Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

is located along Somerset Street west of

downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the ea ...

. It runs from Bay Street in the east to Preston Street in the west (according to the Chinatown BIA). Signs for Chinatown continue along Somerset until Preston Street, and Chinese/Asian restaurants can be found even farther west. The BIA was designated in 1989 and was named Somerset Heights until it was renamed Chinatown in 2005. While officially designated "Chinatown," the area is home to businesses from many Asian cultures, such as Vietnamese, Korean and Thai. Restaurants specializing in

Phở Phở or pho (, , ; ) is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles (), herbs, and meat (usually beef (), sometimes chicken ()). Phở is a popular food in Vietnam where it is served in households, street stalls and restaurants co ...

and

dim sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cuis ...

are quite common. The Ottawa Chinatown has on one hand an urban character as it is not a cluster of

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

s, but on the other hand, it is focused on one commercial street, surrounded exclusively by residential areas. Chinatownsomerset

A traditional

Paifang A ''paifang'', also known as a ''pailou'', is a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure. Evolved from the Indian subcontinent's ''torana'' through the introduction of Buddhism to China, it has developed many styles ...

archway has been built upon the entrance to the western section of Chinatown over Somerset Street, west of

Bronson Avenue Bronson Avenue ( Ottawa Road #79) is a major north-south arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It starts as a continuation of the Airport Parkway, which is an expressway to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. It continues past Carl ...

. It was unveiled in the early Fall of 2010.

History

Although Chinese had been in Ottawa in the early part of the 20th century (first census reporting Chinese residents in 1911), the official existence of Chinatown began in 1931 on Albert Street from Kent Street to O'Connor Street. This first Chinatown began to decline beginning in the 1940s and ceased to exist on Albert Street by the 1970s, but the second and current Chinatown had begun to rise in the 1960s on Somerset Street West and finally displaced the old area by 1982.

References

External links

Chinatown Ottawa Business Improvement AssociationCity of Ottawa: Chinatown
{{authority control Chinese-Canadian culture in Ontario Ethnic enclaves in Ontario Neighbourhoods in Ottawa

Restaurant districts and streets in Canada

History

See also

References

External links