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This article discusses Chinatowns in Europe. Several urban Chinatowns exist in major European capital cities. There is Chinatown, London, England as well as a major Chinatown in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and two Chinatowns in Paris, France: One where many Vietnamese – specifically ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam – have settled in the Quartier chinois in the XIIIe arrondissement of Paris, and the other in Belleville in the northeast of Paris. In 2002 and 2003, Berlin, Germany was considering establishing a Chinatown. Antwerp, Belgium also has an upstart Chinese community.[1]
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Some European Chinatowns have extraordinary histories while others are still relatively new developments. Many early Chinese traders settled in several European port cities and established several communities. The oldest Chinatown in Europe is in Liverpool, England. It was established in the early 19th century when Liverpool began importing cotton and silk from Shanghai. In the 1910s, Mainland Chinese labourers from the Zhejiang province who remained in France established the first Chinatown of Paris. There are other Chinese who "jumped ship" to Europe after working as hired hands on European ships or docks.
As a legacy of European colonialism in Asia, many Asian subjects of British and Continental European empires immigrated to the colonizing country. During the 1950s, immigrants from Hong Kong began migrating to the United Kingdom in large numbers, which resulted in the formation of London's second Chinatown in the Soho district. Some Chinese from the former Portuguese colony of Macau have resettled in Portugal.
In 1998, many more Chinese Indonesian immigrants arrived to escape the violent pogroms in Indonesia towards ethnic Chinese (mainly as a result of the Asian financial crisis of 1997).
After the fall of Saigon at the close of the Vietnam War, the ethnic Chinese boat people from Vietnam were resettled in France and Germany in the late 1970s and 1980s and began settling extensively in Paris's Chinatown and immensely revitalising the area during that time. Paris's Chinatown currently has a vibrant Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese character, while its newer counterpart in the Belleville is largely consists of fairly recent Mainland Chinese. Some Chinese Vietnamese refugees also ended up in Hong Kong, then a British-administered territory. These Vietnamese were resettled in the United Kingdom, (there are several Vietnamese businesses in London's Chinatown).
Although Mainland China was carved into several Western spheres of influence, the country as a whole was not a colony of a foreign maritime power. Nevertheless, many mainland Chinese, legal and undocumented immigrants, have especially contributed to the development of Chinese communities in Europe, including the currently nascent Chinatown in the Esquilino district of Rome, Italy. There has been new immigration from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces of China, many of whom are illegal immigrants who work in the unskilled service industries–especially in restaurants and garment sweatshops—of Europe.
The only "official" (recognized by the Belgian government as China Town on the tourist guide maps and books of Belgium) China Town is Van Wesenbekestraat in Antwerp, Flanders. It consists of many shops, supermarkets, restaurants, bakery as well as a little Chinese temple. Sun Wah Supermarket is a large Asian supermarket-department store. It has 3 floors. One of these floors is dedicated to Asian media articles (DVDs, CDs, magazines, manga) and Asian decorations. City Palace is a large Dim Sum Chinese restaurant. It can easily seat 800 people and has private Karaoke for 80 people on the first floor.[1] There is another unofficial chinatown in Brussels, rue sainte catherine in the city center, it consists mainly of shops, supermarkets, restaurants just like in Antwerp but smaller.
Paris has several Chinatowns (French: quartiers chinois), the largest being located in the 13th arrondissement (13th district). Parisian Chinatown represents a massive implantation of Asian communities (contrary to London's Soho). "Avenue de Choisy" and Avenue d'Ivry", down to the "Porte d'Ivry" (Gate of Ivry) and the immediate surrounding suburbs are its principal axis, populated by nearly 50,000 Chinese, Vietnamese and Laotian nationals. The residents also include Chinese from French Polynesia and French Guiana, as well as Asian ethnicities from New Caledonia. One major point of attraction is the Tang Frères and Paristore supermarkets, selling Asian products, located close to each other. Parisian Chinatown is based in a real Asian community, located in marginal and poor areas, formed through successive waves of migration (the first of them during the 1910s). Another Chinatown area has settled in Belleville, Paris. There is a large number of Far East restaurants, especially on Rue de Belleville and on Rue Civiale.
Lyon also has a Chinatown, located around the Condorcet neighbourhood, in the 7th arrondissement. It is much smaller than that of Paris, consisting mainly of a couple of blocks around rue Passet and rue Pasteur.
