Faisalabad

A small market town before Partition, Faisalabad is now Pakistan’s main agro-industrial (it has the biggest agricultural university in Asia) and textile centre, a bustling metropolis about 100km west of Lahore.

Faisalabad was built around a clock tower by the British, who named it Lyallpur, with eight bazaars leading out in the pattern of the Union Jack flag, but the town has since been swallowed by typical urban sprawl. Renamed after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, it’s also dubbed the Manchester of Pakistan(without the nightlife) and is the birthplace of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Very few travellers come to Faisalabad, as there’s not really anything of touristic interest. Indeed, most foreigners who come here do so for a specific educational or work purpose.