Chinatown, Manhattan

Article By: Dan Hill

4 years ago

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Settlement-Neighbourhood

The highest concentration of Chinese people living in the West can be found in Lower Manhattan's Chinatown - one of 9 Chinatowns to be found in New York City. Around 100,000 people live here, together with an additional 800,000 ethnically Chinese people in living in the New York metropolitan area. Approximately 64% of the population of the Chinatown on Manhattan are of Asian ethnicity. Bordering Little Italy, if you're exploring Lower Manhattan on foot, it's worth experiencing Chinatown - and some Chinese culture. The population is divided between Cantonese and Fuzhou - although since the Cantonese population has traditionally dominated the business district, many Fuzhou speakers have since learned Cantonese. The official language of China is Mandarin - and since the start of the new millennium, there has also been an influx of new Mandarin speakers to the area. As well as greengrocers, fish mongers and street vendors, tourism and the restaurant business dominate the economy of Chinatown. There are more than 300 restaurants here, and if you enjoy Dim Sum, check out the restaurants on Little Fuzhou - East Broadway. It was back in the 1850s when the first resident of Chinese origin moved into the area - Ah Ken. If you want to dive deeper into the area's history while you are here, check out MOCA - the Museum of Chinese Americans - at 215 Centre Street. Although damaged by a fire in January 2020, many of the original items were fortunately salvaged, and a prior digitisation effort had already captured 35,000 of the items. Originally opened in 1980, the museum was opened with the goal of sharing the Chinese Americans experience through its exhibitions. If you're not used to exploring large cities, it can be quite eye opening to step through such distinctly different neighbourhoods that border so closely. In this part of Manhattan, a short walk can take you from the Financial District through to Chinatown and then Little Italy. Two subways serve Chinatown - one at Grand Street, and one at Canal Street. Photo Credits 1. Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash 2. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash