Chinatown in its heyday was a hive of bustling activity, noise and colour. By day its streets were filled with market stalls carrying a wide variety of wares, from conventional fruit, meat and vegetables to exotic meats. Here, you can find petty merchants, stallholders, artisans and traditional craftsmen busy plying their trades. By night, these very same streets are transformed into a feisty, merry night scene inhabited by colourful characters such as itinerant hawkers, street performers, rich towkays (businessmen) and sing-song girls.

Traditional craftsmen and artisans such as Letter Writers, Clog Makers, Master Storytellers, Parakeet Fortune Tellers and Street Barbers were once a common sight in Chinatown. Their personalized services and custom-made products were in hot demand, fulfilling the incessant needs and wants of their customers. However, changing times and changing tastes have seen many of these once-familiar vernacular professions fall by the wayside, washed away by the tide of history.

Special Promotion (20 May 2006)
In celebration of International Museum Day, visitors will enjoy special admission fees of $4.00 for Adult (U.P. $8.80) and $2.00 for Child (U.P. $5.30) on 20 May 2006.

Vanishing Chinatown Trades Event (26 – 28 May)
Find out what the heavens have in store for you as you get your fortune read by a fortune teller who relies on a parakeet to pick her cards. Ladies can try traditional beauty routines like face threading while men can get a clean shave at the expert hands of a traditional barber. Experience what movie watching was like back in the good old days with the mobile cinema mounted atop a trishaw.