Singapore’s Chinatown, established during British colonial days, is an oddity in a city whose population is overwhelmingly ethnic Chinese. The upmarket Italian restaurants, trendy small enterprises, and edgy theatres and nightclubs that have moved in mark its evolution.

But Chinatown hasn’t disappeared. It still has shophouses linked by arcades, old-fashioned businesses and the whiff of incense smoke and stir-fries. Small temples erupt in gilt, painted gods and baskets of fruit.

Why would you fly to Singapore and shop on Orchard Road? Its shopping is hyped, but all you get are big-name brands and a bland international atmosphere.

Orchard Road has predictable sneakers, perfumes and Chanel handbags at predictable prices. The joy of Chinatown is that, although you never know what you’ll find, it’s bound to be a bargain.

Chinatown’s department stores don’t have the glamour of Orchard Road’s malls. People’s Park Complex is confusingly hidden on the third floor of a lurid green apartment block. Tanjong Pagar Plaza is fringed with manicure and hairdressing salons that give little hint of the trove of goods within.

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Don’t be dissuaded by these drab exteriors and that of Chinatown Point. Yes, you’ll have to sacrifice upmarket ambience and efficient air-conditioning, but they’re a great source of electrical goods, textiles, clothes, cosmetics and luggage.

About the only big store that looks as if it belongs on Orchard Road is OG Department Store, which is chic and international. Anyone riding the K-everything wave, though, has reason to visit for its wide selection of South Korean fashions and cosmetics.

This is why canny local shoppers go to Chinatown: it sells everything, often on the cheap, in shops condensed into one area. As a visitor, you have further reason to shop here. You’ll find clothes and household items you don’t get in regular shopping malls, and local specialities and boutique goods too.

Between bouts of shopping, you can enjoy great street and food-hall food and take in Chinatown’s sights, such as Thian Hock Keng Temple with its fierce guardian deities, and the unexpected Sri Mariamman Temple with its gaudily painted Hindu gods.

Regular shopping apart, you’ll find a huge array of handicrafts and souvenirs in Chinatown. Yue Hwa department store specialises in all things China-made, with seven floors devoted to handicrafts, padded jackets and cheongsams, silk and antiques.

At the bargain (and often factory-made) end is Chinatown Street Market, which straggles along several roads. It’s cooler after dark and, thanks to dangling red lanterns, more atmospheric. Painted fans, calligraphy scrolls, Chinese pottery and chopstick sets, kites and Indonesian masks compete with fridge magnets, snowdomes and Russian dolls depicting US presidents.

Temple Street is more interesting and its handicrafts more authentic. If you want to get upmarket, move on to Tanjong Pagar where you can find lacquerware, Chinese porcelain and embroidered clothes.

Beyond the department stores and street markets, Chinatown has plenty of speciality shops. Ann Siang and Keong Saik roads have trendy boutiques filled with independent Asian clothing labels.

You’ll also find Chinatown shops selling everything from heritage jewellery to Japanese ceramics, Nepalese handicrafts, antique rugs, Chinese calligraphy, handwoven baskets, vinyl records and vintage clothes.

The Buddhas and Daoist deities at Say Tian Hng Buddha Shop – in typical Chinatown fashion, wedged between neon-lit bars – have been handcrafted by successive family generations since 1840.

And finally, while you might not want to buy, take a look at the curious offerings of traditional shops that sell foods such as sea cucumbers, and birds’ nests for making soup, or pungent ingredients for Chinese medicines.

In Teck Soon Medical Hall pharmacists mix ground pearl or ginseng into tonics for every imaginable ailment. Fong Moon Kee and Chop Wah On, which is more than a century old, sell medicinal oils and balms. An antidote to Orchard Road tedium, surely.

THE DETAILS

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FLY

Singapore Airlines flies from Melbourne and Sydney to Singapore. See singaporeair.com

STAYMondrian Singapore Duxton, on the edge of Chinatown, has good restaurants and a rooftop pool and garden. Rooms from SGD287 ($320) a night. See mondrianhotels.com

Brian Johnston travelled at his own expense.