Chinatown

Chinatown Garden Bridge
A large pedestrian walkway bridge across Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road. It connects the People’s Park Complex with the pedestrian mall of Pagoda Street. You can access the Chinatown MRT Station from either side of this bridge.

During my visit to Singapore, I really enjoyed walking around and seeing the various delights of Chinatown. Here, you can easily go around and shop for cutesy souvenirs that are reasonably priced and there are plenty of food places to try. I recommend allowing yourself at least half a day here since there is quite a bit to do. If you swing by here early morning, make a small trek to Maxwell Food Centre for some breakfast since most of the vendors aren’t opened until like 10am or later. After breakfast, take your time in browsing the different vendors and small shops. Most of the vendors will sell similar things at similar prices and there doesn’t seem to be much haggling involved.
Some of the major attractions within Chinatown is: Chinatown Complex, the temple, visitor center and etc. I highly recommend stopping by the Complex for lunch /​food. On the second level of the complex, you’ll find a hawker center that is literally filled with various food stalls. If you like to shop for clothes, there is an abundant amount of vendors on the first floor of the complex that sells only clothes. If you’re a tourist and want to make a one stop kind of deal on buying tickets to major attractions, stop by the visitor center. My friends and I purchase our tickets in advance to the Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the Bay and Night Safari there and managed to save money on some small discounts :]. As for the temple, it’s really easy to find but do keep in mind that if you visit, shorts and tanks aren’t allowed. So remember to cover up with the garments that are provided by the temple at the entrances.
Overall, this was quite a pleasant experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Singapore.

Chinatown is always bustling! So much to see, eat and buy. The main objective for coming here was to find some fresh fruits. I was in Singapore during the end of November/​beginning of December, so I couldn’t find any durians at the local supermarket near my hotel. The next best place was definitely Chinatown.
Since durians are not in season, I paid $ 80 for a Mao Shan Wang 猫山王, which is reportedly the best. It was so delicious and ultra custard-​like. We also bought 5 bags of mangosteen; each bag was around 2 pounds and it was only $ 5 a bag!
It’s also nice to explore and view the historical buildings. Not only that, but it’s a walking distance to Maxwell Hawker Center.

For tourists, you have to drop by here to check out the older part of Singapore which the Chinese culture plays a role to the development of this country. Located at the heart of Singapore, you can take the MRT to either Outram Station or Chinatown Station and just walk to your heart’s content. There are lots of good eating places along the streets catering for both locals and tourists. Prices especially at the Food Street can be quite expensive, but do check out the long queues as they are usually good. Alternatively, you can visit the nearby Maxwell Food Centre which serves good local food and if you walk a bit further, Amoy Street Food Centre is another good option.
This would be one of the first venues I take my foreign friends here, usually in the evening. Exploring the beautiful shop houses, getting goodies for their friends back home, grabbing some good food and dessert and after that walk to Clarke Quay which is a stop away or 15 minutes walk to the bars to enjoy the rest of the evening.
So if you are a first timer to Singapore, you have to include visiting Chinatown in your itinerary.
For good food, you can check out these places that I frequently visit in this area.
Tiong Bahru Porridge
Maxwell Food Centre
Amoy Street Food Centre
Mei Heong Yuen Dessert
Tong Heng Confectionary (Egg tart is not bad)

Beautiful architecture temple, and there was many souvenir vendors to buy cool stuff. Singapore is known for the lions, so you will mostly find anything lion related. If you keep walking, you will find yourself in a hawker style food. Food are a little more pricey here for some dishes.

I’m not really sure if I can say all that more about Chinatown than what I have already said, but if there is one really bustling part of Singapore it is this place. Okay, there are the markets, and in fact the markets pretty much make up the largest part of this area, however there is more than just the markets here. You can find heaps of restaurants serving up authentic Chinese food (which is by far and away the best type of Chinese food) as well as a number of temples, including the Buddha Tooth Museum. They even have one of those authentic squares that you see scattered about the place in Hong Kong where old men sit around the table playing Chinese Checkers or some other game. This is definitely a must visit place in Singapore. Oh, there is also an MRT station right in the middle, so it is really, really easy to reach.

Bumbling around Chinatown was truly an eye-​opening experience: Architectural eye candy abounds!!! Are these buildings for real??? Whoa~Look at that building with all those people carved INTO the building’s structure!!!
My mouth just dropped viewing, scanning the entire Chinatown District and I kept saying over and over again, «Whoa~Look at THAT!!!» ««Oooh~I smell curry-​not just any old curry smell-​it smells awesome, fresh, hauntingly delicious, and doesn’t smell stale!!»
There are so many shops, grocery stores, Hawker Stands, foot reflexology clinics. .. So much to see, so many things to do here!!! The best part about Chinatown is the fresh fruit sold and the food cooked here is so delectably delicious; everything is made fresh and this place is a Foodie’s Shangrila-there’s no doubt in my mind why Anthony Bourdain visited Chinatown.

