The Chinese Quarter of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

is located in the city centre's

Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of Newf ...

. It is an area with a predominantly Chinese influence as a result of a concentration of Chinese owned businesses, organisations and social clubs. The area now covers a neighbourhood that includes

Hurst Street Hurst Street is the main street of the Birmingham Gay Village and is located along the edge of the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.BBCDavid Parker, "Chinese People in Birmingham: A Brief History by Dr. David Parker," January 2003 access ...

, Ladywell Walk and Pershore Street. Many of the buildings in the area have Chinese architectural features and art including Chinese style roofs and wall murals in the Arcadian Centre depicting historical scenes typical of the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...

History

The Chinese Quarter first emerged as an informal cluster of Chinese community organisations, social clubs, and businesses in the 1960s centred on

. Its development was fueled by migrants of Chinese Heritage from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The Chinese Quarter was officially recognised in the 1980s. There is a large event here each year for Chinese New Year.

Landmarks

The Chinese Quarter has a prominent landmark in the form of a seven-storey granite

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

surrounded by Chinese style gardens and sculpture. It was erected in 1998 and is situated on the outskirts of the Chinese Quarter in Holloway Circus also commonly referred to as 'Pagoda Island'. The Pagoda was donated by the Wing Yip Group - a Chinese owned business with links with Birmingham.

Surrounding Areas

The Chinese Quarter is located between the Bullring Shopping Complex in the north, the Irish Quarter in

Digbeth Digbeth is an area of Central Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopmen ...

to the east, the Arcadian Centre and

Gay Village A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-orien ...

to the south and the Theatre District to the west.

External links

photographs of places in the Chinese Quarter

{{coord, 52.47516, -1.89670, display=title Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands Chinese community in the United Kingdom

Chinese Quarter, Birmingham Urban quarters in England

History

Landmarks

Surrounding Areas

See also

Further reading

External links