The Chinese Gate / Arch, Liverpool

Home > Photos from England > Liverpool > The Chinese Gate / Arch, Liverpool

Chinatown Liverpool

Chinatown is an area of Liverpool that is an ethnic enclave home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe. Located in the south of the city centre, Chinatown has many Chinese businesses, such as Chinese restaurants and supermarkets, and facilities for the Chinese community. The area is also notable for its Chinese-style architecture; with the paifang on Nelson Street being the largest, multiple-span arch of its kind outside China.

Planning for an arch began in 1992 as part of a regeneration scheme by Liverpool City Council for the Chinatown area. Designs for the arch were chosen by the local Chinese community through a competition.

Initial construction began in October 1999 as part of the Ropewalks Phase 1 regeneration, with Dowhigh Civil Engineering of Bootle, Liverpool being announced as principal contractor and the arrival of 20 specially selected craftmen from Liverpool's twin city of Shanghai. The craftsmen included stonemasons, stone carvers, painters and construction engineers. Along with the Chinese workers, block components manufactured by The Shanghai Linyi Garden Company Ltd were also shipped from China to Liverpool in five large containers with 2,000 pieces. Overall design was co-ordinated through the architectural practice of Wilkinson Hindle Hallsall and Lloyd with Liverpool City Council providing engineering design and supervision of the infrastructure and structural frame to the arch. Work finished in a relatively short time period of 90 days. This was due to the Chinese workers not traditionally celebrating Christmas and Boxing Day meaning that they could carry on working. Building of the arch finished in 2000 and was officially opened on Chinese New Year at a final cost of £700,000.

Standing at 13.5 metres (44 ft) high the arch is the tallest in Europe and the second tallest in any Chinatown outside mainland China. (Washington D.C. having the tallest outside China at 47 ft.) The arch boasts 200 hand carved dragons of which 188 are ordinary and 12 are pregnant, the meaning of which is to symbolise good fortune between Liverpool and Shanghai. The word "Chinatown" (trad. Chinese: 中國城; pinyin: zhōngguóchéng) is written on the centre of the arch from right-to-left using traditional Chinese characters. In 2010 as part of a £25,000 lighting scheme, multicoloured, low energy illuminating lights were added to the arch as a way to highlight one of Liverpool's significant structures.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.