Chinatown, Chicago

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The Chicago Chinatown is I imagine a quite smalll Chinatown compared to other cities in the US. It's well worth a visit and easy to get there using the subway. Easy to reach. I stayed for about an hour or so, checking the tourist shops with alll the Asian artifacts.

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Compared to the Chinatowns of many other North American cities - particularly New York, San Francisco, and Toronto - Chicago's Chinatown can be seen as a little lame. On the other hand, I've been consistently impressed by the food they have here. There are a number of restaurants in the small Chinatown. Most are open for both lunch and dinner, and there even some dim sum places.
Overall though, it's very small and very bland compared to other Chinatowns.

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The Ping Tom Memorial Park is a park in Chicago's Chinatown named after one of its most important community members. Ping Tom was a businessman who invested heavily in the formation and expansion of Chicago's Chinatown. He also worked with politicians and tried to address the needs of the Chinese community. His goal was to make Chicago's Chinatown a good place for local Chinese to live and do business. The Chinatown today is thriving with much credit owed to Ping Tom.

Ping Tom had always planned to create a park in the Chinatown however, he died before his plan could be realized. This park was later created in his memory to honor him, as well as his wishes. The park borders the river and serves as one of the Water Taxi stops.

Inside the park are a Chinese-style pavillion, a memorial bust of Ping Tom, flowers, and a playground. The park also offers an excellent view of the Chicago skyline!

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I wouldnt say this is the biggest Chinatown but it is worth a visit. They have some great Chinese restaurants in here and most of all you can get some Chinese herbal stuffs too. Mostly people here they speak Cantonese and Mandarin too. Take the red line CTA and Cermak is the station that reach Chinatown.

get dim sum and then some ;)
there are 2 chinatowns in chicago, the bigger older one is in the south side around cermak and 22nd street. the other one is up north, in argyle and broadway which is more vietnamese than chinese.

Take a trip to another world just minutes away from downtown Chicago where you'll discover a vibrant historic Chicago community of over 10,000 residents. Immerse yourself in a world of new dining adventures, unique shops & colourful festivities...

Chinatown's 11 square blocks are anchored by 2 major landmarks: the massive On Leong Tong Building (1922) and Chinatown Gate (1976) @ Wentworth Ave / Cermak Road intersection. Chinatown Square (1993) is an open air mall on Archer Avenue. Here, you'll find statues of the 12 zodiacs, represented by animals, with a short personality association to the animal.

Coming up event... Chinese New Year Parade - "Year of the Rooster". If you happen to be in town, join the thousands of Chicagoan's for the biggest event in Chinatown evey year. Here's the details...
Date: February 13, 2005
Time: 1pm Parade step off
Venue: Wentworth Ave, from Cermak Road to 24th Street

Chicago's Chinatown is primarily found on Cermak Rd., Wentworth Ave., and Archer Ave. The picture shows a typical Chinatown gate at the intersection of Cermak and Wentworth. The typical Chinatown street with restaurants and shops is found on Wentworth Ave. And that's all there is to Chinatown. There are no special attractions here. The shops mainly sell Chinese gifts and decorations and household items. There are a few shops that sell fresh produce and meats, but not many I think.

Chicago's Chinatown, located in a small area on the south side of the Loop, is worth a quick stop for lunch or dinner, but definitely not worth being on your list of attractions to closely visit. Although there are some nice features such as this nine dragon screen found on Cermak Rd. just off the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station, this Chinatown is nothing compared to the Chinatowns of the west coast (e.g. San Francisco, Vancouver, ...) and not as historic as those Chinatowns. But I have to say there are some very nice restaurants which offer a diverse selection of Chinese cuisine at pretty good prices. Be sure to visit a new section of Chinatown found along Archer Ave.

For Chinese teas, herbal medicines, jade fountains, silk slippers, porcelain bibelots and more, Chinatown is the place to shop. Of course the restaurants are good, too.

Just like in New York's Chinatown, the sidewalk trash bins are often overflowing. But the colored papers and wrappers seem to make the streetscape all the more festive.

Looking for good luck in bulk? Buy a big bag of fortune cookies from one of the grocery shops!

A little piece of Asia in the USA. I like this Chinatown better than the Chinatown in New York. Specially the new structures are interesting. There are many shops and little restaurants where you can feel the typical chinese atmosphere.