Thursday, January 01, 2009

Chinatown Singapore – part I

It had been a long time since I last visited Singapore’s Chinatown, or Niucheshui 牛车水. When I returned to the cultural heart of Chinese Singaporeans on the Boxing Day of 2008, I noticed that it had undergone tremendous changes.

The pre-war shophouses had been restored or torn down and rebuilt. They now look anew, and colorful, as you can see in the pictures below…


I came across a ‘kungfu teahouse’ in the Chinatown. I think it belonged to a chain with headquarter in China

The three Chinese characters on the side of the table read “Shaolin School”…

As we all know, the Shaolin Temple in China is noted for its monks who practiced martial art.


Shaalin kungfu belongs to a category known as ‘external style’, or hard style. In contrast, Wudang School’s soft martial art is of the ‘internal style’. The kungfu teahouse also has one table for Wudang School


15 comments:

  1. Hi khengsiong! wishing you a happy, healthy, blessed and peaceful New Year! ;-)

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  2. Looks like a nice Chinatown! Very clean and historic. Wished we had one like that in Ottawa.

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  3. Monica
    Thanks.

    zhu
    I believe the one in Vancouver is big.

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  4. hey those buildings are really nice...
    I haven't been to Singapore China Town before. :p

    Anyways Happy New Year to u

    and xchange links?

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  5. eppie nu year!
    may u have a great year ahead ya :)

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  6. I spotted a veg restaurant! Will take note of that when I happen to be in Sg. :P

    Happy 2009!

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  7. Lisa
    No problem, will do so :-)

    antzworld
    Thanks...

    kyh
    I don't think vegetarian food is an issue in Sg...

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  8. I LOVE Singapore's Chinatown! :) It just feels so old-fashioned and cultural. I really, really love it. :)

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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  9. Hi Kheng Siong, I'm new here! Wishing you a happy new year! =)

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  10. 宝茹
    I think Singapore's Chinatown is both new and old.

    tekkaus
    Happy new year :)

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  11. happy 2009 to u! singapore kept the place real nice, i have been there several times too

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  12. Haven't been to this place, although I have been to Singapore a few times. So, did you try the kungfu tea?

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  13. love the first photo of the red building. ive act taken photo of that too (but didnt post up) haha :)

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  15. Cool photos of Chinatown, KS!

    Yes, Singaporean Chinese r much different from our new citizens migrated from China.

    The side of Singapore Chinatown where streets of Pagoda/ Trengganu etc are, hv became thickly commercialized thru the years.

    If any character is left, much of it may be from the carefully-preserved architecture. These streets of Chinatown though, are rich in atmosphere n are a must-visit for tourists & locals during the yearly CNY fair.

    Thks for sharing! :-)

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