Calcutta boasts of the oldest Chinatown in the world outside the sphere of Chinese cultural influence in Southeast Asia. The Chinese community from several villages in South China started arriving and settling in Calcutta, a thriving colonial capital, since the late 1770s. Soon they started calling the city home, with only formal ties to their original homeland. The Chinese in Calcutta excelled as artisans and later, as restaurateurs, and built Taoist temples in their settlement in Tiretta Bazar. A thriving Chinatown thus came up in the centre of the city, adding to the ethnic and cultural diversity of Calcutta.
In this walk, we will explore what little remains of this old Chinatown of Kolkata. We will visit several Chinese temples, and learn about the Chinese culture and traditions unique to the Kolkata Cantonese community.
This guided tour is free.