Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia and home to roughly 1.8 million residents, founded in 1857 as a tin-trading post where the Klang and Gombak rivers meet. The 1998 Petronas Twin Towers, designed by César Pelli and rising 452 metres, were the world's tallest building until 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers ever built. Colonial-era landmarks dot the city, including the 1910 Kuala Lumpur Railway Station with its Moghul-style architecture and the 1909 Masjid Jamek at the rivers' confluence. Thirteen kilometres to the north, the 1964 Batu Caves Hindu temple complex leads visitors up 272 steps into a 100-metre-high limestone cavern.