Chinatown Heritage Centre

Chinatown Heritage Centre is a museum of early Chinatown life in three restored shophouses at 48 Pagoda Street, Chinatown, a minute's walk from Exit A of Chinatown MRT station. The centre opened in 2002 in shophouses that were tailor shops in the 1950s, closed for upgrading in October 2014 and reopened in January 2016. The Singapore Tourism Board took over its management on 26 April 2021, and after a long closure the centre reopened in January 2025, with Minister of State Alvin Tan speaking at its reopening ceremony on 13 May 2025.

Across three levels the centre recreates the original interiors of its 1950s tenants. On the ground floor are a tailor's shop, a workshop with sewing machines, the family's living quarters and a shared kitchen; upstairs, cramped cubicles belong to a clog maker, a hawker and a Samsui woman. Further galleries cover the sea voyage from China, coolie work at the docks, opium dens and secret societies, clan associations, 1950s street life with a street barber and Chinese opera stage, and the death houses of Sago Lane. Opening hours are 10am to 8pm daily with last entry at 7.15pm, and the centre is closed for maintenance on 10 November 2026 and from 11.30am to 4pm on 4 December 2026. Sri Mariamman Temple is at the end of Pagoda Street.