Penang Chinese Town Hall, Chinese community center in George Town, Malaysia

The Penang Chinese Town Hall is the seat of an association founded in 1894 as the Pingzhang Guild Hall, renamed in 1974. Its present building was planned in 1975, its foundation stone laid in 1978 and the building completed in 1983, giving the organisation meeting rooms, offices and cultural event space in George Town.

The center was first established in 1881 when Chung Keng Quee founded it and served as its leading figure until 1883. This founding moment created an organized structure that would allow the Chinese community in Penang to have a formal gathering place.

The hall's Chinese name, 槟州华人大会堂, was adopted in 1974 when the organisation was restructured; before that it was known as 平章会馆 (Chinese Town Hall). Its council is drawn from member associations representing the Fujian, Guangdong, Teochew, Hakka and Hainanese communities, so the body speaks for Penang's Chinese groups collectively.

The hall stands on Jalan Pitt (Pitt Street) in George Town, at the coordinates 5.41887, 100.33901, a short walk from the waterfront and the City Hall area. It is a working secretariat for Penang's Chinese clan and guild associations rather than a museum, so access to the council and committee rooms depends on the day's meetings and events. Its own records give conflicting founding years, so ask staff which date the organisation now uses.

In June 1905, Chinese merchants gathered in the hall to back a boycott of American goods, joining Singapore and China in pressing Washington to change its immigration policy toward Chinese. The building also carries a founding dispute: its constitution says 1875, while members cited 1881 and 1883, prompting a 2008 committee to establish the actual date.