Chinatown, Singapore

Chinatown, Singapore
The Chinatown Heritage Centre at Pagoda Street occupies three shophouses in Chinatown, newly restored to house memories and untold stories of Singapore's early forefathers.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Literal meaning	"ox-cart water"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Niúchēshuǐ Hakka Romanization Ngiù-Chhâ-Súi Southern Min Hokkien POJ Gû-chia-chúi
Malay name
Malay	Kreta Ayer
Tamil name
Tamil	சைனா டவுன்

Chinatown (Chinese: 牛车水; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gû-chia-chúi, Malay: Kreta Ayer, Tamil: சைனா டவுன்) is a subzone and ethnic enclave located within the Outram district in the Central Area of Singapore. Featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements, Chinatown has had a historically concentrated ethnic Chinese population.

As the largest ethnic group in Singapore is Chinese, Chinatown is considerably less of an enclave than it once was. However, the precinct does retain significant historical and cultural significance. Large sections of it have been declared national heritage sites officially designated for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The name Chinatown was used by the British.

Singapore's Chinatown is known as Niu che shui (Chinese: 牛车水; pinyin: Niú chē shuǐ; literally: "cow car water") in Mandarin, Gu Chia Chwi in Hokkien and Ngau-che-shui in Cantonese - all of which mean "bullock water-cart" - and Kreta Ayer in Malay, which means "water cart". This is due to the fact that Chinatown's water supply was principally transported by animal-driven carts in the 19th century. It should be noted that while these names are sometimes used for referring to Chinatown in general, they actually refer to the area of Kreta Ayer Road.