Hamburg had a historic Chinatown that existed in the St. Pauli red light district from the 1920s to the 1940s. It was destroyed by the Gestapo under the Nazis, and there are only a few remnants left behind. During and after World War II, Germany's ethnic Chinese left for the United Kingdom.
After liberalising its immigration laws, the former West Germany saw an increase in Asian immigration in the late 1970s and 1980s. There were also many Vietnamese who were living as guest workers and students in East Germany prior to 1989, many of whom chose not to return to Vietnam.
Dublin's Chinatown is located on Parnell Street and in recent years has extended down into Capel Street. Most Chinese units consist of restaurants, internet cafes or grocery stores. Dublin's Chinatown is small in size and has been dubbed China Village.
The country has had a very small Chinese population since World War II, but most of the current population has arrived since the 1980s. Over 209.000 Chinese are thought to be living in Italy.
The oldest and biggest Chinatown of Italy is in Milan around Via Paolo Sarpi, located in the historical centre of the city close to Parco Sempione. The first settlement was established at the beginning of 1920 working silk products. The majority of Chinese are originally from Zhejiang region south of Shanghai. During the Second World War the silk products were replaced by leather belts more useful for the soldiers involved in the war. In the 1980s the community diversified its activities opening market stores, food stores and other shops.
The second largest Chinatown is in the city of Prato
The Italian term for Chinatown is quartiere cinese but Chinatown is also used.
The term "Chinatown" is used in the Dutch language.
The largest Chinatown of the Netherlands is located near the famed De Wallen red light district of Amsterdam. This Chinatown, located on Zeedijk, was formed in the 1980s and has expanded beyond the red light district. The street signs in this neighbourhood are in Dutch and in Chinese. Amsterdam Chinatown also has the first and biggest buddhist temple built in Chinese style. It is named "Fo Guang Shan He Hua tempel".
The 2nd largest Chinatown is in the city of The Hague.
The city of Rotterdam has a Chinatown, on West Kruiskade. Neatherlands china town is located in the west of Amsterdam
Portugal's major Chinatown is located in Lisbon, mostly in the form of shopping centres.
Porto Alto has a Chinatown as well.
Most Chinese immigrants to Portugal came from the former Portuguese territory of Macau, when it was returned to Mainland Chinese control in 1999, while others from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Many Chinese also came from Brazil to Portugal. Besides Portuguese Chinese speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, and Portuguese, some of them speak a mixed Cantonese-Portuguese creole, Macanese (or Patuá).
In the North of Portugal there is a rapidly growing Chinatown in the Industrial Area of Vila do Conde in Porto.
In keeping in line with its post-Soviet melting pot ideology, there is no established "Chinatown" in Moscow. Moscow currently has a small Chinese population. The neighborhood Kitai-Gorod literally translates to "China-City", but the etymology is unclear. The Russian word for the small wooden stakes used in the area during its construction is purported to sound very similar to "Kitai" (China) and morphed over time into the place-name.
While there has been Chinese immigration to Spain, it has not been as much as in other European countries, such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. There are about 150,000 Chinese in Spain. Most Chinese-Spanish residents are people whose ancestors were coolies from mainland China. Others are immigrants or refugees from other places in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and especially Cuba and Puerto Rico. In Spain, Chinese immigrants tend not to form separate neighbourhoods (the quintessential image of a Chinatown) but live in areas mixed with other immigrants. However, in some places, Chinese immigration is enough to give a Chinese color to some streets.
There are some examples of Spanish Chinatowns in Madrid, Dolores Barranco st in Usera district, Lavapiés neighborhood or Leganitos st. and "Plaza de España" in the centre, in Madrid metropolitan area "Cobo Calleja" industrial park is the biggest chinese industrial area in Europe, it's located in the southern city of Fuenlabrada. Barcelona, however, has had an area named Barrio Chino since the 1920s, in the old city between the Ramblas and the Parallel. The residents have been poor Spaniards and the area is marked by its prostitution, to the extent that any prostitution district of any Spanish city may be known as barrio chino, regardless of any Chinese presence, though the term doesn't imply a population of Chinese residents. The term came from an article whose author compared the state of the area with the popular image of foreign Chinatowns. Barcelona has another Chinese area around Calle Trafalgar and the surrounding streets. Other Spanish cities like Valencia, Bilbao or Alicante have Chinese neighborhoods.
