Sungai Lembing is located approximately 42km from Kuantan.  It is a mining town that was rich with tin reserves as well as gold and copper.  Small scale tin mining started here in the 15^th century. In the 19^th century, Chinese immigrants expanded the mining activities by using open cast mining.  In 1888, Pahang Corporation, a British company, was awarded a mining concession for a land with an area of 5,180 sq km to carry out underground mining.  This marked the beginning of underground tin-mining in the country. Mining intensified when Pahang Consolidated Company Limited (PCCL) replaced Pahang Corporation in 1906.  Sungai Lembing grew rapidly; it became a prosperous town and the population grew to over 10,000 during the glorious time.  The inhabitants enjoyed numerous amenities such as schools, hospitals, shops, a police station, residential areas and a good transportation system. In 1985, the world price for tin collapsed, forcing PCCL to cease operations in 1986.  This eventually transformed Sungai Lembing from a busy town into a sleepy and under-populated settlement.  Most folks in Sungai Lembing were out of jobs.  The younger ones left town to make a living elsewhere.  Sungai Lembing was almost forgotten, until not long ago when tourism gave it a second lease of life.

Now on weekends and school or public holidays, Sungai Lembing comes alive with tourists flocking to Panorama Hill, Rainbow Waterfall, the underground mining tunnel museum, Sungai Lembing Museum. But on weekdays, it is a slower, subdued pace of life.  It felt like time stood still.  Local folks go about their regular business, some shops are open, and most remain closed. Nevertheless, it has managed to retain its unique charm, in terms of history, location and physical characteristics.  Wooden houses built for miners and rows of pre-war double storey shops are still intact but many are unoccupied. The main road in the town center is shaded by large, lovely, decades old trees.  There is a scenic 320m high hill, known as Panorama Hill, which offers hikers the opportunity to enjoy spectacular views of mists and the beautiful sunrise. But of course, the pull is the town’s heritage, the enormous subterranean underground mines spanning 322km in length and 700m in depth, which are the longest and deepest minds in the world. Despite having been mined for nearly 100 years (1888 to 1985), Sungai Lembing still has abundant reserves of tine, amazingly.