Chinatown, Singapore

Chinatown, Singapore (8 July 2011)


Chinatown (GPS: 1.28389, 103.84346) is the earliest Chinese settlement in Singapore. This came about because the British parcelled the population according to ethnic lines. It may seem strange today that a nation that is predominantly Chinese should also have a Chinatown. Today, Chinatown is a neighbourhood (or "subzone" in the local nomenclature) of Outram district (or "planning area". Chinatown covers an area that includes Postal Districts 01 and 02.

When you visit Singapore's Chinatown, you will realise that it is not entirely Chinese. In between the Chinese shophouses, you will come across mosques and Hindu temples, along with the occasional church.

The area designated as Chinatown is located south of the Singapore River, next to the Financial District. In present-day administrative nomenclature, it is a subzone or neighbourhood within the Outram planning area. As it happens to be within the downtown area of Singapore, Chinatown has also evolved to embrace urbanization. The skyscrapers of the Financial District are all within sight of the temples of Chinatown.

Map of Chinatown, Singapore

MRT stations in Chinatown, Singapore

Sights in Chinatown, Singapore

Streets in Chinatown, Singapore

Getting there

The easiest way to reach Chinatown is by MRT. The MRT stations serving the Chinatown district are the Chinatown MRT Station (NE4) on the North East Line; the Tanjong Pagar MRT Station (EW15) on the East-West Line, the Outram Park MRT Station (EW16/NE3) on the East-West Line and North East Line; and the Raffles Place MRT Station (EW14/NS26) within the Financial District, on the East West and North-South Line.

Chinatown in Google Street View

View of Smith Street in Chinatown (Oct 2021)

List of Places in Singapore; Discover Singapore

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Streets of Singapore and Map of Singapore Streets

Singapore MRT and Map of Singapore MRT

Postal Districts of Singapore and Map of Singapore Postal Districts

Planning Areas of Singapore and Map of Singapore Planning Areas

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.