Travel Destination: Chinatown, NYC

Chinatown in the New York City area is in the lower part of Manhattan. It was a thriving and growing area of the city until the Twin Towers disaster in September 2001. Now, though it still has a vibrancy to it, its not what it was because many businesses moved out of the area, and that’s left a number of empty buildings that no one has moved back into.

Take that out of the mix, though, and Chinatown is a fascinating area of the city. You have to start with the street front vendors because, well, you just can’t miss them. Many of the remaining stores put out some of their wares to entice you to go inside to see what else they have. You can get anything from watches to purses to jewelry to electronics, all at discount prices that you couldn’t get anywhere else. How good are the items? Well, that’s another story.

Here’s the other side of it all. If you don’t see what you want, you can indicate that to someone, and probably within minutes you’ll be escorted to places where you might not have ever thought you’d go, but there’s just something compelling about it all. Chinatown has many secret nooks. One minute you’re standing in the middle of a store, and in another minute you’re in a secret, probably cramped room surrounded by all sorts of things. In some stores, you mention what you want, and they’ll get it for you. Some of these stores have catalogs of items such as Rolex watches or Gucci purses, and they’ll give them to you at major league discount prices.

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Like what? Well, I decided to buy a few things for myself and my wife. I bought a gold Rolex with a black face and diamonds not only on each number, but diamonds signifying each minute on the watch face. In the catalog, that Rolex goes for $27,000; I bought it for $45. I bought two more watches for myself, two for my wife, and it came to less than $200. I then went to another store and bought 3 Gucci bags and a Coach bag for my wife and mother; those all came in under $200 also. If you believe retail prices, I spent more than $90,000 in one day; I came home with dollars still in my pocket.

Chinatown is more than just stores, though. You just can’t get real Chinese food without going into Chinese areas. One restaurant I went into had two menus, one for Chinese, and one for everyone else. It’s not the same food either; I know because I saw something being eaten and asked the man to point it out on my menu; he said it wasn’t on my menu. You need to be warned, though; you will get things in your food that you won’t get in most suburban Chinese restaurants. But everything smells great, and you’ll enjoy it.

You’ll have a good time in Chinatown because there’s a lot to see. Make sure you’re careful, though. Never go by yourself, and always keep an eye on your bags. You won’t know the language, and though you should be safe, don’t take any unnecessary chances with your safety. It’s a lot of fun overall.

See more:
Best Restaurants in Chinatown
Chinatown-online.com
Top 25 New York Sightseeing Destinations