Chinatown in the New Year Weeks

Chinatown changes in the weeks before Chinese New Year. The streets get their lights and the night market gets livelier, which makes it a good time to come and a poor one to expect a quiet table. The festival falls in late January or February, and the Chinese New Year answers have the days for 2027, the light-up and what happens on the eve.

A wet-market morning

Begin at Chinatown Complex on Smith Street, where the wet market fills the basement and the food centre sits on level 2. The food centre is open daily from 7am to 10pm, though many stalls close earlier, and it's quieter before 11.30am and after 2.30pm. Each stallholder sets their own holiday days, so keep a second stall in mind.

Two temples and a gallery

On South Bridge Road, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is free and open from 7am to 5pm. Sri Mariamman Temple, two minutes along the road, opens from 6am to noon and 6pm to 9pm, so it's a morning or an evening stop. Shoes come off at the door, and shoulders and knees should be covered.

Thian Hock Keng on Telok Ayer Street is free and open from 7.30am to 5pm daily. For the story behind the streets, Chinatown Heritage Centre on Pagoda Street is open 10am to 8pm, and you book a dated timeslot online or at the counter.

After dark on Pagoda Street

The Chinatown Night Market is free to walk and open 9.30am to 10pm daily, with souvenirs from lacquered fans to personalised calligraphy, plus food stalls, and it gets livelier at Chinese New Year. The festive lights and stage shows belong to the Chinatown celebrations, and the organisers post each year's programme.

On the eve, families hold reunion dinners and restaurants fill up, so book a table well ahead or eat at a hawker centre. Maxwell Food Centre is free to enter, you pay at each stall, and the lunch crowd peaks between 11.30am and 1.30pm. For gifts, Yue Hwa at 70 Eu Tong Sen Street is open 11am to 9pm, and tourists can claim the GST refund on purchases over S$100.

We'd do the wet market and the temples before noon, rest through the afternoon and come back for the lights.