Chinatown: a neighborhood known worldwide
Chinatowns can be found in cities across the world. For visitors, they offer a glimpse into Chinese cuisine and culture. For the various waves of Chinese immigrants Chinatowns become a home-away-from home. While the iconic Chinatowns of New York and London are under threat from rising property prices and gentrification, the cities of Johannesburg and Kolkata have received much needed investment. RFI looks at the fate of Chinatowns in five cities around the world.
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- Kolkata, India
Audio report - Kolkata
Once a thriving community of some 25,000 people with its own schools and social clubs, the population of Kolkata's Chinatown has now dwindled to around 1,500. The young generation are taking flight to the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia for better jobs. But efforts are underway to revive the fortunes of India's only Chinatown. Murali Krishnan met up with some members of the Chinese community in the eastern city of Kolkata.
- London, UK
Audio report - London
London's Chinatown in the city's Soho district is facing growing financial pressure as rents and real estate prices rise. Rizwan Syed reports.
- Cyrildene, South Africa
Audio report - Johannesburg
Chinese influence in South Africa began over a century ago. At the turn of the 20th century Chinese traders came to South Africa for retailing. Davison Mudzingwa reports from Cyrildene, where a Chinese community has been flourishing since the late 1980s.
- New York, US
Audio report - New York
New York's Chinatown is thought to have the largest concentration of Chinese immigrants and their descendants in the Western Hemisphere, with 52,000 of them making it their home. But like many Chinatowns across the US it is under threat from gentrification and local government policies. Rebecca Myles reports from New York.
- Paris, France
by Sarah Elzas
Audio report - Paris
France is home to Europe’s largest number of Chinese people, and number of whom live in the Paris region. But there is not one Chinatown. While the 13th district is home to the descendants of ethnic Chinese who immigrated to France in the 1950s and ‘60s from around South-East Asia, Belleville, in the northeast of Paris, has the highest concentration of recently-arrived Chinese. Sarah Elzas reports.
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