how long will it take?

The tour should take 1 - 1/2 hrs. The actual audio running time is 38 minutes.

how many stops are there?

There are 12 stops on the Chinatown tour, including:

• Chatham Square

• Mott Street

• Doyers Street

• Columbus Park

• Chinatown Original Ice Cream Factory

• Mahayana Buddhist Temple

• Baxter Street

• Canal Street

• Edward Mooney House

• Confucius Plaza

• Manhattan Bridge Archway

• Church of Transfiguration

when is the best time to go?

Chinatown has some amazing restaurants you should experience while you’re here. Try and time your tour around lunch or dinner if possible. But just like anywhere in the city, if you prefer to avoid tourists and crowds, go as early as possible.

how many people can go?

Our tours were designed as solo experiences. You’ll be wearing headphones and may want to skip stuff that doesn’t interest you. If you’re planning on going with friends, we highly recommend you each get the tour separately on each of your devices.

Chinatown can feel exotically mysterious to outsiders who haven’t been there before…

But while most people are intrigued, it can be just outside their comfort zone enough to keep them from really exploring it. Zigzagging streets fast moving crowds, and impatient scurrying locals can add to that pressure. But, hidden within these streets really is a glimpse into another culture, making it worth the effort.

The streets of Chinatown hold the story of how a little piece of the East emerged in the heart of the West. It’s a story that involves a seedy criminal underworld, legalized discrimination, collaboration for survival, and the struggle to maintain one culture while deeply embedded within another.

On this tour, we’ll guide you through the streets of Chinatown as we tell you that story and point out all the secret spots still hidden here. We’ll talk about how Chinatown was established and everything that’s happened here since. . The tour also includes dozens of photos we’ve pulled from the archives of the Library of Congress. You’ll be able to see what the street your standing on looked like 100 years ago or actual photos of the people we’re telling you about them.

How to Get to Chinatown:

Our tour starts at Chatham Square (Kimlau Square). There are a couple of ways to get there depending on where you are in the city, so the app will tell you the stop for each of the subway lines and how to get there from the exit.

Here are the stops we recommend:

• F Line - East Broadway stop

• J,Z Line - Chambers stop

• 4,5,6 Line - Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall stop