VISITOR INFORMATION
Schedule / hours: 2017: Stores and restaurants open at different hours. It is usually alive when the rest of the city is on an official holiday. I was told by a twenty-something that this is the place to go for a bite in the after-bar hours.
Admission price: 2017: FREE
Address: Along Spadina Avenue, between Queen and College, including a few blocks east of Spadina on Dundas Street.
TorontoPhone: 416-260-9800
Website: www.chinatownbia.comNearby restaurants: • Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant is famous for its wide selection of dim sum (2nd floor of 346 Spadina, www.brightpearlseafood.com). • We like to finish our tour by hitting Furama Cake & Dessert Garden (at 248 Spadina) to stack a decadent pile of inexpensive pastries on our tray.
While you are there: • For a great panorama of Chinatown, take the elevator to reach the Sky Dragon Restaurant (on the 4th floor of Dragon City at 280 Spadina). It is flanked with a long balcony overlooking Spadina and Dundas, with a view of the CN Tower to the south and the table-top like structure of the OCAD building on the east side.
Age group: 6 - 16 years old
Attraction suitable for:
School
Preteen
Teen
Dig in!
Any time we have visitors, I like to take them to Chinatown. Densely aligned signage is mainly in Chinese or Vietnamese (I think…) Most passers-by are of Asian descent. From the sidewalks you can see the chefs at work through the restaurants' windows and the offerings on the outdoor stalls. There are so many little trinkets in the stores that it is fun to allow a small budget for the kids to spend. Eating noodles with sticks or slurping tapioca balls from the bottom of bubble tea is also part of the exotic fun. When my friends and family have stamina left, I like to lead them through adjacent Kensington Market afterwards.
