A Local’s Guide to Celebrating Chinese New Year in Chinatown

Chinese New Year, or CNY, is one of the most important cultural celebrations in Singapore – and no place on the island captures its energy quite as vividly as Chinatown!

During CNY, the streets of Chinatown come alive with lanterns, lion dances, festive markets, and long-standing traditions that have shaped the district for generations.

While visitors are often drawn to the spectacle, locals understand that every decoration, ritual, and dish carries cultural meaning rooted in history and belief. This guide brings together Chinatown’s most iconic CNY experiences alongside quieter, meaningful moments that reveal how the celebration is truly lived and understood.

If you want to experience Chinese New Year in Chinatown with greater depth and appreciation, we’ll share tips on how to ground your journey from the very start.

Start at the Chinatown Heritage Centre (CHC)

Before diving into Chinatown’s streets, visitors can gain cultural grounding for all they’re about to experience at the CHC, where the history of early Chinese immigrants comes alive through restored shophouse galleries.

Visitors can learn the original symbolic meaning of many Chinatown rituals here, such as how:

• Spring cleaning is done to sweep away the misfortunes and negative energy of the past year

• Red decorations are used to ward off evil and welcome prosperity

• Reunion dinners are an essential anchor of family unity 

• Mandarin oranges symbolise wealth, prosperity, and good fortune

Understanding these origins helps you appreciate the richness of the celebration. Even the Chinese New Year decorations in Chinatown will suddenly gain deeper meaning!

Festive Street Lighting, Singapore — Image from Wikimedia Commons

Explore the Festive Street Light Up

This is one of the most iconic visual experiences in the area, with the stretch across Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road transforming into a dazzling display of lanterns, zodiac installations, and handcrafted figurines.

These CNY decorations are often tied to the zodiac animal of the year, with symbolic elements such as:

• Red lanterns that symbolise joy and prosperity 

• Elements in shades of gold reflecting wealth and abundance

• Zodiac sculptures representing fortune predictions for the year 

Go at night for an electric experience, with glowing lights, festive music, and a bustling crowd. It will be packed, but fun – if you want a more serene way of appreciating it, the show is often broadcast on national TV too.

Chinatown Festive Street Bazaar, Singapore — Image from Little Day Out

Visit the Chinatown Festive Street Bazaar

The bazaar is a must-visit here, alive with the smell of roasted chestnuts and stuffed with vibrant decor. 

Shop for traditional snacks, handcrafted decorations, festive plants, and New Year treats. Local favourites include pineapple tarts, bak kwa, kueh bangkit, and love letters.

The bazaar recreates the historic atmosphere of Old Chinatown, where families typically shop in preparation for their Chinese New Year celebrations at home.

Singapore City Free Walking Tour, Singapore — Image from Monster Day Tours

Experience a Lion Dance or Cultural Performance

Lion dances echo through Chinatown in the weeks leading up to the New Year, bringing energetic drumbeats and colour to every corner. Locals believe lion dances chase away bad luck and invite prosperity into the home and businesses.

Performances happen in key spots like Kreta Ayer Square, shophouse entrances, clan associations, and marketplaces. You may also see traditional Chinese opera and martial arts showcases, among others.

They’re reflections of how the community preserves heritage through art and movement, turning Chinatown into a cultural stage.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Singapore — Image from Bodhi Travel

Welcome the Chinese New Year with Temple Visits

Temples play a meaningful role in CNY celebrations as families offer prayers for protection, health, and good fortune. Temples in Chinatown you can visit include the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Thian Hock Keng Temple.

Some temples also offer fortune prediction activities, such as kau cim (fortune stick drawing). In this practice, devotees shake a bamboo cylinder filled with numbered sticks while silently making a wish or asking a question.

When one stick falls out, it corresponds to a written fortune slip that the temple volunteers can interpret. It is a meaningful tradition to observe.

During your visit, you may also see devotees offering incense, lighting candles, and presenting mandarin oranges. Visitors are welcome to observe these practices, but should be respectful during their visit.

Yuzu Pineapple Tarts — Image from Wunderfolks

Hunt for Festive Food & Heritage Dishes

Chinese New Year in Chinatown is deeply tied to festive flavours and symbolic dishes. The heritage cuisine of the event reflects centuries of tradition brought by early immigrants.

Restaurants and pop-up vendors during the holiday offer a medley of tastes to try. Local chefs and homegrown brands mix old and new at this time, introducing flavours such as yuzu pineapple tarts, pineapple bak kwa cookies, or hojicha butter cookies.

This blend of innovation and heritage reflects the evolving taste of Singaporeans while keeping cultural traditions alive.

Try Yusheng, the Iconic Prosperity Toss

Yusheng is an essential Chinese New Year ritual in Singapore – locals often say that no Lunar New Year celebration is complete without it!

This colourful dish is made of shredded vegetables, raw fish or abalone, crackers, and sweet sauces. Every ingredient symbolises something meaningful: abundance, vitality, success, and good fortune.

Diners toss it with chopsticks while auspicious greetings are shouted aloud – it’s believed that the higher you toss your yusheng, the better your fortunes and prosperity will be in the coming year.

If you’d like to try this for yourself, most Chinese restaurants in Singapore offer it during the CNY period!

Shop for Chinese New Year Goodies in Chinatown

CNY in Singapore wouldn’t be complete without stocking up on festive goodies. Chinatown is a great place for that: you can sample, compare, and purchase Lunar New Year snacks with ease.

Visitors can explore rows of shops and bakeries offering classics such as pineapple tarts, love letters, bak kwa, kueh bangkit, and many more.

Chinatown Chinese New Year — Image from Chinatown.sg

Explore Pop-Up Vendors During the Festive Season

During the Chinese New Year period, Chinatown gains a lot of pop-up vendors. These temporary stalls often appear along Pagoda Street and Smith Street, and the wider Chinatown Street Light Up area.

Try them for a special chance to experience the celebrations and spirit of the event at street level. They show how locals prepare for the New Year and how you can experience the heart and spirit of the district at its best.

Plan for an Authentic CNY Experience in Singapore

Chinese New Year in Chinatown is more than a festive spectacle – it is a living expression of heritage, community, and tradition. 

Starting at the Chinatown Heritage Centre helps ground the experience, giving meaning to every lantern, ritual, and celebration that follows. Book your visit today!