Chinatown, New York City

GReat to go shopping...it was definitely fun to follow and shop....ambiance was great although i wouldn't go alone in the evening...worth it!!!...also try to eat the McDonalds there..it's all in chinese...oh, make sure to hit up Canal Street properly with light baggage because you'll easily leave there with a few black bags

Chinatown has some great and inexpensive restaurants. It also has a few good chinese supermarkets - but that is it. NYC's Chinatown is ridiculously dirty and unpleasant. The habitual spitting of many NYC residents is particularly bad in this area making the sidewalks disgusting. And the smells... urrrgh Its pretty tough to stomach on a hot summer day. Its not unsafe at night just very bleek. Drive down Canal St. at 8pm and it looks like something from a thrid world country.

There is so much to see, so much to eat, just the culture itself is so different. Everything is cheap. Great for grocery shopping and seafood shopping. I love it!

I loved Chinatown!! Before my trip someone said "you must go to Canal St. your trip won't be complete without it," and I can't tell you how right she was. As soon as my friend and I hopped off the tour bus a woman came up to us offering designer purses cheap, so we followed her into a "back room".. not nearly as scary as it sounds, we haggled a bit and came out with our first knockoffs. It is an expierence all in it's own, and as for everyone talking about the "smells" you must not be true shopping fanatics because I didn't smell a darn thing once I got going. Neadless to say a few hours later, after some delicious pizza from Litty Italy - also a must, I left with six knockoff handbags none of which I paid over $25 for. Chinatown is a MUST if you love to shop and haggle, it is a blast!!!

I visited this so called "the largest Chinatown in the US" the first day I arrived New York. But after 30 minutes' walk, I was so disappointed. It's dirty, smelly, and crowded. You won't see a bad neighborhood like this in most China's big cities' downtown today. The restaurants are dark, filthy, and packed. I canceled my plan to eat there although I was starving at that time because I don't think I can eat anything in that environment. As a Chinese staying in China for 30 years and traveling to many cities all over the country, I had to say NY Chinatown is one of the worst places I've ever visited. Chicago and San Francisco Chinatowns are better. If you really want to know China, please go to China rather than those filthy Chinatowns in the US. They DEFINITELY can't represent China. Most Chinese immigrants at Chinatown are very poor farmers who used to live in backcountry of south China. They are usually dark, short, and undereducated, speaking weird Cantonese which majority Chinese don't understand. They CAN'T represent the whole Chinese nation too! I will never go back to this China town where I feel embarrassed.

I loved visiting Chinatown in NYC. As soon as you arrive, you feel like you are walking into another country and are truly a foreigner. The food was really good. Tshirts were 8 and 10 for a $10. All the shops were need to look through. A wonderful adventure walking up and down the streets, visiting little whole in the wall shops and street market vendors. Can't wait to visit again one day.

Don't expect to come here for anything more than good Chinese food and cheap souvenirs. The neighborhood is dirty, sidewalks are crowded, and people are unfriendly. But it is nice to see a great city like New York preserving its cultural diversity in the form of ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown.

Chinatown was a great place to visit and you can buy some interesting items. Of course the food was good but the odor of the area took some getting used to. It's a combination of fish and incense and who knows what else. My biggest problem was that every store sold nearly the exact same thing. Buddhist shrines, incense, and little ceramic stuff. We did, however, buy some very nice silk robes that were at a good price. Everyone should experience Chinatown for themselves. The area is very different than what most are used to and it would be a shame to go to New York and miss it. Besides, if you don't like Chinatown, Little Italy is right next to it!!

I grew up in walking distance from China town. My mother and I would walk there every Friday and some Saturday�s to get fresh fish and vegetables. We would go to a little store where they sold Hello Kitty products. I love to go there my mom would buy my erasers and pencils for school there it was the hottest store for little girls. The vendors all knew my mom by name and when we passed by the Chinese bakery I always go a sample of the newest baked good on the market. My mom turned me on very early to eating healthy so I love Tofu and all green except Brussels sprouts. My neighbor who is Chinese would try to teach my mom how to cook fired rice (she never got it!) we however opted to share Spanish food in return for her Chinese cuisine. China town lit up around the Chinese New Year. In school we always got red bags of goodies with fun Confusions says fortunes. When I was in nursery school I spoke Chinese fluently but if you don�t use it you loose it ( what a shame !) Come and visit a great place where the people are friendly and the culture is so alive.

Chinatown is my favorite day trip ever! I have been there 2 times in the past year, once is was 110 degrees and the other it was pouring, but I LOVE IT. There is nothing more fun then following a Chinese women into a coat rack that leads to a secret room filled to the ceiling with faux designer purses, dvds, and jewlery!!! The best part of the whole experience is the shopping high that you get. I am usually a very reserved shopper, even cheap, but once i get out of the Taxi in Chinatown $20 bills fly out of my pocket. Getting $55 perfume for $20 or getting a great knockoff of that $500 coach purse for $15. The key to the experience is to haggle no price is set! I got a Puma watch for $10!!! When going to Chinatown watch out for all the amazing sights aswell! Looking into basement opening and store fronts you never know what you will see! I saw a man hit a hugh fish with a massive club!?!?! YOU MUST GO HERE SPEND TOO MUCH MONEY AND THEN BRAG TO YOUR FRIENDS SO THEY CAN EXPERIENCE THIS TOO! The crowning gem is then going to the coach store to see what the original would have set you back!!