After the Spanish Miracle, Spain started receiving more Chinese immigrants, some of whom may have settled in the cheap Barrio Chino. As a result of the gentrification policy exemplified by the 1992 Summer Olympics, the areas is being rebuilt as a chic neighbourhood and the more neutral name of El Raval is preferred. Recent Chinese immigrants have established wholesale clothes business at La Ribera, Ronda San Pedro or Trafalgar street. Barrios Chinos are also pan-Asian areas. Many Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Thais settled Barrios Chinos.
Main articles: Chinatowns of London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle
Chinese people in the UK are relatively dispersed, and do not form ethnic enclaves as in many other countries, although most are to be found in large cities, several of which have Chinatowns, and the South-East. the largest Chinatown is in central London in the Soho area, established in the 1950s and 1960s. Other UK Chinatowns are found in the English cities of Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds (though not official) and Newcastle, the Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, the Welsh capital Cardiff and a growing population of Chinese immigrants are present in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
London's Chinatown is mainly commercial with many Chinese restaurants and businesses. A new Chinese gate over Wardour Street marking the entrance to Leicester Square is planned as well. London's Chinatown is undergoing gentrification, with a £50 million planned regeneration. There are plans to revive London's original Chinese district in Limehouse as part of the wider regeneration of east London. This area was bombed out, as with much of London, during the Blitz in the Second World War causing a relocation of the few ethnic Chinese who had lived there to other areas. Other Chinese-run businesses can be found in other parts of London, such as suburban Croydon.
Manchester's Chinatown on Faulkner Street is the second largest in Britain after London's. The Chinese British population, many of whom are immigrants from former British-ruled Hong Kong, especially settled in the Greater Manchester area. However, Hong Kong immigration to the United Kingdom has leveled off over the years and there has been a rise in Mainland Chinese immigration to the country.
The Chinese Quarter is an area of Birmingham, United Kingdom. First emerging as an informal cluster of Chinese community organizations, social clubs, and businesses in the 1960s centred around Hurst Street, as a result of post-World War II migration from Hong Kong, the Chinese Quarter was officially recognized in the 1980s. It is well-known for its Chinese restaurants, such as the China Court Restaurant, for the parade which is held there each year to celebrate the Chinese New Year, for the Birmingham Hippodrome and for being the location of the headquarters of Wing Yip.
To the rear of the area is the Irish Quarter which is located directly next to a large supermarket selling typical Chinese produce.
The Chinatown in Newcastle was primarily based on Stowell Street, but has expanded in recent years with many Chinese businesses in the surrounding area. The Chinatown incorporates the area from Stowell Street to Westgate Road. According to the BBC, Newcastle's Chinatown is also undergoing regeneration. A gateway costing £160,000 has recently been constructed by Mainland Chinese engineers as part of the plans.
The Chinatown in Liverpool in the Merseyside area is on Duke Street and is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe. The arch located at the gateway is also the largest of its kind outside of China. It has been under regeneration.
Sheffield has no official Chinatown although London Road, Highfield is the centre of the Sheffield Chinese community. There are many Chinese restaurants, supermarkets and community stores and home of the Sheffield Chinese Community Centre. The Sheffield Chinese community is pressing for the street to be formally labelled Sheffield's Chinatown.
Leeds has no official Chinatown, but the northeast area of the city centre is commonly referred to as Chinatown due to the presence of many longstanding Chinese restaurants, supermarkets and other commercial stores. The small "Chinatown" is centred around one of the city centre's major outdoor car parks and the majority of Chinese establishments can be found either on the west side of the car park on Vicar Lane, or on the east side on Templar Lane and Templar Place.
Plans to develop the area into an official Chinatown, complete with Chinese gate, have been met with setbacks, mainly due to the wide dispersal of the city's Chinese community throughout the city and outlying suburbs. Furthermore, just as many if not more Chinese and other East Asian restaurants are to be found throughout the city centre, defeating the need for an official Chinatown.
Glasgow contains a Chinatown, which consists of shops and a restaurant.
In 2003, the city council of Aberdeen approved plans for a new Chinatown in the northern part of the city.