Chinatown is home to the largest community of Asians in the U.S. Webbed with tiny, winding, cobblestoned back streets, it's more Shanghai bazaar than American streetscape. Restaurants serve up silky stuffed dumplings, Peking duck and crispy shrimp any time of day. Along Pell and Mott streets, traditional herbal-medicine shops and kitschy novelty stores sell everything from silk pajamas to turtle jelly to Chinese board games. Teens enjoy shopping for inexpensive T-shirts, fabulous (but illegally copied) faux-designer purses, and the latest CDs and DVDs along Canal Street. And artists of any age will thrill to Pearl Paint, a large art-supply store with hard-to-believe prices.
If you're seeking foods that you can never find back home, step into Kam Man at Canal and Mulberry. From quail eggs to wonderful tea sets, they have it all. On weekends, street stalls line Canal and the crowds are five-deep scrambling for bargains. If the crowds are too much for you, have your fortune read at the Buddhist Temple or stop in at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street for a scoop of green-tea ice cream. Those lucky enough to be in town during the Chinese New Year (late January or early February) should be prepared for a raucous street festival like none outside Beijing. For a historical perspective, visit the Museum of the Chinese in the Americas at 70 Mulberry St., on the second floor of a century-old school. During the summer, it offers walking tours. Chinatown's boundaries are generally considered to extend from below Canal Street to Pearl and West streets and the Manhattan Bridge.
