Chinatown and Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
★ 4.6🇸🇬 SingaporeSuggested visit 2-3 hoursBest season Year-round; busiest around Lunar New Year
City walkReligious siteFood
Singapore's Chinatown, anchored by a richly decorated temple and packed with old shops and street food.
Overview
Chinatown, named for the ox carts that once hauled water here, is the heart of Singapore's Chinese community. At its centre is the five-storey Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, completed in 2007 in Tang style, which enshrines a tooth relic and has a hall of ten thousand Buddhas and prayer wheels on its roof. Nearby lanes hold the Sri Mariamman Temple, old bak kut teh shops and medicine halls, with a large new year market before the Lunar New Year.
History
A Chinese immigrant quarter from the 19th century and one of Singapore's earliest communities, its shophouses were conserved in recent decades.
Highlights
- •The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
- •Sri Mariamman Temple
- •Maxwell Food Centre
- •The new year market and shophouses
Practical tips
- •Dress modestly at the temple; shawls are lent free of charge
- •The famous chicken rice stall at Maxwell usually has a queue
Practical information
- Best time
- Year-round
- Tickets
- The district is free; the temple is free
- Opening hours
- Temple 7:00-19:00; district open all day
- Local food
- Hainanese chicken rice, bak kut teh, char kway teow
- Getting around
- Chinatown metro station is directly connected.
- Visa
- Visa-free for stays up to 30 days with a valid passport.
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