We’ve just finished celebrating Christmas and the New Year, yet we are already stoked to start our annual preparations for the next big exciting thing: Chinese New Year! There are lots to do leading up to the Lunar New Year celebrations, and what better place to soak in the festivities as well as to get all your Chinese New Year necessities than at Chinatown’s annual CNY night market?
The colourful streets of Chinatown are lined with a variety of stalls that sells everything you’ll need for the New Year. From shops that sell an assortment of traditional and contemporary snacks, ornaments and decorative pieces to roadside stalls that sell interesting knick-knacks and trinkets, we can foresee ourselves spending a very long time here over the next few weeks!
CHINESE NEW YEAR GOODIES GALORE
Undoubtedly, our favourite part of Chinese New Year has to be all those festive goodies! While some prefer to stick to tradition and sell the usual snacks such as love letters and bak kwa, while others choose to be more innovative by coming up with interesting new snacks that no one has ever seen or heard of before.
Many of the traditional snacks hold very auspicious meanings. For instance, peanuts symbolise vitality, longevity and riches while nian gao is usually eaten for prosperity and promotion. If you’re curious about the meaning of other Chinese New Year traditions, you can read all about them here.
Chinatown is also the place to be at if you need to stock up on your favourite thematic cookies such as almond cookies and pineapple tarts. Look at all these colourful jars of snacks! Time to put all your diet plans on hold.
If you are a fan of dried meats like lup cheong, waxed duck, liver sausage and other cured delights, you’d be thrilled to know that there is a massive stall with walls that are lined with every kind of cured meat you could name.
GORGEOUS FESTIVE PLANTS
If you are someone who appreciates exotic plants, you’ll be glad to know that you can find plenty of such plants in the market. Besides traditional favourites such as tangerine plants and pussy willows, feast your eyes on a wide range of other exotic plants that are only available during the Lunar New Year.
INTERESTING TRINKETS AND DECORATIVE ITEMS
You can’t invite people over to your house for visitations if it isn’t decorated, can you? Fret not though, as the Chinatown market overflows with beautiful decorative items to jazz up your home.
Amidst all the pretty lights and decorations, this man caught our eye. In the middle of a crowded street, he was patiently painting the lively scene of the night market and it was simply mesmerising to watch him at work. It definitely isn’t something that you see every day!
MESMERISING CHINESE NEW YEAR DECORATIONS
What is a trip to Chinatown without admiring the gorgeous new year decorations that have been painstakingly done up? When it comes to festive decorations, Singapore is known to go all out in terms of the extravagance and sheer size of their displays.
This year is no different and along New Bridge Road at the outskirts of the Chinatown district, you can expect to see a display of two adorable, giant pig lanterns that are surrounded by plenty of small piglet lanterns. It is definitely a sight to behold and makes for a great #OOTD spot for the gram!
One of Persimmon cake store managed by one young man and uncle is selling Deteriorated Persimmoncake, be aware.