Chinatown, Philadelphia, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

Chinatown in Philadelphia is a compact, lively neighborhood of restaurants, bakeries and shops centered around 9th and Race Streets, just north of Market Street in Center City. It has been home to the city's Chinese community since the late 1800s, and it is still one of the best places in town to eat and wander on foot.

The story behind it

Philadelphia's Chinatown began when Chinese immigrants opened restaurants, laundries and other small businesses in this part of the city in the late 1800s. Over time those businesses were joined by family associations, churches and markets, and the area became a true neighborhood rather than just a place to shop.

The community has had to defend its ground more than once as large construction projects pressed in on its edges, and that history is a big part of why the neighborhood feels so tightly knit today. One of its best-known landmarks, the Friendship Gate at 10th and Arch Streets, was completed in the 1980s with the help of artisans from Tianjin, Philadelphia's sister city in China.

What to look for

• The Friendship Gate on Arch Street, a traditional Chinese-style archway with decorative tiled roofs and detailed painted ornament.
• Storefront signs written in Chinese characters alongside English, which show how many family businesses still line the blocks.
• Restaurant windows and bakery counters, where you can often see roast meats, buns and pastries being prepared and sold.
• The mix of old brick rowhouse buildings with modern shopfronts, a reminder that this neighborhood grew street by street inside the older city grid.

Tips for your visit

• Give yourself at least an hour to walk the main blocks, and longer if you plan to sit down for a meal or a snack.
• Come around lunchtime or early evening, when the restaurants are busiest and the streets have the most energy. Check current opening hours for individual shops and restaurants, as they vary.
• The streets are free to walk at any time, so you can fit Chinatown in between other sights in Center City.
• Reading Terminal Market and the Pennsylvania Convention Center are only a few blocks away, which makes it easy to combine them in one outing.

See it on a quest

Chinatown is one stop among many on Philadelphia Old Town: Solve the Case, a self-guided quest through the historic center of the city. You reach it on foot as part of a longer route, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is right in front of you. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group. You can start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join.