Chinatown, London
| London Chinatown | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 倫敦唐人街 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 伦敦唐人街 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 倫敦華埠 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 伦敦华埠 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| IPA | [lu̯ə̌ntu̯ə́n tʰǎŋɻə̌ntɕi̯é] |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lúndūn Tángrénjiē |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | leon4 deon1 tong4 jan4 gaai1 |
| IPA | [lɵ̏ntɵ́n tʰɔ̏ːŋjɐ̏nkáːi] |
| Yale Romanization | lèuhn dēun tòhng yàhn gāai |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| IPA | [lu̯ə̌ntʰu̯ə́n xu̯ǎpʰû] |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lúndūn Huábù |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | leon4 deon1 waa4 fau6 |
| IPA | [lɵ̏ntɵ́n wȁːpòu] |
| Yale Romanization | lèuhn dēun wàh fauh |
The name Chinatown has been used at different times to describe different places in London. The present Chinatown is part 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.
The first area in London known as Chinatown was located in the Limehouse 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 began to become known through exaggerated reports and tales of (the then-legal) opium dens and slum housing, rather than the Chinese restaurants and supermarkets in the current Chinatown. However, much of the area was damaged by aerial bombing during the Blitz in the Second World War, 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 and an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong led to an increasing number of Chinese restaurants being opened elsewhere.
The present Chinatown, which is off Shaftesbury Avenue did not start to be established until the 1970s. Up until then, 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 Boulougne 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' Glamour Studio, an Indian restaurant and various brothels. Probably the first Chinese restaurants opened in Lisle Street, parallel to Gerrard St, and then spread gradually. The Tailor & Cutter did not close down until around 1974.
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Wikipedia