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Orchard Road is a road in Singapore that is the retail and entertainment hub of the city-state.
It is regularly frequented by the local population as well as being a major tourist attraction.
Often the surrounding area is known simply as Orchard.
Orchard Road is named after the fruit and nutmeg orchards that used to line it in the
1830s, one of them coincidentally belonging to a Mr Orchard. The manhole covers along
the road all depict various tropical fruits. Large trees still shade the road, providing
a modicum of relief from the heat. Fortunately, Orchard Road has an extensive network of underpasses
that connect many of the malls providing even more shelter from the blistering equatorial
heat and, on occasion, rain. Weekends in the area are often packed with locals and visitors
alike out to consume en masse.
The first shop of note on Orchard Road was Tangs founded in 1934 and established on Orchard
Road in the 1950s. Orchard Road is flanked by pedestrian malls. Orchard Road also contains
numerous upmarket restaurants, coffee chains, cafés, nightclubs and hotels. It is also
the site of the official residence of the President of Singapore, the Istana.
Tanglin Mall is located at the junction of Tanglin Road and Grange Road. Its customer
base is made up of expatriates, yuppies and professionals. Orchard Central distinguishes
itself from other malls on Orchard Road with architectural and design forms.
Only at the eastern Bras Basah end do the shopping malls peter out, with some fine colonial
architecture and a few of Singapore's top museums to be found instead.
The Christmas decorations along Orchard are mildly famous and entirely over the top, with
reindeers cavorting through palm trees and gingerbread houses topped with fake snow.