By Jamie Ee Wen Wei

Ask Hebei native Albert Li where the real tang ren jie, or Chinatown, is in Singapore, and he will tell you confidently that it is in Geylang.

'Among the Chinese nationals here, we have privately discussed this many times,' he said in Mandarin.

'Geylang is more like a tang ren jie than Chinatown. There must be more Chinese nationals living and working here than in Chinatown,' said the 25-year-old.

Good place to work but not to live

For four years, Geylang has been both home and workplace for Shandong native Wu Min.

He lives in a condo in Lorong 31 with his wife, also a Shandong native. She is a nurse at the Singapore General Hospital.

They met in Singapore four years ago through a friend when Mr Wu was studying for a degree at the Singapore Institute of Materials Management.

Location won them over

For married couple Dai Xue Yong and Zhang Zhi Ying, Geylang was the perfect location to set up their food business, Orient Garden Restaurant.

The one-year-old homestyle eatery, which serves Shanghainese cuisine, sits alongside several other Chinese restaurants.

'We know that Geylang is a food haven. We thought we could offer another variety of Chinese cuisine,' said Ms Zhang, 40.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.