Birmingham Chinatown in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England is located in the city centre's Southside. It is an area with a predominantly Chinese influence as a result of a concentration of Chinese owned businesses, organisations and social clubs. The area now covers a neighbourhood that includes Hurst Street, Ladywell Walk and Pershore Street.

History

In the 1980s, the Birmingham "Chinese Quarter" first emerged as an informal cluster of Chinese community organisations, social clubs, and businesses in the 1960s centred on Hurst Street. Its development was fueled by migrants of Chinese Heritage from

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. To highlights its cultural heritage and history in the city, the area was officially renamed Birmingham Chinatown at a ceremony on 20 May 2024.

Landmarks

Many of the buildings in the area have Chinese architectural features and art including Chinese style roofs and wall murals in the Arcadian Centre depicting historical scenes typical of the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

. It has many Chinese street names and an arch in its main entranceway. Birmingham Chinatown has a prominent landmark in the form of a seven-storey granite

pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...

surrounded by Chinese style gardens and sculpture. It was erected in 1998 and is situated on the outskirts of Birmingham Chinatown in Holloway Circus also commonly referred to as 'Pagoda Island'. The pagoda was donated by the Wing Yip Group, a Chinese owned business with links with Birmingham.

Surrounding areas

Birmingham Chinatown is located between the Bullring Shopping Complex in the north, the Irish Quarter in

Digbeth Digbeth is an area of central Birmingham, England. Following the remodelling of the Birmingham Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is under ...

to the east, the Arcadian Centre and

Gay Village A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay vil ...

to the south and the Theatre District to the west.

References

{{coord, 52.47516, -1.89670, display=title Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands Chinese community in the United Kingdom

Chinese Quarter, Birmingham Urban quarters in England

History

Landmarks

Surrounding areas

See also

References