Beautiful Singapore: Chinatown - 牛车水 (Niu Che Shui)

In every big cities situated outside China, you can normally find a Chinatown. Indeed, cities such as Toronto, New York, London and Paris all have a Town of Chinese people. So...when you have a craving for delicious Chinese foods or can't control your desire to buy Chinese gifts, don't worry, there might be a Chinatown near your house.

But Singapore is a little bit different from the other countries. Why?

Simply because Singapore is a country dominated by ethnic Chinese.

So, it's a little bit strange to find a Chinese town in a vibrant city dominated by ethnic Chinese.

It feels like a Chinatown in a Chinese Town (Haha!).

In 1822, Sir Stamford Raffles, Singapore founder, along with his Engineer Lieutenant P. Jackson and a Town Planning committee came up with the «Raffles Town Plan». They drew up a map that allocated lands according to functional and ethnic divisions. They decided that the North Side of Singapore river was going to be for Government purposes while the South side was going to be for Finance and Commercial use. At that time, the Chinese immigrants were allocated at Telok Ayer district. But because of the arrival of a lot of immigrants, later, other districts were added for the Chinese people. *

Singapore Chinese commonly use ''牛车水'' when they want to say ''Chinatown'' in Chinese language. Literary, it means ''Ox, Cart, Water''. These 3 Chinese characters come from the fact that during the 19th century, Chinatown water supply was mainly transported by animal-driven cart. **

Singapore's Chinatown is rich with history. A simple walk over there will show you the richness of it. The Chinese food with a Singapore touch, the coloured old architectures, the Chinese Night Market are few examples of an amazing heritage that we can enjoy today.

So come visit, you will see, you will not be disappointed!