Chinatown, London

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Going into Chinatown from the Tube, it's best to get out at Leicester Square. When you surface where theHippo Dome Casino is, bear left and you go right into Chinatown . Thru the heavenly gates, you will find many places servingDim Sum , noodles and roasted meats displayed in to windows. I waited to see the old Chinese people enter the many stores and that is the one I went to. Of course, it was perfect and the food outstanding .

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Chinatown is in down-town London in Soho. It is only a couple of connected streets, but so worth a visit. Two of the entrances to Chinatown have got large ornate gates and you will find the main street lined with restaurants with women in traditional Chinese clothes standing outside the restaurants welcoming you in. In many windows of the restaurants there are the traditional roasted ducks (geese?) on display.

Besides the Chinese restaurants there are bars, herbal-treatments shops, bakeries, Chinese food-stores and souvenir shops there. I go there every day when visiting London, it is a heaven for vegans, as they have the cheapest tofu and seaweed there - and a really good selection of vegetables. My favourite store there is called New Loon Moon Ltd in Gerrard Street. There I have found the best selection of food that suits me.

The first Chinatown was in East-End, but got damaged in the bombings in WW2 and the Chinese community started making a new Chinatown in Soho, but it was only in the late 80's that the gates were set up and Chinatown became pedestrianised.

It is a must visit while in down-town London.

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A visit to China Town is pretty good at any time of year - theres some good Chinese supermarkets that supply products from various Asian countries - and theres of course the Dim Sum restaurants - or all you can eat buffet restaurants here - not just Chinese but some proffering to be Vietnamese and Korean as well.

A good chinese bookshop here too.

Chinese New Year is a good time to visit when the rather smallish 'China Town' swells in size and really starts vibeing, gets decorated in red lanterns and all things celebratory - this year particularly ornate and rather profusely decorated.

There is a Chinese New Year Parade held that comes down from Leceister Square to Trafalgar Square - always held on a Sunday and usually the closest Sunday to the actual CN Year date. Now attracting thousands of spectators its a very popular event and well worth getting early to for a good viewing spot.

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London China's Town is situated in the West End of London. The lively Chinese community with its business and restaurants has been established here since the 1950s.

I had eaten out at a couple of restaurants in China Town on past London trips and it's a place where you can able to have authentic Chinese or other South Asian cuisine. It's interesting in walking in China Town and taking in the colours and smells of the Chinese and Cantonese restaurants.

You can look up further information and history on the London's Chinatown website.

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The name Chinatown has been used at different times to describe different places in London. The present Chinatown is in the Soho area of the City of Westminster, occupying the area in and around Gerrard Street. It contains a number of Chinese restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, souvenir shops, and other Chinese-run businesses.

El nombre de Barrio Chino se ha utilizado en diferentes épocas para describir distintos lugares de Londres. El presente es el barrio chino se encuentra en el Soho londinense, que ocupa el área dentro y alrededor de Gerrard Street. Contiene un número de restaurantes chinos, panaderías, supermercados, tiendas de recuerdos, y otras empresas chinas.

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Chinatown is located in one my favourites part of London, an area that includes Covent Garden and the Soho.

There are a lot of restaurants, with all you can eat menus at very reasonable prices, and it seems that you entered a world apart, in only a few blocks, with lots of colours, smells and throbbing activity.

It is easy to get here as it is located in the Soho area, and connected to many popular attractions. Chinatown currently has 78 restaurants to choose from. :)

During Chinese New Year Chinatown is highly decorated and usually they have a parade going on.

Make sure to check it out when your vacation lands on the Chinese New Year.

Check out the link below for more information and for places to dine.

Check out Chinatown

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London's Chinatown is centered around a few streets off Shaftsbury Avenue viz. Gerrard Street, Lisle Street and Wardour Street. Here, you can find authentic Chinese restaurants run by ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong and China. There are also convenience shops, sundry shops and travel agents catering to Asians.

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The first time I wandered into ChinaTown I was struck by the exotic atmosphere and the decorated arch. This time all I noticed were the number of people, the number of shops with Chinese characters proclaiming the names and business. the stall selling vegetables still had some unfamiliar products, and a man cooking on a wok was dishing out unfamiliar food, but the atmosphere was missing.
Then June 2009 I went again with diosh , and re-found the atmosphere. I had not gone into the main section on the previous visit!
Chinatown is near Leicester Square, Gerrard St. The entrance has gates , and within are numerous restaurants, shops and a supermarket [Loon Fung]. Exotic vegetables and fruit spill out on to the pavement, cooked ducks hang gleaming in restaurant windows, Dragons Beard dessert is displayed with an account of how it is made.
Take time and really look at this fascinating part of London.

London has one of the best Chinatowns in the world. It is located centrally, between Leicester Square and Soho - its main streets are Gerrard, Lisle, Macclesfield and Wardour Streets, plus a short section of Shaftesbury Avenue. Chinatown is a favourite hangout for locals and visitors alike, for eating and Oriental grocery shopping. Come here for reasonably-priced and (generally) good-quality Cantonese food. A particularly busy time is Sunday lunch time, when Londoners descend on Chinatown for dimsum. There is also increasing numbers of Japanese and Korean restaurants. Finally, if you need a bank on Sundays, the HSBC branch here is open (though closed on Saturdays).