This is certainly the place to go if you’re looking to try various street food and restaurants from several different countries. We stumbled upon these winding alleys of food paradise upon hopping off of the bus to visit the Buddah Tooth Relic Temple. We tried various Indian and Singaporean dishes and they were all great and very pocket friendly. There are also many shops to buy souvenirs at much cheaper prices. Would definitely love to stop here again!

Overall, 3 ½ stars.
I love the fact that there is an MRT station here, so it makes it very convenient to come here from our hotel. We came during the day, so we didn’t stay too long out on the streets, due to the heat. There are lots of little shops for you to pick some souvenirs, and there is even a food street (we were headed over to Maxwell Food Centre, so we didn’t eat here). We went into the big Hindu temple as well, which was free (just take off your shoes). We’ll have to stop by again at night, the next time we are in Singapore, to explore this area more.

One of my favourite parts of Singapore :-) its a great area to walk around do some shopping, get a nice massage, eat and get some clothes made.
At the moment it is decorated as, CNY is just around the corner and the streets are buzzing. I love going to this area for excellent massage for cheap prices. I had a foot reflexology for 60 mins $ 38 :-)
We had lovely lunch along the food street and there are tons of food options along that road. Maxwell hawker centre is also very close by for what I am told is the best chicken rice in town.
If you need competitive money exchange rates this area is a good option and in the People’s shopping centre there are many exchanges with quite competitive and fee free exchange rates.
I have been to Chinatown many times over the years and love it.

While walking around in Singapore we decided to take the subway and head to Chinatown. It is almost very similar to many other peoples Chinatown. They sell Chinese food, cheap vacation gifts to give to friends, and it was super busy.
Did I say it was also really really hot. I felt like there was no shade here at all and the heat was super crazy. But at least one thing good about that is you will loose a gang load of weight.
We had our lunch in Chinatown ate some duck which was cooked perfectly. Too bad I didn’t have wifi so I don’t know the name of the duck place. But it is in Chinatown.
If you want to walk around and just see things to buy this is a place to visit.

China town !
Food that will change the way you look at our libations forever!
The real treat is to go to the food Mart across the street of the temple.
An evening watching the traditional Fire walkers charge the Mosque is for some great entertainment!

One of the things that remain impressive to me having visited Singapore many times is the preservation of heritage buildings by retaining the exterior architecture. Many of these heritage buildings have the recognizable style of windows and today there could be restaurants, bars, and boutiques that occupy these buildings. In Singapore’s Chinatown, the building preservation is no different. Each storefront has their windows painted uniquely so that each store carries its own character and personality. People will say this is probably the cleanest Chinatown they’ve been to (but of course, this is Singapore we’re talking about). Ironically, we’ve heard laments from a few friends who see this environment as too «artificial» and they long for the old days where the streets felt more «natural». Well, the old days are not going to come back though one can always continue to romanticize the past. For now, we still have these buildings (no matter how overly preserved they may be, if there is such a thing) to cling on to that offer a glimpse of the past. The main commercial strips of Chinatown are along Pagoda Street and Temple Street.
The area beyond the main commercial strips have evolved into a night spot destination among the young professionals. Who ever says that Chinatown is not a place to hang out in the evening? Along Erskine Road and Ann Siang Road are boutiques. Club Street has intimate eateries offering European cuisine and these establishments that take on the colorful façade of what one would expect of Chinatown.
My most favorite part of all is how true diversity is reflected in Chinatown. In the multicultural fashion of this city state, there are three different places of worship located on the same street in Chinatown. The Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple, Jamae Mosque, and a Chinese temple are located just a block from each other along South Bridge Road.

If they had enough seats! Such a busy little street, Smith St. Lots of food options, with street «stalls» in the centre of the street, and restaurants on the side. The stalls sell mostly hawker food.
There was a 30 minute wait between ordering and receiving food at the satay stall. Almost impossible to get a table to eat. Had to share, which isn’t a problem, but it took a few tries asking people until I actually found someone who’d let me sit with them.
Food at most of the stalls is good, and quite well-​priced, but some of the staff at the stalls are so unorganised and lack of seating to eat meals is a real problem here.
Get off at Chinatown MRT to get here.

Cleanest Chinatown ever!
I’m a magnet and postcard kind of souvenier shopper. For the cheapest value, take the Pagoda Street MRT exit, go straight until you hit a T intersection (where you can either go straight or right), and shop around there. One of the stores has some ugly magnets for a dollar, but the best deal I found was 3 for $ 5. As for postcards, one store had ugly postcards, 6 for $ 2, but the better ones were 50 cents each.
So many food stands to choose from too, but for real hawker-​style food, walk over to Maxwell Food Centre.
JONASAPPROVED!

