The Chinatown Gateway, Portland, OR, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Chinatown Gateway is a Chinese-style ceremonial gate at the edge of Old Town Chinatown in Portland, Oregon, on NW 4th Avenue near W Burnside Street. It was put up in the 1980s to mark the district and help revive it. Today it works as a landmark for the neighborhood and a good starting point for exploring Portland's oldest streets.

The story behind it

The gate went up in the 1980s as part of an effort to revitalize this part of the city. That effort had mixed results, and the district has had a bumpy history since. The gate is best seen as a marker of the neighborhood's identity rather than a relic from the 19th century.

The area is also tied to a famous local legend, the so-called Shanghai Tunnels. The story goes that saloon owners drugged or drank their victims senseless, dropped them through trapdoors, and had "crimps" haul them through underground passages to the waterfront. There they were sold to ship captains short of sailors and woke up at sea. Crimping, also called shanghaiing, was a real danger in rough-and-tumble Portland in the logging and shipping era. But historians question how much of it involved Chinatown itself. The tunnels are more likely to have been used for moving goods such as alcohol and opium, and the dramatic version is mostly folklore.

What to look for

• The gate's multi-tiered, Chinese-style roofline, which stands out sharply against the brick and cast-iron buildings of Old Town.
• The Chinese lettering and painted decoration across the gate, which tell you this is a deliberate welcome to the district.
• The pair of stone lions at the base, a traditional guardian figure at Chinese gateways.
• The older warehouse and hotel buildings along the nearby blocks, where you can imagine the sailors, loggers and traders who once filled the streets.

Tips for your visit

• The gate stands on a public street, so you can see it at any time and it costs nothing. A stop of 10 to 15 minutes is enough for photos and a look around.
• Daylight is best for photographing the details. Old Town is quieter in the evening, so stay aware of your surroundings after dark.
• Lan Su Chinese Garden is a short walk away, and the Willamette waterfront is a few blocks east. Check current opening hours for the garden.
• You cannot go inside the gate, but the surrounding streets reward a slow wander on foot.

See it on a quest

You can reach the gate on foot as one stop of Portland’s Peregrine Heist: The Leprechaun Gold Quest, a self-guided route through the area. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so you look more closely at the gate and its surroundings instead of just walking past. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group. You can start any time, with no guide and no group to join.