Web City Travel

Singapore’s Chinatown is a traditional Chinese neighborhood that has existed since the early 1800’s. Even today, a large percentage of the district’s inhabitants is of Chinese descent and roughly constitutes 75 percent of the population. Chinatown still holds important cultural and historical significance for Singaporeans despite it is less of an enclave at present.
When the first Chinese Junk arrived in the country in1821, from Xiamen in Fujian Province,Chinatown came into being. The sailors and merchants onboard the vessel settled down south of Singapore River in an area which is today referred to as the Telok Ayer.

For tourists, the major hotspot in Chinatown is the area between Pagoda Street and Smith Street, which holds some of the finest malls in Singapore. Common in this region in the smaller shops that sell antiques and traditional Chinese arts and crafts. Shopping malls such as the Chinatown Point, Majestic and Pearl’s Centre house shops ,People’s Park Complex that sell everything from consumer electronics, antiques, and Buddhist relics to designer clothing and lingerie.

Cultural highlights here include the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which is one of the holiest Buddha temples in the country. Belonging to the Sakyamuni Buddha statues,it supposedly holds a tooth relic and has a 27 foot statue of the Maitreya Buddha. Other religious institutions such as the Jammae Mosque, Thian Hock Keng Temple and Sri Mariamman Temple are also important cultural highlights. The Chinatown Heritage Centre which chronicles the history of the district are also worth a visit and the Red Dot design Museum devoted to contemporary Design.

Chinatown is an important part of the country’s history located near many Singapore hotels. As well as providing convenient links to other sights and sounds of the country,a hotel in Singapore in this area would you great insight into the culture of the district.