miri shopping spree simply stop at one of the great Miri restaurants and eateries that abound the Miri shopping districts.

Miri & Mulu Shopping Guide

Malaysians and the people of Brunei throng the Bintang Plaza (it is called Parkson by the locals). The young crowd haunts the place too. Apart from this, there are plenty of other places to shop in Miri including the Wisma Pelita Mall, Boulevard Shopping Complex, Miri Plaza, E Mart, Imperial Shopping Mall and Miri Square. Miri is considered a shoppers' paradise by Malays and the people of Borneo.

Look out for shops at Lutong-Kuala Baram Road. Handicrafts like pua kumbu (a method of weaving of cotton cloth), rattan bead bags and terendak make attractive souvenirs; they are available at many shops in Miri. The open-air markets in Miri are a tempting place to shop for unique and colourful batiks, garments, local fruits and other produce, and flavourful varieties of rice. The evening market, called Tamu Muhibbah, is a good place to shop.

Things to Buy in Miri

Located at the centre of Miri town is the ultimate shop for traditional regional handicrafts. On certain occasions, this place combines on the spot demonstrations of the artists craft in batik, beadwork and weaving, and a display of Miri's cultural heritage in music and dance, under one roof. The distinct artefacts on display are also for sale. Apart from painted batik, vases and pua, you can also buy T-shirts decorated with motifs that are connected to Miri and Sarawak. If at all you want to buy anything from Miri, it must be from here, because you will have the experience of seeing it made.

Other Miri souvenirs include many coloured glass bead bracelets, wooden carvings and woven lengths of cloth. Most of these are inexpensive mementos to take home.

Old Miri town too has its share of shops. But these are limited to selling goods meant for daily use.

Boulevard Shopping Complex

This shopping complex is an area frequented by the youth of Miri and also from Borneo next door. The Boulevard Hyper Market stocks really unusual stuff at unbeatable prices. They often offer attractive discounts too. The large packing space made available to its clientele ensures that the place is free of traffic congestion.

Night markets called Pasai Malam spring up in the evenings, hawking beautiful things which make ideal gifts. The malls and large commercial complexes make shopping in Miri a pleasurable experience. They are spacious and air conditioned.

Mulu Shopping

The small shop inside the park stocks only staples of daily use and a few souvenirs and T-shirts for the tourists who come here. So if you have forgotten to bring your toothbrush do not worry. The handicrafts that they do stock are displayed on the grass for customers to choose from. Most of these are paintings of various styles and sizes. Silver jewellery and items made out of natural fibres like bags, baskets and mats are available for sale. The Penang tribes who have been relocated from the park also make woven baskets and jewellery for sale. The strange plants, animals and rare rocks found in Mulu National Park are protected and it is a crime to take them away from the premises. A few mementos like this are all you can take away.

Sharpen your bargaining skills before you come to Miri. While unrealistically high prices are not quoted, there is scope for haggling and bringing down the prices.

A whole market which sells fake but attractive goods like watches, T-shirts, CDs, DVDs and perfumes, all bearing names of famous brands, springs up every evening after six on the main road. The sellers target the guests who stay in the hotels nearby.