Singapur bietet sich ja im Allgemeinen an wenn man zentriert eine Rundreise durch Südostasien machen möchte, da hier so ziemlich alle Nationalitäten vertreten sind. Die Chinesen bilden sogar den größten Bevölkerungsanteil und somit ist ein Besuch in Chinatown Pflicht wenn man schonmal hier ist. In Chinatown kann man sehr gut und wirklich günstig essen gehen. In den zahlreichen Food Courts bekommt man schon für 3 – 4 Dollar eine Mahlzeit und kann sich durch die chinesische Küche essen. Ein großer Pluspunkt: in den zahlreichen Bars entlang der Straßen ist das Bier im Verhältnis zum Rest der Stadt sehr günstig. Für eine Halbliterflasche bezahlt man hier «nur» 5 Dollar. Auf dem Heimweg kann man sich dann noch mit billigst produzierten Souvenirs eindecken, damit die Lieben zu Hause auch was von der Singapurreise haben.

Bevor dann ganz alt-​Singapur niedergerissen wurde, da sagten die Chinesen: Stop, das kann sein, dass dies hier unser Vermächtnis ist und das würden wir gerne stehen lassen. So geschah es denn, hinter dem Financial District. Und da dieses China Town halt in Singapur und nicht in Restwelt liegt, ist es sauber, wie kein zweites (ausser Phantasialand oder Disney World). Nette Läden, ein netter Hawker Food Market und einfach eine gute Atmosphäre. Man sollte es gesehen haben, wenn auch diese absolute Exotik, die eben ein Stück echter asiatischer Lebensweise und manchmal auch Unornung in z.B. San Francisco ausstrahlen hier komplett fehlen. Singapur is a fine city. Europäischer ist nur das deutsche Chinarestaurant und vielleicht sogar das nicht.

Chinatown befindet sich mitten in Singapur und ist wirklich eine kleine andere Welt.
An der Haupgassenzeile befinden sich ein kleiner Shop /​Laden nach dem anderen.
Es ist klar, dass hier kein Chinatownbewohner einkaufen geht.
Diese Läden befinden sich eher in den Shoppingcenter, gleich anschliessend an den Markt.
Neben den Touristengadgets, gibt es auch viele chinesische Spezialitäten.
Leider kann beinahe nicht mehr gefeilscht werden. Überall steht, dass es sich um Fixpreise handelt. Es sieht aus, wie wenn Preisabsprache herrscht. In den meisten Läden finden sich immer wieder die gleichen Produkte.

* * * * * The Gold Standard of Chinatown * * * * *
Singapore Chinatown puts many other Chinatowns to shame. This one is the real deal, where you can find authentic Chinese attire like silk shirts and ties that are far cheaper here than in the U.S.
If you want enjoy real China and HK street food, Singapore is probably the closest thing you can get outside of China and HK. Every night is night market here; the surprise is that the oldest Hindu Temple, «Sri Mariamman Temple,» is located in Chinatown.
This is definitely a place to visit when you’re in Singapore. You can also find some very good deals on camera here but just be aware that some shops aren’t as friendly as those on Orchard Road. There’s also a train stop here as well. This is probably the safest and cleanest Chinatown.

WHY CAN’T ALL CHINATOWNS BE LIKE SINGAPORE’S
Visited Chinatown twice during this trip. Once in the daytime to see the lay of the land and again during the evening to witness how it all comes alive. Follow me as I make two trips using the MRT that takes me directly on to the streets of Chinatown. Many of the restaurant stalls understandably don’t open until the evening hours.

Very touristy, quite akin to many other Chinatowns in other cities. Lots of souvenirs for sale, food stands, red lanterns hanging from the top. I did notice the world’s largest coin on display, so that was something a bit different.
One shop had a bunch of old Chinese artifacts for sale. When my bf asked how much the giant Buddha sculpture went for, the guy said too much. LOL, it was an antique worth thousands. I saw a lot of name chops that were kind of cute, but I already have one somewhere in my parents’ house, I think – and besides, I never use those things.
We walked into a shopping mall that was a bit old and decrepit and quite dead. One shop had a funny sign that said, «Out for lunch/​dinner. If you need me, I’ll skip dessert!»
I had to use the bathroom, and the ones on the upper floors were locked, probably due to lack of tenants nearby. So I went to the one on the bottom floor and discovered… a squatter! Haven’t seen one of those in ages, since I was a wee girl in Taiwan.
There wasn’t anything worth shopping for in the mall, so we just took a quick look at some of the jade ornaments for sale and then walked on out.

