Pagoda in Chinatown, London (16935093110)

Chinatown is an

ethnic enclave In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...

in the City of Westminster, London, bordering

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

to its north and west, Theatreland to the south and east. The enclave currently occupies the area in and around Gerrard Street. It contains a number of Chinese restaurants,

bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

, supermarkets, souvenir shops, and other Chinese-run businesses. The first Chinatown was located in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through ...

in the East End.

History

The first area in London known as Chinatown was located in the

area of the East End of London. At the start of the 20th century, the Chinese population of London was concentrated in that area, setting up businesses which catered to the Chinese sailors who frequented in Docklands. The area was known through exaggerated reports and tales of

slum housing A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

and (the then-legal) opium dens, rather than the Chinese restaurants and supermarkets of the current Chinatown. However, much of the area was damaged by aerial bombing during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, although a number of elderly Chinese still choose to live in this area. After the Second World War, however, the growing popularity of

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many o ...

and an influx of immigrants from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

led to an increasing number of Chinese restaurants being opened elsewhere. The present Chinatown, which is off

Shaftesbury Avenue Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadilly C ...

did not start to be established until the 1970s. Previously, it was a regular Soho area, run-down, with Gerrard Street the main thoroughfare. It was dominated by the Post Office, facing Macclesfield Street, and other major establishments were The Tailor & Cutter House, at 43/44, now a Chinese supermarket and restaurant, the Boulogne Restaurant, near the Wardour Street end, and by Peter Mario's Restaurant at the other end. Other businesses included a master baker's, the Sari Centre, Lesgrain French Coffee House,

Harrison Marks George Harrison Marks (6 August 1926 – 27 June 1997) was an English glamour photographer and director of nudist, and later, pornographic films. Personal life Born in Tottenham, Middlesex in 1926, Marks was 17 when he married his first wife, ...

' Glamour Studio, an Indian restaurant and various brothels. Probably the first Chinese restaurants opened in Lisle Street, parallel to Gerrard Street, and more opened gradually; one of the first restaurants was Kowloon Restaurant. The Tailor & Cutter did not close down until around 1974. The area now has more than 80 restaurants. In 2005, the property developer Rosewheel proposed a plan to redevelop the eastern part of Chinatown. The plan was opposed by many of the existing retailers in Chinatown, as they believe that the redevelopment would drive out the traditional Chinese retail stores from the area and change the ethnic characteristic of Chinatown. In October 2013 and July 2018, the London Chinatown Community Centre (LCCC) organised a one-day shutdown in

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

of violent tactics by immigration officers from the Home Office. The London Chinatown Community Centre (LCCC) has been housed in the Chinatown area since it was founded in 1980 by Dr Abraham Lue. The Centre claims to have received 40,000 people for help and assistance since its foundation. Located since 1998 on the second floor of 28-29 Gerrard Street, the Centre relocated to 2 Leicester Court in 2012, above the Hippodrome Casino. On 25 July 2016, a new Chinatown gate on

Wardour Street Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the street became a ...

was opened by Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. It was made by Chinese artisans and assembled in London. The gate is in the style of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

. There was a Chinese-style

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

at Newport Place from the 1980s which was a popular

meeting point Meeting Point ( Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British negotiation on the question of Hon ...

, but it was demolished in 2016 after more than thirty years, despite protests. The development authorities had plans to renovate and enlarge the square. The construction of a new pavilion at a different location was announced.

Geography

Chinatown has no officially defined size, but it has commonly been considered to approximately encompass Gerrard Street, the bottom half of

Rupert Street Rupert Street is a street in London's Soho area, running parallel to Wardour Street and crossing Shaftesbury Avenue. Rupert Street is first mentioned in records in 1677, and named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine. The northern part of Rupert Str ...

and Rupert Court, a section of

and Lisle Street, Macclesfield Street and Newport Place, Newport Court and Little Newport Street. * Charing Cross Road – built 1887, and named as it led to the cross at Charing, from the Old English word "cierring", referring to a bend in the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Coventry Street Coventry Street is a short street in the West End of London, connecting Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square. Part of the street is a section of the A4, a major road through London. It is named after the politician Henry Coventry, secretar ...

