Chinatown, Liverpool
Encyclopedia
The Chinatown
in Liverpool
, England
( pinyin
:lì wù pŭ táng rén jiē) is located near the city centre's
southern edge close to Liverpool Cathedral
, and is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe
. The arch located at the gateway is also the largest, multiple-span arch of its kind outside of China
, the largest single-span arch being located in Washington D.C. 2007 estimates state 1.7% of Liverpool's population as being of full Chinese
descent (some 7,400 people), making it the city's single largest non-White ethnic group. The International Organization for Migration
, by contrast, has estimated that the number of Chinese people in Liverpool could range between 25,000 and 35,000.
arrived in Liverpool's docks to trade such goods as silk and cotton wool. Many Chinese immigrants first arrived in Liverpool in the late 1850’s as a result of Alfred Holt and Company employed large number of Chinese seamen while establishing the Blue Funnel Shipping Line. The commercial
shipping line
created strong trade links between the cities of Shanghai
, Hong Kong
and Liverpool; mainly importing silk, cotton and tea. From the 1890s onwards, small numbers of Chinese began to set up businesses catering to the Chinese sailors working on Holt's lines and others. Some of these men married working class
British women, resulting in a number of British-born Eurasian
Chinese being born in Liverpool.
and pay equal to that of white
mariners. The strike had lasted for four months. For the duration of the War these men were labelled as "troublemakers" by the shipowners and the British Government. At the end of the conflict, they were forbidden shore jobs, their pay was cut by two-thirds and they were offered only one-way voyages back to China. Hundreds of men were forced to leave their families, with many of their Eurasian children continuing to live in and around Liverpool's Chinatown to this day.
Liverpool's first Chinatown existed within the city's docklands, although heavy bombing during World War II lead to a relocation of its current location just west of Liverpool Cathedral
.
) as a mark of redevelopment of the area, which is still continuing today. The streets of Liverpool's Chinatown are decorated with Chinese-style lanterns, waste bins and all street signs are written in English and Chinese. Chinese owned restaurants, supermarkets (including Chung Wah and Hondo), book shops and other businesses are now spread throughout the district. Chinatown is also home to many community organisations as well as the Liverpool Chinese Gospel Church and the Liverpool Chinese Christian Disciples Church.
Plans to redevelop a significant portion of Chinatown were revealed in October 2010. The scheme named 'China Square' is to include a Chinese Cultural Museum and Courtyard by Marriott
in the former Scandinavian Hotel building.
began in 1992 as part of a regeneration
scheme by Liverpool City Council
for the Chinatown area, designs for the arch were chosen by the local Chinese
community through a competition. Initial construction began in October 1999 with the arrival of 20 specially selected craftmen from Liverpool's twin city of Shanghai
. The craftsmen included stonemasons, stone carvers, painters and construction engineers
. Along with the Chinese workers, block components manufactured by The Shanghai Linyi Garden Company Ltd where also shipped from China
to Liverpool
in five large containers with 2,000 pieces. Overall design was co-ordinated through the architectural practice of Wilkinson Hindle Hallsall and Lloyd with Liverpool City Council providing engineering design and supervision of the infrastructure and structural frame to the arch. Work finished in a relatively short time period of 90 days. This was due to the Chinese workers not traditionally celebrating Christmas
and Boxing Day
meaning that they could carry on working. Building of the arch finished in 2000 and was officially opened on Chinese New Year
at a final cost of £ 700,000.
and the second tallest in any Chinatown outside of mainland China
. (Washington D.C having the tallest outside China at 47ft.)
The arch boasts 200 hand carved dragons of which 188 are ordinary and 12 are pregnant, the meaning of which is to symbolize good fortune between Liverpool and Shanghai. In the center of the arch; golden Chinese characters 中国城 (written backwards on arch) translate as "Chinatown". In 2010 as part of a £25,000 lighting scheme, multicoloured, low energy illuminating lights were added to the arch as a way to highlight one of Liverpool's significant structures.
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
( pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
:lì wù pŭ táng rén jiē) is located near the city centre's
Liverpool City Centre
Liverpool city centre is the commercial, cultural, financial and historical heart of Liverpool, England.Unlike many other cities in the United Kingdom, a ring road doesn't distinguish the city centre from the remainder of Liverpool, although an inner ring road of sorts does exist, with the recent...
southern edge close to Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin...
, and is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The arch located at the gateway is also the largest, multiple-span arch of its kind outside of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the largest single-span arch being located in Washington D.C. 2007 estimates state 1.7% of Liverpool's population as being of full Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
descent (some 7,400 people), making it the city's single largest non-White ethnic group. The International Organization for Migration
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
, by contrast, has estimated that the number of Chinese people in Liverpool could range between 25,000 and 35,000.
