The Chinatown in Newcastle is a district of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, located in the west of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, on the edge of the shopping and commercial centre, along Stowell Street. It is one of five Chinatowns in England, with the other four being in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Location

The Chinatown lies within the historic heart of Newcastle,

Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie w ...

, on land that was once part of Blackfriars monastery. The main street of the Chinatown is Stowell Street, with ("Chinatown") written on street signs to indicate this. Stowell Street and one of the few still extant stretches of

Newcastle town wall The Newcastle town wall is a medieval defensive wall, and Scheduled Ancient Monument, in Newcastle upon Tyne, northern England. It was built during the 13th and 14th centuries, and helped protect the town from attack and occupation during time ...

mark the northeast boundary of the district. At the north end of Stowell Street on St Andrew's Street is the Chinese arch, facing

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...

. South and west of Stowell Street, on the streets and passages around Blackfriars and The Gate including Charlotte Square and Low Friar Street, are a number of other businesses including restaurants, food shops and cafés.

History

The first Chinese restaurant in Newcastle, the Marlborough Café, opened on Scotswood Road in 1949. Another fourteen restaurants opened up to 1962, but none on Stowell Street. The first business to open there was a Chinese supermarket, now the Wing Hong store, which moved to Stowell Street from Westgate Road in 1978, to be followed by many other businesses. In 1988 businesses along Stowell Street were allowed to have signs in Chinese as well as English. 22 Chinese style lanterns were installed in Stowell Street to replace the existing street lights in 2008.

Chinese arch

Chinese arch Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, built in 2004 by Shanghai craftsmen, stands 11m tall on St. Andrews Street, at the northernmost extent of the Chinatown, flanked by two

Chinese guardian lions Chinese guardian lions, or imperial guardian lions, are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament, but the origins lie deep in much older Indian Buddhist traditions. Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi () ...

and facing

football stadium.

Events

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a calendar year whose months are Lunar phase, moon cycles, based on the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar. The Lunar New Year as a celebration is observed by numerous cultures. It is also named "Chinese New ...

is celebrated in and around Chinatown every year, usually on a day in late January or early February. In 2015 this took place on 22 February.

Gallery

Stowell Street, Newcastle Chinatown.jpg, Looking along Stowell Street. Sign for Stowell Street - geograph.org.uk - 911781.jpg, A street sign.

References

External links

A History of the Chinese Community in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Since 1940
North East Chinese Association, archived fro

Newcastle Chinatown information
{{Europe Chinatown

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Districts of Newcastle upon Tyne Restaurant districts and streets in England