Chinese Culture

Chinese New Year Goodies in Chinatown

Today, I would like to take you on a journey to see Chinese New Year goodies found in Singapore Chinatown. Living there for over 20 years and going to Chinatown in Outram Park is one of my highlights and recommendations to soak in the new year atmosphere.

Since I moved to the UK, I miss the opportunity to shop for the full range of Chinese New Year goodies. Some of these goodies can be found in UK Chinese supermarkets though so take a closer look if you get chance!

Now here are the streets in Chinatown. These goodies can only bought a month prior to Chinese New Year. All the street stalls will close after 1 – 2 am on Chinese New Year. So if you want to join in the festivities, make sure you time your travel before the New Year!

I have no idea why these varieties are only available for this limited time, like waxed salted food such as duck, sausages, ham etc. Maybe during the olden times, the only presents/gifts you can bring to visit your family and friends are preserved food. Hence the reasons of them being popular.

These are the varieties of waxed salted duck, salted ham, salted fish and Chinese sausages:

Celebrating Chinese New Year in Chinatown

This coming Chinese New Year of the Horse falls on 31 January 2014 (Friday). In Singapore, on the eve of Chinese New Year, everyone will go home to have a reunion dinner before heading to the temple (if you are Buddhist) or go to Chinatown or River Ang Bao or some might just stay at home!

Celebrate with Halos n Horns Zingy Orange

Mandarin oranges play a major part in our Chinese New Year. It’s to do with way we pronounce the word, it sounds like fortune. Chinese people love to say only good words on Chinese New Year as it will bring them all the luck and fortune for the coming new year.

Different Types of Chinese New Year Goodies

This time of year is the best time to travel down to Asian countries, especially Singapore. Not only are you escaping the bitter cold in the UK, you are going to enjoy the different varieties of foods and festivals there. As a proud Singaporean, I would like to share some of our delicious Chinese New Year goodies. They are only produced once a year to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Chinese are very superstitious so all the goodies are labelled in red. Why Red? It is corresponding with fire, and symbolizes good fortune and joy.

Some of these photos were taken by my friend and sister in Singapore who kindly sent it over to me.

Nian Gao (年糕)

Nian Gao are made from glutinous rice. They symbolise raising oneself to a higher level in each coming year. They are available all year but people mainly consume it during Chinese New Year. They come in a variety of colours, depending on how they are prepared. Some are moulded in a fish shape, golden coin or plain white roll etc.

Chinese New Year Wall Decoration

This year Chinese New Year falls on 31 January 2014 and is the Horse year. There is a 12 year cycle and and each year has a different animal to represent them. In a later post, I will blog more about the background.

Winter Solstice Festival 2013 with Tangyuen

Today marks another year of the Winter Solstice Festival. I can’t believe how time passes us so quickly and it is going to be another new year in less than two weeks time. If you don’t know what the Winter Solstice Festival/Dongzhi is and why we are celebrating it, please click here to read what I had wrote in last year’s blog post.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival is also know as Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival in Singapore. For every festival, there are lanterns hanging across the street and children showing off their beautiful lanterns. I still remember I used to hold a paper folded red lantern and sometimes it would catch fire if I swing it around. Now the lantern are battery operated so it will be safe for children. Each year, the lanterns are getting more and more fanciful.

Winter Solstice Festival 冬至节

The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. This year, it occurs on 21 December 2012.