Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
in the world have their own Chinatown. Most Chinatowns that we have seen
are highly decorated and have become tourist destinations in their city.
The oldest Chinatown outside of China was founded in 1594 in Manila in
the Philippines. The area known as Binondo is famous for its Chinese quarter,
which can be visited by calesa, a horse-drawn trap. One of the favourites in
this area is spit roasted pig or Lechon, which is a local delicacy.
Chinatown offers an experience where the visitor is transported to an-
other country within the confines of the town. This must be one of the true
culinary journeys that is common around the world. No other national cuis-
ines have managed to make this transition of providing a unique cultural
experience. Chinatowns can be found in Canada, the USA, Australia, Europe
and most Asian countries.
The top ten Chinatowns in the world according to National Geographic's
Food Journeys of a Lifetime
6
are:
1.
Manhattan, New York. This is one of the world's largest Chinatowns:
www.explorechinatown.com
2.
Vancouver, Canada:
www.vancouverchinatown.ca
3.
San Francisco Chinatown, USA:
www.sanfranciscochinatown.com
4.
Havana, Cuba:
www.cubatravel.cu
5.
Singapore:
www.chinatown.org.sg
6.
Binondo, the Philippines:
www.tourism.gov.ph
7.
Jakarta, Indonesia:
www.jakarta-tourism.go.id
8.
Brisbane, Australia:
www.visitbrisbane.com.au
9.
London, based around Soho:
www.chinatownlondon.org
10.
Manchester, UK:
www.visitmanchester.com
EatWith and Cookening
Tourists venture increasingly into more remote places and want more local
food experiences. To accommodate this trend, new opportunities are ap-
pearing, one of which is EatWith, which allows the consumer to experience
food tourism by eating in local people's homes. EatWith started in Tel Aviv,
Israel; visitors can now go to local residents' homes and have a meal with the
family by logging on to 'EatWith'
(
www.eatwith.com
).
Cookening (
www.cookening.com
)
is a similar programme in Europe,
where home owners share a meal with travellers.
'Comedy of Errors' Restaurants
It is often difficult to decide where to draw the line between food tourism
and pure entertainment. Some restaurants provide great food and bad ser-
vice - on purpose. Comedy restaurants are places where customers go ex-
pecting bad service, often provided by trained comedians. Guests willingly
pay for a 'Basil Fawlty' experience and come away smiling.
