Singapore – China Town
The “Lion City” at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, just one degree north of the equator, has always been a melting pot of peoples. Even today, traces of Chinese, Malay, Indian and British cultures can still be found in Singapore. At first glance, the ultra-modern skyline dominates, but a closer look reveals the old traditions in Chinatown, “Little India” and Arab Street, and unexpected new contrasts open up, for example in the Bird Park with its 3500 species of birds, in the Chinese fairy tale parks or when visiting the zoo, one of the largest in the world, which invites you to take a night tour with a jungle atmosphere or to have breakfast with an orangutan.
Singapore’s Chinatown is unique: not only is it one of the founding nuclei of the city, but many of the historic buildings have been preserved to this day. Chinatown in Singapore is still a place where centuries-old traditions are still maintained, but also a lively district of the metropolis of Singapore. This is where modernity and tradition meet and so the ideas of the future are developed here. The richness of contrasts is what makes Chinatown so fascinating, and many parts of Chinatown are not even of Chinese origin.
The visitor will find, for example, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore and also mosques that were built here – long before the wave of immigration from China. Chinatown’s roots date back to 1819, when Sir Stamford Raffles established a trading post on this strategically located bay. Singapore was founded as a free port and so the small trading post quickly became an attraction for immigrants and fortune hunters. The first major wave of immigration from China began in 1821. The immigrants from Xiamen built the Thian Hock Keng Temple out of gratitude for the happily survived journey and in hope for a good future.
Chinatown became the home of Chinese immigrants, the place where they lived. They found work near the river. The richness of contrasts is what makes Chinatown so fascinating, and many parts of Chinatown are not even of Chinese origin. The visitor will find, for example, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore and also mosques that were built here – long before the wave of immigration from China. Chinatown’s roots date back to 1819, when Sir Stamford Raffles established a trading post on this strategically located bay.
Singapore was founded as a free port and so the small trading post quickly became an attraction for immigrants and fortune hunters. The first major wave of immigration from China began in 1821. The immigrants from Xiamen built the Thian Hock Keng Temple out of gratitude for the happily survived journey and in hope for a good future. Chinatown became the home of Chinese immigrants, the place where they lived. They found work near the river.
The influence of the Empire is particularly noticeable in the Gregorian style of the windows. The Chinese sponsorship is evident in the rich colors that decorate the whole house. Also everywhere in and around the shophouses you can find Chinese lucky symbols, which are supposed to banish evil spirits and preserve the happiness and wealth of the inhabitants. You can also see some houses whose ceramic-covered roofs form a crescent. This roof construction is intended to collect the runoff of rainwater and drain it over the façade of the house as a visible sign of wealth.
The living conditions of the Chinese immigrants were anything but good. Gang crime and poor sanitation made life difficult for the workers. Many of the unskilled workers who had come here with high hopes saw their hopes dwindle. The abuse of opium further fueled poverty and hopelessness. But the bad situation in China and the glimmer of hope for a better life in Singapore did not stop the flow of immigrants in the next few years. Today, Chinatown is an island in the otherwise hectic city of Singapore. Many things still show the old tradition here. You feel like you’ve been transported back to the last century. Goods and food are sold on the street.
In the small shops of the shop houses you can find everything from souvenirs to medicines made from herbs, snake skins and other indefinable tinctures. It’s fun to look around here and negotiate with the sellers. You could spend days browsing the small shops and still discover something new. If walking is too much for you, you can help yourself to one of the countless rickshaws. All of Singapore is a foodie’s paradise, and Chinatown is no exception.
Food plays a big role everywhere in Chinatown. Here, businessmen dine and pamper the palate with fine wines and shark fin soup, while just a few meters away a Chinese family satisfies their hunger with a bowl of vegetables. Of course, Chinese cuisine is the most common in Singapore – especially in Chinatown. Here you will find the specialties of almost every Chinese province, especially the dishes from Canton, Hakka, Hokkien and Hainan.
