'We want Liverpool Chinatown brought back to life'

Business owners in Liverpool's Chinatown - home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe - say they hope planned investment will significantly boost the area's fortunes.

The area in the south of the city centre has been home to Liverpool's Chinese community for more than 200 years.

Its famous paifang on Nelson Street is the largest multiple-span arch of its kind outside China.

While plans to regenerate parts of Chinatown failed in 2022 after developers went into administration, now Liverpool City Council hopes new proposals, including the installation of two huge stone lions donated by the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester and shipped from Shanghai, will help reverse its fortunes.

Restaurant owner Tommy Ho said preserving Chinatown was "important" because "it's a piece of history".

Mr Ho opened Man Tsuen Ho's restaurant on Nelson Street just over a year ago.

He said his father wanted to open a restaurant in a central location to "bring the community together".

Mr Ho admitted it had been a hard process.

"I don't think Chinatown is in the best state at the moment, mainly due to Covid," he added. "Lots of businesses closed and didn't reopen, and lots closed because restaurants couldn't pass the business on to the next generation."

The restaurateur said only two businesses on Nelson Street were currently open during the day - his restaurant and Bagelry, an independent bagel and coffee shop.

Mr Ho said it was "frustrating" that visitors were not currently being encouraged to the area, apart from to see the arch.

The council said nearly half of the non-residential buildings in Nelson Street were vacant, while some flats above shops were also unoccupied.

Because Nelson Street is a single-sided cul-de-sac which has a "lack of culture presentation" the majority of the 400,000 visitors do not visit the area beyond the arch, according to the council and local businesses.

Meanwhile, developments like the New Chinatown project, which was meant to see 790 luxury apartments built across several towers on Great George Street, also stalled when the company that previously owned the land, The Great George Street Project Ltd, went into administration three years ago.

The land has been derelict ever since.

As well as buying back the land and hopefully redeveloping it, the council is using Section 106 contributions – payments raised from other local developments which have progressed – to fund a number of other improvements.

Plans include a wishing tree, a better playground and a trail telling the tale of Chinese seafarers, and the huge stone lions which will act as a destination in their own right.

Zi Lan Liao, CEO of Pagoda Arts, hopes the placement of the stone lions at the end of Nelson Street will bring more investment into Chinatown.

"The lions are so big and they'll be facing the water [River Mersey], bringing more 'Fengshui', more money into Chinatown," she added.

The council said the statues would serve as a gateway to Chinatown and Great George Square from the Baltic, better linking Chinatown with other areas of the city.

Young entrepreneurs like Kin Liu are also keen to change things.

Kin, who was born in Liverpool to parents from Hong Kong, works as a solicitor but also owns Chamber 36 restaurant in Chinatown.

He said Chinatown "means a lot" to him as he is "proud" of the Chinese heritage that Liverpool has.

"It's a lot different to when my dad was here back in the 70s and 80s," he said.

"It was a really vibrant place and sadly it hasn't been for a good 15 or 20 years, so I hope we can be busier here with a lot more new people coming in.

"Chinatown is one of the last areas that can be really improved, we have seen places like the Baltic, Castle Street, Bold Street, which all have their own redevelopment and I think once Chinatown is linked with all these places it will be a great addition to Liverpool."

Councillor Nick Small, Liverpool's Cabinet Member for Growth and Economy, said: "We're really excited about what's happening in Liverpool's Chinatown. 

"Working with Liverpool's Chinese community, the oldest in Europe, we want to boost Chinatown, supporting existing businesses and bringing in new investment. 

"Chinatown is an important gateway to the Baltic Triangle and the waterfront and the lions and new green infrastructure will help bring in more people. 

"The council's recent purchase of the stalled Great George Street site is a sign of confidence in the whole area."

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