A Few Posts from Paris 3 – Paris’s Original Chinatown

As I’ve posted a lot about London’s original Chinatown, Limehouse, in the past (just put Limehouse in the search box to see these) it seems only fair to note Paris’s original Chinatown too. Paris now has two Chinatowns – one in the 13^th arrondisement near the Place d’Italie and a later one that has emerged around Belleville in the northeast of the city.

But the original Chinatown was l’Ilot Chalon. It became home to various Chinese settling in the French capital – sailors, travellers, students as well as having its numbers boosted by the Chinese men who came to work for the French as labourers during the First World War. It apparently became quite thriving but  was completely demolished for various extensions tothe Gare de Lyon railway station. I have read that in 1988 a plaque was erected by city officials commemorating the former Chinatown but I couldn’t find it if it’s still there. However, one Chinese restaurant, the Village de Lyon, bravely soldiers on on what is left of the Rue de Chalon by the side of the station.