CHINATOWN OF MANCHESTER: AN ASIAN ISLAND IN ENGLISH TERRACE

With that of Liverpool, the Chinese community of Manchester is the most important in England (excluding London) and occupies the district behind the Manchester Art Gallery, easily recognizable for Chinese and Imperial Chinese Archway signs, on Faulkner Street.
One of Chinatown’s most noticeable landmarks is the archway, situated on Faulkner Street. The paifang, underneath which road traffic passes, was specially built in China and shipped over in three containers. Construction commenced over Christmas 1986 and was completed by Easter 1987,a year after the city of Manchester was twinned with Wuhan.The structure was a gift from Manchester City Council to the Chinese community, and is adorned with dragons and phoenixes.

However, after many years exposed to the elements, the arch required restoration work to be undertaken; netting was wrapped around a part of the structure to prevent further tiles from dislodging.[15] The Manchester Chinatown Community Group undertook a series of charity events, including a dry land dragon boat race in June 2012. In early 2013 the archway had been successfully repaired, with restoration work being undertaken by Manchester and Cheshire Construction Company.
Chinatown is a complex space with several overlapping layers. To use the celebrated Marc Augé definition is place and together non-place. As a city-showcase, tourist area, simple object of consumption and passage. As a social space where old and new immigrants make relationships and space where culture, history and recognition are built Chinatown is a place of belonging and identification for the dispersed Chinese community.