Selangor
Passing through the ceremonial gate of Kota Darul Ehsan , built in honour of Selangor's sacrifice of its lands to the Federal Territory, the Federal Highway enters Selangor, Malaysia's most prosperous and industrialized state. Its capital is Shah Alam, built on former plantation land. This planned town features spacious parklands, high-rise office blocks, an international motor-racing circuit, Malaysia's largest mosque and the royal palace of Selangor. Malaysia's national car, the Proton, is assembled here.

The Masjid Sultan Salahuddin is the most visible of Selangor's landmarks. Blue-and-white zigzag patterns decorate the four 132-foot-high minarets of the state mosque which tower over a computer-designed dome reputed to be the largest of its kind. Built to hold 20,000 worshippers, the dome has a unique pinpoint lighting system, described as providing a 'starry night in the desert' effect.

At Bukit Cerakah, in the north of Shah Alam, a pocket of rainforest and plantation land has been developed into a recreational area. The Shah Alam Agricultural Park provides an encapsulated look at rice-planting, from sowing to harvesting, and exhibition crops of oil palm, rubber, cocoa, and coffee. When the park authorities announced that their Temperate House, a closed-environment experimental building which follows the same seasons as the temperate realms of the southern hemisphere, was snowing, there were massive traffic jams as urban dwellers who had lived all their lives in mono-season equatorial Malaysia flocked to catch a glimpse of a white winter.

Farther along down the highway is the city of Klang and then Port Klang. Following the coast to the north, there is the Kuala Selangor Nature Park . Comprising of coastal wetlands and mangrove swamps, the 650-acre park is a conservation project designed to heighten awareness of the world's shrinking wetlands. Home to 130 bird species and stop-over for an estimated 100,000 wading birds, Kuala Selangor is unique for its birdlife. It is also known as an observation point for fireflies.

Last but certainly not least, the town of Kajang (thanks to a new highway) is fast becoming a commuter suburb of the capital. The town is most famous for its satay . As the story goes, it all started in 1917, when a Haji Tasmin set up a stall selling satay prepared with a secret marinade. His fame spread and customers now come from all over the peninsula to enjoy Kajang satay.