Welcome to London’s Chinatown — a feast for the senses. Beneath red lanterns and golden gates, the air hums with sizzling woks, soft chatter, and the scent of roast duck. But was it always like this? From the ashes of the Great Fire of London rose a new dream on Lord Gerrard’s farmland. By 1685, Gerrard Street stood proud, its market hall and slaughterhouse giving life to early Soho. A century later, artists and thinkers gathered at the Turk’s Head Inn, while waves of immigrants — Huguenots, Italians, Jews, Maltese — each added their own flavour. Then came the 1950s, and with them, London’s Chinese community. Drawn by cheap rents and a growing love of Chinese cuisine, they transformed the area with neon signs and bustling eateries. By the 1980s, Chinatown gleamed beneath crimson lanterns — a living story of culture, resilience, and home. Ready to find out more?