NYC - China Town
 

I have booked a weekend, June 23-25/06 in NYC for myself (34 yrs) and my mother (59 years). We are both accustomed to walking everywhere. I have booked the Beacon Hotel on 75th/Broadway. Friday night we will have dinner and go to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on 45th/Broadway. Saturday morning is where I need some planning assistance. I am not much of a museum person, though I would like to see the staue of Liberty and the museum/displays at Staten Island, I would like to spend Saturday morning in Chinatown - enjoy the Saturday morning market, shop a bit, then end the morning with DimSum at one of the restaurants. We both enjoy vietnamese cuisine and loved to make sushi and other asian cuisine. Can anyone add to our plans?

(cont'd)...I thought about doing the audio tour using the soundwalk CD's, but I don't know if we have time or if it would be worthwhile. I would also like to do the Staten Island trip the same day and and the day with a pedicure at a nice spa (it is a mother/daughter weekend and all!). Any suggestions on itinerary. Also, any travel advice, i.e. subway/train would be appreciated. Thanks!

Do you mean Ellis Island?

Unfortunately if you do the whole Ellis Island Statue of Liberty thing, it will eat up most of your Saturday.

A good option would be the Staten Island Ferry for excellent water views of the SOL. The big plus is that it is free and you also get excellent views of Lower Manhattan, the Financial District, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

There are great free audio tours of downtown and it is the most historical part of NYC.

Check out www.DowntownNY.com for infor on tons of freebies and lots to see and do.

Sorry, yes I ment Ellis Island ......reading too many posts.

I agree you won't have much time if you do the Ellis Island/SOL tour. If you do decide you want to do that, you need to be there for the very first ferry of the day, and I would suggest getting there around 7am, to get in line. The lines get very LONG during the nice weather.

The Staten Island Ferry leaves from the very tip of Manhattan, and from your hotel, take the #1 train to South Ferry. You have to be on the FIRST 5 cars to get off, the platform there is not long enough to accomodate the 8 cars so only the first 5 cars will the doors open.

The entrance to the ferry terminal is right upstairs. The ferry is free, just walk through the turnstyle and get on the next boat leaving. During the nice weather it is a really nice ride. When you get off on Staten Island, follow the signs and crowd and go to the waiting room to get back on the boat for you trip back.

Hope you have your walking shoes on,,,because it's a nice but longish walk from there, so here goes. When you get off the ferry you are looking for Water ST which is a half block away, on your right.

On your left is the Mother Elizabeth Seaton Church, the first US Saint, and the Church there, is small and lovely and you might stop there for a few minutes. Walk just around the corner to Broadway and walk up Broadway, on your right is the Customs House, (with a branch of the Native American Museum), further up is the "Bull" (you'll know when you get there), and up just ahead on your left is Trinity Church and Cemetery (you might find it interesting to walk around the church and grounds, SEVERAL prominent Americans are buried there.

Now turn around and walk right down Wall ST, you see the NYSE on your right and the Federal Building on your left continue down to Water St and turn left, walk a couple of blocks to the South St. Seaport, some history here and a bit of shopping. (Some fun history here, alot of the buildings that have been preserved, were houses of how to I say this "ill repute" after all it was a seaport, lol.

From there walk back to Water St. and turn right. Walk under the Brooklyn Bridge up a few blocks to Confucious Square and on your left is Mott St, walk up Mott and find a Dim Sum restaurant. (My favorite is Mandarin Ct. about 3 short blocks up on your left.

From there walk one more block up to Canal St, for some fun shopping. You are a block away from Little Italy and you will see the signs above the street and LOTS of cafes for a pastery.

From there, walk up Mulbery St. and you will walk by Old St. Patricks and a few fun shops along the way. Two more blocks so so is Houston St, and you are on your own, from there.

Have a great time while you are here, and if you see a red head with short hair at Mandarin Ct, it just might be me, lol.

Not far from Chinatown is the Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side, about a 15 minute walk from Chinatown. It's not a conventional museum, but an example of a tenement where the guide tells the story of its occupants.

