The biggest of the Big Apple's nine Chinatowns, in lower Manhattan along Canal Street and side streets south of it (though it's also starting to encroach upon Little Italy, north of Canal), is the largest Chinese enclave outside Asia, and one of the oldest. It's a mix of shops (both traditional and tourist-orientated); bakeries; sidewalk stands hawking cheap designer knockoffs; and a plethora of restaurants large and small (on my last trip back, I was again blown away by the exquisite dim sum at the gargantuan Jing Fong). You can also visit the extremely well-done, multimedia Museum of the Chinese in America, and rub shoulders with the locals lighting incense and chanting Buddhist prayers at temples like Mahayana (133 Canal St.) and the venerable, much smaller Eastern States Temple (64 Mott St.).

Read more in my post 6 of the World's Choicest Chinatowns.

 chensiyuan