With an intense concentration of Chinese culture and population in a city where Asian residents are relatively few, Chicago's Chinatown offers a several-block commercial spread along Wentworth Avenue in Chicago's Near South Side region (and officially in the Armour Square Community Area). Passing under an ornately-decorated Chinese gate, visitors to the neighborhood find a rich collection of shops, restaurants, and cultural instutitions sprawling along a wide street, evoking in its layout an echo of the multicultural frontier towns of the old west. The culture here, though, is almost entirely as one would expect: so Chinese, in fact, that an unprepared tourist unfamiliar with the language might find it a bit daunting. Fear not, however: the linguistic barrier shouldn't impede enjoyment of the authentic goods and food. The neighborhood also hosts several annual festivals and parades.
