In 1823 Raffles set aside the land south of the Singapore River as the “Chinese Campong”; two centuries on, it rewards anyone who walks it slowly.
Chinatown’s Malay name, Kreta Ayer, means “water cart”, after the bullock carts that hauled well water. About 1,000 Chinese lived south of the river in 1821; by 1900 there were some 164,000. The quarter was gazetted for conservation on 7 July 1989, in four parts: Telok Ayer, Kreta Ayer, Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Pasoh. Its shophouse streets are among the finest the Urban Redevelopment Authority has conserved.
On South Bridge Road a Tang-style Buddhist temple, the island’s first Hindu temple and an 1830s mosque stand a few minutes apart. Nearby, the Chinatown Heritage Centre recreates the cramped rooms of 1950s tenants, and lunch means Maxwell Food Centre or Chinatown Complex. South and west, Duxton Hill and Keong Saik Road trade in restaurants and bars.
