Chinatown, Newcastle

Newcastle Chinatown
The arch at Chinatown.
Metropolitan borough	Newcastle upon Tyne
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode district	NE1
Dialling code	0191
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
List of places UK England Tyne and Wear

Newcastle Chinatown
Traditional Chinese	紐卡斯爾中國城
Simplified Chinese	纽卡斯尔中国城
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Niǔkǎsī'ěr Zhōngguóchéng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping nau2 kaa1 si1 ji5 gwok3 sing4 Yale Romanization náu kā sī yíh jūng gwok sìhng
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	紐卡斯爾唐人街
Simplified Chinese	纽卡斯尔唐人街
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Niǔkǎsī'ěr Tángrénjiē Yue: Cantonese Jyutping nau2 kaa1 si1 ji5 tong4 jan4 gaai1 Yale Romanization náu kā sī yíh tòhng yàhn gāai

The Chinatown in Newcastle is a district of Newcastle upon Tyne, located to the west of the city on the edge of the shopping and commercial centre, mostly along Stowell Street. It is one of only five Chinatowns in England, with the other four being in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.

Location

The Chinatown lies within the historic heart of Newcastle, Grainger Town, on land that was once part of Blackfriars monastery. The main street of the Chinatown is Stowell Street, with 唐人街 ("Chinatown") written on street signs to indicate this. Stowell Street and one of the few still extant stretches of Newcastle town wall 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. 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

A Chinese arch, 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 and facing St James' Park football stadium.

Events

Chinese New Year 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

• 

  Looking along Stowell Street.

• 

  A street sign.

See also

• Morden Tower

External links

• A History of the Chinese Community in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Since 1940 North East Chinese Association, archived from the original
• Newcastle Chinatown information