Things to do
Hundreds of paper lanterns are glowing in Chinatown right now
The new fixtures are intended to light up the street in these dark times.
What’s the deal with Chinatown?
Walk through the area south of Broome and east of Lafayette Streets—that’s Chinatown, NYC—and it might feel like you’ve transported to another continent. Mott and Grand Street are chock-full of stands selling exoitc foods such as live eels, square watermelons and hairy rambutans while Canal Street draws you in with some of the best shops for jewelry and gifts. As a major party of NYC’s food culture, you’ll find excellent restaurants in Chinatown representing the cuisine of virtually every province of mainland China and Hong Kong, plus Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese eateries. As Chinatown—also notable as NYC's largest Asian community—continues to grow, it merges with neighboring Little Italy and the Lower East Side.
If you only do one thing
Explore Doyers Street, an alley-like street with old tenement houses, mom-and-pop businesses and a long and quite frankly bloody history. The 200-yard stretch that bends in a 90-degree angle, was the site of a lot of gang violence in the 19th and 20th centuries, so much so that it was nicknamed "The Bloody Angle." While you're there grab some dim sum from Nom Wah Tea Parlor, which has been in business since the 1920s.
Go off the beaten track
Stop by Magic Jewelry (238 Canal St.), a Chinatown occult shop, to get your aura photographed, and then head to Mmuseumm (4 Cortlandt Alley), a hidden museum that displays seemingly ordinary as extraordinary in a tiny abandoned elevator shaft. It's currently closed but it has a viewing window that is open 24/7. Also check out the Museum at Eldridge Street, the first grand synagogue on the Lower East Side that now does tours.
On a sunny day
Grab a treat from the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory and take it to Columbus Park.
On a rainy day
Shop at the century-old Wing on Wo & Co. for vibrant pottery and tchotchkes and grab drinks to go at Apothéke, a hidden bar with a chemistry bent.
Get cultured
Stop into the Museum of Chinese in America (215 Centre St.), which traces the development of Chinese communities on these shores from the 17th century to the present through cool objects, images and mixed-media displays. It also has a gallery devoted to temporary art exhibitions.
Chill out
Sit in for a Dharma service or meditation session at Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association (133 Canal St.), which has a 16-foot statue of Buddha—the tallest one in NYC.
Nearest subway stations
Canal Street (4, 6 and the NQRW trains) and East Broadway (F train).
What else is nearby?
The Lower East Side, The Bowery and Little Italy.
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