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!

This year’s Chinese New Year Market is just like any other – full of yummy festive treats to bag home, and many other Chinese New Year-related decor and products. But we are seeing a lot more unique snacks and flavours this year that we have never encountered before.

As Singapore progresses along with food trends and the digital age, one-of-a-kind snacks and ideas are introduced to the annual market so as to constantly impress and excite.

We took a stroll down the different lanes and found some really interesting gems that are worth making a trip down for. If you are new to Singapore, you should also soak up the festive mood and experience the bustling annual market that Singaporeans love! Here is What To Expect At Chinatown’s Chinese New Year Market 2016.

The full market will start at the end of January, where the market will operate in its full glory and all stalls will run in full force. However, if you head down now, most stalls are already open and in business – great for early shopping and getting everything done on time, minus the crowd!

Besides the plethora of snacks, you can do your Chinese New Year decor shopping here. Look at these whopping low prices of S$1 and three for S$10.

This is something that our moms always go to Chinatown for. We used to diss it, but as we grow older, we become more sentimental about many things and these red whatnots actually get to us. Let’s hope that this lunar spirit never die, and no matter how modernisation takes place, Chinese New Year will always look like how they traditionally look.

The same festive feel and spirit can be felt all through the market, and the market will liven up a lot more once the actual Chinese New Year day draws closer.

These fruit jellies are commonly seen every year, but we saw some pretty unique flavours besides the regular plum ones this year.

We have matcha, chocolates and coffee flavoured ones that originate from Taiwan, and because these fruit jellies are ever popular snacks among guests, we are gonna stock up on them in the new flavours.

Thinking of shopping for your regular Chinese New Year snacks? We suggest coming right to this store here (you will not be able to miss it, it takes up a very large area) where they sell snacks packaged in different sizes.

But of course, based on our observation, these become way cheaper on Chinese New Year Eve. They will slash the prices like crazy just to clear their stocks!

Stalls that sell seeds and munchies are aplenty, and prices are pretty much controlled and standardised, so you really can pick these up conveniently anywhere at almost the same prices.

This is probably the most unique stall at this year’s market.

We stopped in our tracks when we read ‘Sour Cream Cashew Nuts’. Being avid fans of buttery cashew nuts, these were the answer to our prayers. Such a pleasant surprise this was, and it is probably going to be our favourite snack this Chinese New Year!

It is best to start walking from Pagoda Street where the market starts from. Pretty easy to spot if you are taking the train and exiting from Chinatown MRT Station.

The market extends all the way to Smith Street, Sago Street, Temple Street and Trengganu Street, as well as the neighbouring lanes on either sides of Pagoda Street. However, the main market – where majority of the stalls are- is located at Pagoda Street and Temple Street.