One minor but important update: on weekends till ??? The #1 train does NOT go all the way down to South Ferry as it usually does.It stops at 14th street and then, I assume there will be shuttle buses. #2 and #3 express trains go a little further downtown, but still not all the way to the ferry terminal.
There are many weekend train rereroutings these days, so check here first!
http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/subsrvnweekend.htm

And remember that there is no central "market" in Chinatown for food. There are hundreds of small, and some not-so-small, shops lining the streets. These stay open all day every day, so you can plan likewise. If you want good Vietnamese food, we can give you some ideas but dim sum is probably more unusual, depending on where you are from.
Not sure what you mean about Vietnamese cuisine or making sushi...do you want to buy sushi-making supplies? We can give you names of shops that sell these but Chinatown is not the best source for them.

Thanks for all the info!
What I meant by mentioning that we love Vietnamese food and making sushi was to just give a feel for the atmosphere we enjoy. I love Chinatown in Toronto and Vancouver. I love to visit fish markets, farmers' markets, lots of photography, etc. I've heard that the NYC Chinatown is the largest in North America, so we are interested to go. I also look forward to visiting the NA Buddist temple and visit the Pearl River store (which I know is not in Chinatown). I think my biggest challenge with be the subway system. I'll let you know how it goes in July.

Thanks!!! :)

Here's a website with a link to a walking tour of Chinatown

http://www.chinatownnyc.com/

A map with restaurants

http://www.awib.org/ctown.html

Another good site
http://www.explorechinatown.com/Gui/...Chinatown.aspx

NY Chinatown is one of the largest in the U.S. I believe the one in S.F. might be bigger.
For something a little different, you should go to Joe's Shanghai for their famous "soup dumplings." It's on Pell St. between Bowery St. and Mott St.

Good links from mclaurie. Compared to SF, I feel the Chinatown in Manhattan a lot more vibrant and less touristy. The shops are catered to the local Chinese community and not tourists.

Also, keep in mind that in recent years, Chinatown has expanded to the east along East Broadway, on the other (east) side of Bowery. One of the larger restaurants - Golden Unicorn, is on that side too. So don't just concentrate on the older, west, side of Bowery.

True..the west side of Bowery is the Fujian section and as a rule it is far less visited by outsiders. For soup dumplings and Shanghai food, I like New Green Bo (Bayard Street off Mott) better than Joe's, as long as you do not mind eating in a very basic place.

Sun Hop Shing Tea House (corner of Mott and Mosco Streets) is a neighborhood favorite for dim sum and is also popular with people serving jury duty in the area, which is how I stumbled upon it 18 years ago. I've been loyal to the place ever since. All the dumplings from the carts, particularly the shrimp shu mai and mixed meat dumplings, are wonderful. Don't request food unless it's steaming; just bide your time and you'll see lots of things circulating that pack appeal. And if you can stomach coffee with your meal, they make it good and strong here. Not incidentally, the food is as inexpensive today as it was back in the late 80s. Best times to go are for weekday breakfast, before the 12-2 lunch rush. Also consider stopping in on a weekend day before 11am.

And if you are going to Mosco Street, you MUST stop in at the Dumpling house (Fried Dumpling or something close if the actual name) where you can buy an take out order of about 5 terrific fried dumplings for a dollar.

Since you have experience in various chinatowns, I would recommend crossing Bowery and exploring the area along and northeast of East Broadway; under the Manhattan Bridge overpass is an agglomeration of both Fujianese and Vietnamese places including a couple of multi-story shopping/eating arcades. You will see very few tourists in this area but you can taste some great food.

My husband and I prefer HSF for dim sum. It is located on Bowery, a few stores south of Canal Street (near Duane Reade Drug Store and HSBC Bank).

I agree with Ekscrunchy about the Green Bo Restaurant. Their soup dumplings are the best. The place is very small though, and it might be hard to get a table. I would recommend it for dinner. As for dim sum, there are so many places to try. I don't have a favorite.

I adore Hop Shing, located right where Chatam Square and the Bowery meet, which is right across from the HSBC, to the left of Citibank, next door to a rather grungy OTB.

Great dimsum, great deal. Not known for its decor though. Mmm...

Sadly the Dim Sum restaurant at Mott and Moscoe, CLOSED a few months ago. The owner has another restaurant on The Bowery and decided the rent on Mott was too high so closed it down. It was a favorite of mine as well. Try Mandarin Ct. further down Mott, it's actually better and less expensive than most of the other Dim Sum restaurants there.