Proud to be CHINESE 中 國 (zung1 gwok3) zhong1 guo2!
My Asian 2010 travels whisk me to Chinatown… Singapore Chinatown in the district of Outram, where finally the streets are clean and so many moderately priced food options and Chinese souvenirs yet with an ethnic Singaporean Chinese flair as Curry Powder, red bean paste buns, Soya Bubble Tea, and slice beef jerky. It fends a Southeast Asian immersion to the historic parts of Singapore with a longstanding cultural presence. There are many ethnic Singaporean Chinese Buddhist temples. Gifts of Feng Shui and colorful chopsticks of Chinese cultural elements are readily available. A Night Market contains many moderately priced peddlers where visitors can bargain until comprised, as like most enclosed crowded areas of any major city, beware of pickpockets.
For visitors who are not afraid to be immersed in Asian culture, with an open mind, Singapore Chinatown is surely a worthwhile visit.

Ich liebe Chinatown. Immer wenn ich in Singapur bin versuche ich hier mindestens einmal herzukommen. Eine wunderbare Abwechslung von den gefühlten 1.000 auf Hochglanz polierten Shopping Center in Singapur mit Nobelmarken.
Am besten man fährt mit der MRT (NE = Nord-​Ost-​Linie) und steigt Chinatown (NE4) aus (eigentlich logisch, oder ;-)).
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Ich finde es immer wieder schön durch die bunten Strassen zu schlendern und Mitbringsel zu kaufen.
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Als Langnase bekommt man natürlich immer höhere Preise genannt als an marktüblich, aber die Preise sind trotzdem teilweise so günstig, dass ich die Sachen ohne zu verhandeln kaufe. Verhandeln ist aber oft gerade bei höherwertigen Sachen möglich. Beim Kauf von teuren Sachen immer ein Auge auf die Qualität haben.
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Und wenn es regnet, wie auf diesen Bildern, dann sollte man sich in Singapur sofort einen Unterstand suchen, sonst ist man schnell pitschnass. Glücklicherweise war hier gerade ein Verkaufsstand mit Tischen unter Schirmen der frisch gepressten Zuckerrohrsaft für S$ 1 (EUR 0,60) verkauft hat. So konnte ich, trocken unter einem Schirm sitzend, erfrischenden Zuckerrohrsaft trinken und dem Treiben der Shopbesitzer zuschauen wie sie ihre Waren in Sicherheit bringen.
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I am so impressed with Singapore’s Chinatown.
I am glad that I spend some time to wander around the streets and get lost here a little.
The charming well restored buildings (great photo ops!)
The history: the largest and oldest (record of Chinese community at 1330!) Chinatown
The numerous restaurants
The small food stores
The souvenirs stores
All these drinking places has huge photos of ice cold BIG beer for $ 5 (I really want to have one of those…)
The temples
Places with Durian snacks…
I definitely will be back next time when I am in town…

Wenn man in Singapur lebt, ist Chinatown ganz praktisch, wenn man weiß, was es dort überall zu kaufen gibt. Ansonsten ist es leider sehr touristisch aufgebaut und besteht weitestgehend aus Souvenirshops.
Einen Besuch ist Chinatown aber allemal wert, denn neben den Souvenirs gibt es auch richtig schöné urige Dinge aus China zu entdecken!

Unter Chinatown hatt ich mir etwas mehr vorgestellt, aber alles in allem war es toll. Hier wird man von ganz anderen Düften umweht als in Little India oder Sinapur-​City. Touri-​Mitbringsel gibt es hie an jedem Eck. Zum Glück jedoch auch sehr gutes chinesischen Essen. Gehört einfach zu einem Singspur-​Trip dazu.

Die Atmosphäre, die alten restaurierten Shophouses und insbesondere die verschiedenen kleinen Tempel und Moscheen geben einen sehr schönen Eindruck vom Vielvölkerstaat Singapur. Anschauen sollte man sich das auf jeden Fall. Die Geschäfte, die ich gesehen habe, hatten leider oft chinesische Billigprodukte. Bis auf ein professionelles Teegeschäft schräg gegenüber vom Sri Mariamman Tempel. Gekauft habe ich dann auch nur eine Dose Tee und einen ganz kleinen hübschen Messing-​Kalender mit meinem chinesischen Horoskop. :-)

Chinatown in Singapur ist einen Besuch wertobwohl es ehrlich gesagt, relativ wenig mit dem echten China zu tun hat. In Singapur ist alles sauber und kontrolliertim Gegensatz zu China sind die Strassen sauber und es duftet nach frischem Essen.
Die größte ethnische Gruppe in Singapur sind mit 75% die Chinesen. Klar, dass sie auch einen eigenen Stadtteil wollen. In diesem Stadtteil findet man Chinesische Restaurants, Bars, Geschäfte, Tempel und noch vieles mehr. Auch ein nächtlicher Markt findet jeden Tag in Chinatown statt.
Viele der alten Gebäude wurden liebevoll restauriert und sind nun geschütztdiese müssen zum Glück nicht einem Hochhaus weichen — im Gegensatz zu Häusern in Peking!