19th–20th centuries
The first presence of Chinese people in Liverpool dates back to 1834 when the first vessel direct from ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
arrived in Liverpool's docks to trade such goods as silk and cotton wool. Many Chinese immigrants first arrived in Liverpool in the late 1850’s as a result of Alfred Holt and Company employed large number of Chinese seamen while establishing the Blue Funnel Shipping Line. The commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
shipping line
Shipping line
-History of shipping lines:Large-scale shipping lines became widespread in the nineteenth century, after the development of the steamship in 1783. At first, Great Britain was the centr of development; in 1819, the first steamship crossing of the Atlantic Ocean took place and by 1833, shipping lines...
created strong trade links between the cities of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Liverpool; mainly importing silk, cotton and tea. From the 1890s onwards, small numbers of Chinese began to set up businesses catering to the Chinese sailors working on Holt's lines and others. Some of these men married working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
British women, resulting in a number of British-born Eurasian
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
Chinese being born in Liverpool.
World War II
At the beginning of the War, there were up to 20,000 Chinese mariners in the city. In 1942, there was a strike for rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and pay equal to that of white
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
mariners. The strike had lasted for four months. For the duration of the War these men were labelled as "troublemakers" by the shipowners and the British Government. At the end of the conflict, they were forbidden shore jobs, their pay was cut by two-thirds and they were offered only one-way voyages back to China. Hundreds of men were forced to leave their families, with many of their Eurasian children continuing to live in and around Liverpool's Chinatown to this day.
Liverpool's first Chinatown existed within the city's docklands, although heavy bombing during World War II lead to a relocation of its current location just west of Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin...
.
Recent history
Although the Chinese population in Liverpool is much smaller than it was mid-20th century the city's Chinatown district has spread significantly since its first establishment, now taking up much of Berry Street. The Chinese Arch was assembled in 2000 (after being built in one of Liverpool's twin cities - ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
) as a mark of redevelopment of the area, which is still continuing today. The streets of Liverpool's Chinatown are decorated with Chinese-style lanterns, waste bins and all street signs are written in English and Chinese. Chinese owned restaurants, supermarkets (including Chung Wah and Hondo), book shops and other businesses are now spread throughout the district. Chinatown is also home to many community organisations as well as the Liverpool Chinese Gospel Church and the Liverpool Chinese Christian Disciples Church.
Plans to redevelop a significant portion of Chinatown were revealed in October 2010. The scheme named 'China Square' is to include a Chinese Cultural Museum and Courtyard by Marriott
Courtyard by Marriott
Courtyard by Marriott is a brand of hotels owned by Marriott International. Courtyard by Marriott is designed for business travelers but also accommodates to families. Its rooms feature large desks, couches, free broadband Internet access, and "big" breakfasts. The majority of locations have...
in the former Scandinavian Hotel building.
Arch
Planning for an archPaifang
Paifang, also called pailou, is a traditional Chinese architectural gating style as an archway.The word paifang originally was a collective term used to describe the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese city. The largest division within a city in ancient...
began in 1992 as part of a regeneration
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
scheme by Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
for the Chinatown area, designs for the arch were chosen by the local Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
community through a competition. Initial construction began in October 1999 with the arrival of 20 specially selected craftmen from Liverpool's twin city of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. The craftsmen included stonemasons, stone carvers, painters and construction engineers
Construction engineers
Construction Engineers is a general contractor and construction management company that offers preconstruction services and conventional project delivery methods in addition to design/build and tilt-up construction services. The company is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota and a vast amount of...
. Along with the Chinese workers, block components manufactured by The Shanghai Linyi Garden Company Ltd where also shipped from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in five large containers with 2,000 pieces. Overall design was co-ordinated through the architectural practice of Wilkinson Hindle Hallsall and Lloyd with Liverpool City Council providing engineering design and supervision of the infrastructure and structural frame to the arch. Work finished in a relatively short time period of 90 days. This was due to the Chinese workers not traditionally celebrating Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
meaning that they could carry on working. Building of the arch finished in 2000 and was officially opened on Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
at a final cost of £ 700,000.
Features
Standing at 13.5 metres (44 ft) high the arch is the tallest in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the second tallest in any Chinatown outside of mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
. (Washington D.C having the tallest outside China at 47ft.)
The arch boasts 200 hand carved dragons of which 188 are ordinary and 12 are pregnant, the meaning of which is to symbolize good fortune between Liverpool and Shanghai. In the center of the arch; golden Chinese characters 中国城 (written backwards on arch) translate as "Chinatown". In 2010 as part of a £25,000 lighting scheme, multicoloured, low energy illuminating lights were added to the arch as a way to highlight one of Liverpool's significant structures.
Streets
|