Chinatown

Chinatown Review

Compact and condensed, Toronto's Chinatown—which is actually the main or original Chinatown in the city, as five other areas with large Chinese commercial districts have sprung up elsewhere—covers much of the area of Spadina Avenue from Queen Street to College Street, running along Dundas Street nearly as far east as Bay Street. The population is more than 100,000, which is especially impressive when you consider that just over a century ago there was only a single Chinese resident, Sam Ching, who ran a hand laundry on Adelaide Street.

Especially jumbled at its epicenter, the Spadina-Dundas intersection, Chinatown's rickety storefronts selling (real and fake) jade trees, lovely sake sets, Chinese herbs, and fresh fish are packed every day of the week. On Sunday, Chinese music blasts from storefronts, cash registers ring, and bakeries, markets, herbalists, and restaurants do their best business of the week.