The Faulkner Street arch
A gateway built in China, shipped in three containers and completed in 1987; its restored dragons are the district's defining photograph.
Delusion23 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bob Harvey — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jorge Franganillo — CC BY 4.0 · Carroll Pierce — CC BY-SA 2.0
The lavish gateway straddling Faulkner Street was made in China, packed into three shipping containers and raised in Manchester over the winter of 1986-87 as the city council's gift to the Chinese community, a year after Manchester twinned with Wuhan. Its tiled roof, with its dragons and phoenixes, was stripped and restored in 2013 with replacement tiles brought from China, and it is by some distance the most photographed thing here; in truth it is the only monument. The rest is a tight grid of streets hemmed in by Mosley, Portland, Princess and Charlotte Streets, directly behind Manchester Art Gallery. Do not let the ranking mislead you. This is the second-largest Chinatown in Britain and the third in Europe, yet a walk through it takes twenty to thirty minutes unless you sit down to eat. Eating is the real point. The kitchens are not only Chinese but Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese, with Asian bakeries selling oddly shaped pastries and a large supermarket that will stock a self-catering family for a week of proper Asian cooking. On halal, be clear-eyed: most restaurants here are not halal, and pork runs through many signature dishes. Halal options exist but are few, concentrated in the Malaysian places and one or two Chinese Muslim kitchens, so ask before you order rather than assume. If halal abundance is what you want, the Curry Mile in Rusholme is a short bus ride away, and Chinatown can be a stop for photographs and a bubble tea instead. The streets are public, free and flat enough for a pushchair, though the pavements get crowded on summer evenings. The best moment of the year is Chinese New Year in late January or February, when red lanterns line the streets, the dragon parade winds along Portland Street into the heart of Chinatown and a festival market spreads across the city-centre squares, a spectacle worth the cold. The nearest Metrolink stops are St Peter's Square and Piccadilly Gardens, each about five minutes on foot.
A gateway built in China, shipped in three containers and completed in 1987; its restored dragons are the district's defining photograph.
Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese kitchens beside the Chinese ones, plus Asian bakeries and a big supermarket.
In late January or February lanterns line the streets and the dragon parade winds along Portland Street into the heart of Chinatown.
Faulkner Street, Manchester city centre M1 4FH
Manchester Art GalleryIn January 2018 this gallery took John William Waterhouse's 'Hylas and the Nymph1 minute walk4.7
Albert SquareManchester got its Albert Memorial up years before London did. The Gothic canopy4 minutes walk4.3
John Rylands LibraryHalfway along Deansgate, between the shops and restaurants, stands what looks li8 minutes walk4.9
Mamucium Roman FortThe first half of the word Manchester traces back to this patch of ground. A sma10 minutes walk4.1
Manchester CathedralFourteen carved wooden angels hold up the nave roof, and every one of them is pl10 minutes walk4.8Some, not much. Most restaurants are not halal and pork is common; the halal choices are a handful of Malaysian places and one or two Chinese Muslim kitchens, so ask plainly before ordering. If halal is your priority, Rusholme's Curry Mile offers far more, and Chinatown works better as a stop for photos and pastries.
Not on its own; it is a few streets and one arch. Pair it with the free Manchester Art Gallery and St Peter's Square on the same walk and it becomes an enjoyable half-hour stop with bubble tea and a bakery treat.