Help! What shops are open on Chinese New Year?

For those celebrating, Chinese New Year can be bustling, busy and full of fun, food, family and festivities. For those not celebrating, however, Singapore may seem to transform into a bit of a ghost town! What are the eateries and shops open on Chinese New Year weekend if you simply want to get out, or if you have some important, last-minute shopping to do? Read on to find out.

In case you need to do some grocery shopping and the markets are all shut, you might have better luck with supermarkets. NTUC , Cold Storage, Giant Supermarket and Sheng Siong all have stores open, though you might want to double check for the specific hours at different locations.

If you want to grab a simple meal out, select Kopitiam outlets will be open, as are Food Republic outlets. Check out this list for more dining options.

Most of the standard fast food outlets including Macdonalds, KFC and Burger King remain open, with the possible exception of those on select school campuses.

Burpple compiled a list of some cafes which are still open over the weekend, including Artistry café (Jalan Pinang), Forty Hands (Yong Siak Street) and Dutch Colony Café (Frankel Avenue) in case you simply can’t do without your latte fix. Opening hours for chains like Starbucks and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf differ for each store.

Thankfully, your convenience stores live up to their name! 7-11 and Cheers outlets will remain open for the usual hours.

Individual stores may vary, but Ion Orchard, Marina Bay Sands, Bugis Junction, Plaza Singapura and IKEA are some of the shopping centres you can still visit. Check out this list for other shopping centres still open during Chinese New Year.

And if you find yourself still wondering what to do, why not do a little cross-cultural exchange? It’ll be fun for both the kids and yourself to do some hosting and/or visiting with a couple of friends and colleagues!