The Tastes and Sights of Chinatown in New York City

If you like to shop and enjoy savoring good food, then Chinatown in New York City will certainly please your pallet. The multi-colored pagoda-style storefronts along Canal Street are the one of the most popular destinations for shoppers who want to find a good deal. In Chinatown you'll find everything, including handbags, Rolexes, CDs and DVDs, unique Asian imports and pop-culture kitsch, jewelry, T-shirts, pashminas, dishes, paper lanterns, slippers, and toys. As you walk further north you will reach the markets on Grand Street. This is one of the best places in the city to shop for fish, fruit, and vegetables. You'll find fresh food galore: snow peas, spices, coconuts, dried foods, and seafood of every kind. You'll also find yourself sniffing the air as you pass the countless restaurants that serve dim sum and Cantonese and Szechwan delicacies at prices that are very affordable.

To get a taste of China's history, you should visit this museum on Mulberry Street. Though it is small, with only two rooms shaped in the style of a 15-sided Chinese lantern, the Museum of Chinese in the Americas contains interesting exhibits about Chinese immigrants around the world. You can see the permanent Family Portraits display, assembled by photography students from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and you can also check out the Where Is Home?' exhibit, which depicts the evolution of Chinatown and explores many issues, such as migration, faith, women, and home.

Go to 29 Mott Street, and among the dim sum restaurants and souvenir shops, you will find the Church of the Transfiguration -- New York's oldest Roman Catholic Church. This Georgian structure was built in 1801 and began as a place of worship for the Italian and Irish immigrants in the area. The church now hosts the largest Chinese-American congregation in the country and offers masses in Cantonese and English. The Saint of All Immigrants, Mother Frances Cabrini, began a school here in 1899.

In the plaza just off The Bowery, you can salute the statue of Confucius and browse the many peculiar shops, especially those with traditional herbal remedies, and restaurants, such as the locals' favorite, the May May Chinese Gourmet Bakery, that fill the small area around Pell, Mosco, and Doyers Streets. To visit Columbus Park, where many locals practice T'ai Chi and place wagers on the traditional game of mah-jong, go West of Mosco Street.

The sights and smells of Chinatown will be a lasting memory, and you will without a doubt find some wonderful souvenirs and plenty of good eating. So hop on a train, and expose yourself to the Eastern influences.