The Hungry Ghosts and Moon Festival is celebrated by Southeast Asia's Chinese communities. Singapore, provides a great location for observing and has added pop concerts to the traditional Chinese opera officially intended to entertain the dead.

The festival takes place during the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar. It is a time when ghosts get a parole from purgatory. It is a time of mixed emotions: fear of the dead ghosts which may be roaming the street in front of a house and celebration which includes children's games, lavish feasts, and Chinese opera. If you get the chance to be in Chinatown when the festival is on, by all means do take advantage of being there and try on of the many types of mooncakes.

The seventh month of the lunar year is devoted to the Festival of the Hungry Ghost, during which the gates of hell are thrown open and the spirits of the dead are released on 'parole' to roam the earth. Children and young toddlers should be kept from going out of the house, because the "Hungry Ghosts" could lure them to the kingdom of the dead.

Food, prayers, incense, and 'hell money' are offered to appease the spirits. Celebratory dinners are held as well as performances of Chinese street operas or wayang. The Chinese invite their dead ancestors for a meal and then burn joss sticks, hell money in surprisingly large denominations, daily essentials of paper that look like real clothes, shoes, TV, radio, and even cars and other luxuries. Some of the food looks so real – you might be fooled when purchasing it as well! But the basis of such is to ensure that their present generation and generations to come would be blessed, and free from any imminent harm.

All ghosts must be fed and entertained. Having a wedding or moving to another house during this period is considered as bad luck. Dangerous travels such as sea voyages are not supposed to be conducted. And God forbid that one should die during this month!

Another aspect of this celebration is the stage operas and other musical performances, said to provide entertainment for these dead souls. There is a lot of grandeur on the 30th day of the seventh moon - the last day of the festival .At midnight, the ghosts return to Hades and the gates are shut after them. Paper deities, money, and other goodies are burnt in a giant bonfire as a final gift.

From here there are many options, but walking up Sth Bridge St and along Cross St and then down Telok Ayer Street is good, as it lets you walk past some plaques that tell you about the area and leads you to the magnificent Thian Hock Keng Temple and the Al-Abrar Mosque. If you cut through the passage at the back of Amoy Street, you can take a left along a small road and then right on to Maxwell Road, which will bring you to the Maxwell Road Hawker centre (see separate entry).

There's also lots more to do, such as the thieves’ market in an afternoon, the Wak Hai Cheng Bio Temple, as well as plenty of shops to look around. You need a good half-day to do Chinatown justice and it's best to avoid the middle of the day, as it gets hot and sticky walking around.

1. The Chinatown Heritage Centre (see entry).

2. Thian Hock Keng Temple. This is the oldest and most important Hokkien temple in Singapore. There is a shrine to the sea goddess, Ma-Chu-Po, to whom survivors of the arduous journey from China to Singapore gave thanks. The temple has been beautifully restored.

3. Sri Mariammam Temple. This is a spectacular South Indian Hindu temple with a colourful gopuram. A wedding was taking place when we visited and although the temple was open to the public, we didn't wish to intrude. However, the temple's exterior is spectacular and we could see the wedding party procession through the courtyard gates -- a riot of colour with the guests in their traditional finery.

4. Restored shops will appeal to architecture buffs.

5. Eating!