Chinatown's main shopping drag comprises southbound New Bridge Road and northbound Eu Tong Sen Street, along which are found a handful of large malls (see below). Try to pop into one of the bak kwa barbecue pork vendors around the intersection of Pagoda Street and New Bridge Road – the squares of red, fatty, delicious meat that they cook on wire meshes over fires produce an odour that is pure Chinatown. As you eat your bak kwa, check out two striking buildings across the road. Nearest is the flat-fronted MajesticOpera house, which no longer hosts performances but still boasts five images of Chinese opera stars over its doors. Just beside it, the Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium occupies the former Great Southern Hotel, which was built in 1927 by Eu Tong Sen, the son of Eu Yan Sang. In its fifth floor nightclub, Southern Cabaret, wealthy locals would drink liquor, smoke opium and pay to dance with so-called local "taxi girls".

The Thong Chai Medical Institute has been sited at the top of Eu Tong Sen Street since 1892, when it first opened its doors with the avowed intention of dispensing free medical help regardless of race, colour or creed. Listed as a national monument, this beautiful southern Chinese-style building has recently been transformed into a bar-restaurant complex (see "Other speciality Chinese restaurants") whose decor is thankfully sympathetic to the wonderful serpentine gables and wooden inscribed pillars.