Chinatown, San José, Costa Rica

Paseo de los Estudiantes
Chinese Arch, San José, Costa Rica
Coordinates: 9°55′N 84°04′W / 9.917°N 84.067°W / 9.917; -84.067
Country	Costa Rica
Province	San José
County	Costa Rica
City	San José
Postal code	10101
Area code(s)	Area code 506

Paseo de los Estudiantes ("Students Walkway" in English) is an urban area in San José, Costa Rica, the capital of Costa Rica. The area began to develop as a commercial center during the last decades of the twentieth century, basically with the advent of supermarkets, shops and some restaurants whose owners are Chinese.

The Paseo de los Estudiantes area is located in the southern part of the city on 9th Street between 2nd Avenue and 18th Avenue, beginning at the Iglesias de La Soledad and culminating in the facilities of Liceo de Costa Rica. It is named in honor of high school students from Liceo de Costa Rica, the Colegio Superior de Señoritas and Colegio Seminario de San José who opposed the dictatorship of Federico Tinoco Granados (1917-1919), who made the square located in front of the church the center of their protests. In 2012, the Municipality of San Jose built a Barrio Chino (Chinatown) on the same site, the first of its kind in Central America, with the aim of reviving the capital's trade, although the name Paseo de los Estudiantes is still used interchangeably. On April 28, 2016, a monument to student civic movement of 1919, the work of Costa Rican sculptor Edgar Zuniga opened.

The Chinatown was officially opened on Wednesday 5 December 2012, after nearly ten months of work, with funding from the government of China to promote friendship between the two countries. It is expected to become a new area of touristic interest in the city.

Works began in February 2012, but the planning and design began in 2009 as a result of political negotiations between the governments of Costa Rica and the People’s Republic of China, to create a neighborhood in San Jose to represent Chinese culture.

After a little discussion about the most appropriate location and that have the least impact on traffic flow, they chose the central 9th street, popularly known as "Paseo de los Estudiantes" ("Students Walkway"). The area includes the square of the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de La Soledad (Church of Solitude) and a little music amphitheater.

The neighborhood is an area of about 550 meters long and 8200 meters² building, in an area of twelve city blocks between 2nd Avenue and 14th Avenue (north to south) and between 7th and 11th Street (in west to east direction). The central axis constitutes a boulevard or stamped concrete walkway in red and yellow colors (symbolizing good luck and prosperity respectively in Chinese culture), along 9th Street.