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Chinatown Information
Chinatown in Washington, D.C. is a small, historic neighborhood east of
downtown, in the present day consisting of a handful of ethnic Chinese and other
Asian restaurants and small businesses along H and I Streets between 5th and 8th
Streets, Northwest. It is known for its annual Chinese New Year festival and
parade and the Friendship Arch, a Chinese gate built over H Street at 7th
Street. Other prominent landmarks include the Verizon Center, a sports and
entertainment arena, and the Old Patent Office Building, which houses two of the
Smithsonian Museums. The neighborhood is served by the Gallery Place-Chinatown
station of the Washington Metro.
In 2006, Chinatown went under a $200 million renovation, transforming the
area into a bustling scene for nightlife, shopping and entertainment, with
high-end restaurants, a deluxe movie theater and exclusive department stores.
Gentrification has produced a strange phenomenon in DC's Chinatown. Local laws
dictate that new businesses in the Chinatown area must have signs in English and
Chinese, to preserve local character.[citation needed] Ironically most of the
new businesses are national chain restaurants and stores, so that Starbucks,
Hooters, CVS and Legal Sea Foods, among others, hang their names in Chinese
outside their stores.
Chinatown's most prominent businesses are the approximately 20 Chinese and Asian
restaurants, almost all of which are owned by Asian American families. Among the
most famous are Szechuan Gallery, Burma, Eat First, Full Kee, and Tony Cheng's.
One of the restaurants, Wok & Roll, occupies what was once Mary Surratt's
boarding house — the meeting place for John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators in
Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
The neighborhood is also home to a Chinese video store, a handful of general
stores, and numerous Chinese-American cultural and religious charities.
Recently, Chinatown has also become an independent transportation hub. Several
independent, immigrant-owned Chinatown bus lines run from DC to the Chinatowns
in Philadelphia, New York, and even Boston. They include Apex Bus, Today's Bus,
New Century Travel, Dragon Coach, Washington Deluxe, and Vamoose Bus. Prices are
generally set at just under Greyhound Bus.