CHINA TOWN

CHINA TOWN            YouTube Video             ENGLISH     MALAYALAM

Chinatown is a district in central London, England. It originated in the 18th century as a small group of Chinese people settled in an area straddling the present-day Gerrard Street and Leman Street. Chinatown is one of the oldest areas of London and has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

History

The first area in London known as Chinatown was in the Limehouse area of the East End of London. The mid 1880’s saw a steady flow of Chinese sailors come to Limehouse in East London. They travelled on ships with the British East India Company which imported popular Chinese commodities such as tea, ceramics and silks. The sailors stayed for periods of time in barracks in the London Docklands, some settling permanently, and the area of Limehouse became the site of the first Chinatown, full of restaurants and hardware shops. The area was known through exaggerated reports and tales of slum housing and (the then-legal) opium dens, rather than the Chinese restaurants and supermarkets of the currnt Chinatown. This was an area of backstreet pubs, brothels and opium dens. These dens catered mainly for seamen who had become addicted to the drug when overseas.Opium trade was very important to the British economy. Britain had fought two wars in the mid 19th century known as the ‘Opium Wars. Since the British captured Calcutta in 1756, the cultivation of poppies for opium had been actively encouraged by the British and the trade formed an important part of the East India Company’s economy.

Opium and other narcotic drugs played an important part in Victorian life. Shocking though it might be to us in the 21st century, in Victorian times it was possible to walk into a chemist and buy, without prescription, laudanum ( an opium preparation )(Called the ‘aspirin of the nineteenth century,’ laudanum was a popular painkiller and relaxant, recommended for all sorts of ailments including coughs, rheumatism, ‘women’s troubles’) , cocaine and even arsenic. Opium preparations were sold freely in towns and country markets, indeed the consumption of opium was just as popular in the country as it was in urban areas. In 1888 Benjamin Broomhall formed the “Christian Union for the Severance of the British Empire with the Opium Traffic”. The anti-opium movement finally won a significant victory in 1910 when after much lobbying, Britain agreed to dismantle the India-China opium trade.

During the Blitz, the East End was heavily bombed. At the time, vital goods were stored here for the war effort. If the Luftwaffe could disable the East End, they could cut off major supplies to and from London. Much of the area was damaged by aerial bombing during the Blitz in the Second World War, although several elderly Chinese still choose to live in this area. The Chinese who stayed in London went through hardships during the mid-twentieth century, after the Second World War. The East End was so badly damaged that Chinatown lay in rubble, with little hope of resurrection. The docklands finally shut down leaving many jobless and homeless.

When they made the move to Gerrard Street in the 1950’s, Soho -(The Great Fire of London devastated the capital, destroying 13,200 houses and leaving 100,000 Londoners homeless. The city had to be rebuilt and attention turned to a military training ground where Gerard Street and a few surrounding streets were developed in the 1670s and 1680s. Most of the contemporary architecture, however, is from the Georgian era.)   had a large reputation and low rent. British soldiers returning from the Far East had developed a taste for the intense flavours of Chinese food and British people had grown bored of pies and jellied eels. So, upspring Chinese supermarkets and restaurants, as well as more Chinese entrepreneurs. The present Chinatown, which is off Shaftesbury Avenue did not start to be established until the 1970s. The popularity of these Chinese restaurants drew Asian investors and entrepreneurs to the neighbourhood, turning it into what it is now. In the 1980’s, red lanterns decorated the streets and the pedestrianisation of Gerard Street, parts of Newport Place and Macclesfield Street had also begun.

The Chinese New Year Celebrations in London are the biggest anywhere outside of Asia. Head down to the bustling streets for traditional dancing, a colourful parade, delicious food and stage performances. Check out the date.

ADDRESS:Chinatown, Gerrard St, London W1D 5PT

LOCATION

NEAREST TUBE STATION:

• Leicester Square (0.1 miles)
• Tottenham Court Road (0.4 miles)
• Piccadilly Circus (0.3 miles)