– after Henry Coventry, Secretary of State to Charles II, who lived near here in Shaver's Hall * Cranbourn Street – built in the 1670s and named after local landowner the Earl of Salisbury, Viscount Cranbourn (or Cranbourne) after the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in Dorset * Dansey Place – unknown; formerly named George Yard, after a pub adjacent called the George and Dragon * Gerrard Place and Gerrard Street – after

Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, PC (c. 16187 January 1694) was an English aristocrat, soldier and courtier. Early life The eldest son of Sir Charles Gerard, he was a member of an old Lancashire family, his great-grandfather having ...

, who owned this land when the street as built in the 1680s; the form ‘Gerrard’ developed in the 19th century *

Great Windmill Street Great Windmill Street is a thoroughfare running north–south in Soho, London, crossed by Shaftesbury Avenue. The street has had a long association with music and entertainment, most notably the Windmill Theatre, and is now home to the Ripley ...

– after a windmill that formerly stood near here in Ham Yard in the 16th-17th century; the ‘great’ prefix was to distinguish it from Little Windmill Street, now Lexington Street * Horse and Dolphin Yard – after the Horse and Dolphin inn which stood here in the 17th – 19th centuries * Leicester Court, Leicester Place, Leicester Square and Leicester Street – in the 17th and 18th centuries on the north side of the square was Leicester House, built by

Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1 December 1595 – 2 November 1677) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1625 and then succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Leicester. Life Sidney was born ...

and later the residence of

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...

; Leicester Court was formerly Ryder Court, after a local leaseholder, Richard Ryder, but was renamed in 1936 * Lisle Street – after Philip, Viscount Lisle, who succeeded to the earldom of Leicester in 1677 * Macclesfield Street – after

, local landowner in the 17th century * Newport Court, Newport Place and Little Newport Street – after Mountjoy Blount, Earl of Newport (

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

), who owned a house on this street (then just Newport Street) in the 17th century. Following the construction of Charing Cross Road, Newport Street was split in two and the two sections renamed as they are today * Rupert Court and Rupert Street – after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, noted 17th century general and son of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

; he was First Lord of the Admiralty when this street was built in 1676 *

– after Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, Victorian politician and philanthropist *

– named after local 17th century landowners the Wardour family, and formerly called Colman Hedge Lane/Close after a nearby field; the section south of Brewer Street was formerly Prince Street prior to 1878, in parallel with Rupert Street

Education

The City of Westminster operates the Charing Cross Library with the Westminster Chinese Library.

Transport

The nearest

London Underground stations The London Underground is a metro system in the United Kingdom that serves Greater London and the home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire. Its first section opened in 1863, making it the oldest underground metro system in the ...

are Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.

Popular culture

The song lyrics to

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

's 1978 hit song "

Werewolves of London "Werewolves of London" is a rock song performed by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. It was composed by Zevon, LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel and was included on ''Excitable Boy'' (1978), Zevon's third solo album. The track featured ...

": "He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook‘s / Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein" refer to Lee Ho Fook, a Chinese restaurant that stood on 15 Gerrard Street. The films ''

Ping Pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

'' (1986) and '' Soursweet'' (1988) are set in Chinatown; they are regarded as the first British-Chinese films, and make extensive use of Chinatown locations.

Car park

There is a China Town car park, which is underneath Vale Royal House, a large residential block in Newport Court, both built in the 1980s and managed by

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

.Vale Royal House
at wikimapia.org, accessed 20 May 2020

Gallery

File:chinatownlon.jpg, Chinatown, New Year 2009 File:Chinatown2013.jpg, The corner of Gerrard Street, 2013 File:Bilingual StreetSign in LondonChinaTown.jpg, Bilingual street sign File:Gerrard Street London.jpg, A stone lion on Gerrard Street. Note the bilingual English/Chinese street sign in the background.

References

Notes

External links

The official Chinatown London website

London Chinatown Community Centre (LCCC)

New Google 360 degree tour of Chinatown

The official London Chinatown Chinese Association website

Reassessing what we collect website – Chinese London
- history of Chinese London with objects and images

{{ Restaurants in London Areas of London Districts of the City of Westminster Chinese community in the United Kingdom

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Chinatown, London Chinatown is an ethnic enclave in the City of Westminster, London, bordering Soho to its north and west, Theatreland to the south and east. The enclave currently occupies the area in and around Gerrard Street. It contains a number of Chin ...

Soho, London City of Westminster