World Food Life

London’s China town campaigns aim to promote community feel

London’s Chinatown launched a series of campaigns over the last few months to help restore confidence in the area.

As coronavirus restrictions eased in June, it introduced the #LoveChinatown campaign, which blended activities both physically and digitally, giving support to restaurants and celebrating the diversity of Chinatown’s offering. Diners could enjoy alfresco seating and send wishes and messages of goodwill in the form of a virtual sky lantern floating

on a digital screen, for all to see in Chinatown. In August, many restaurants operated the Government ‘Eat out to Help Out’ scheme. According to Julia Wilkinson, head of group restaurant strategy at Shaftesbury, which owns large sections of Chinatown, many tenants reported how successful the scheme was and she says there is a notable desire for the government to expand the initiative. “It opened-up many of our tenants to new audiences and we’ve also had reports on how social media channels have grown significantly,” added Wilkinson. “Chinatown London is about community and we recognised very early on the importance of ensuring it existed virtually as well as physically to ensure we maintained a sense of connection.” Another campaign, which debuted in September, saw the area decorated with multicoloured lanterns, replacing the traditional red lanterns that have been hanging there for over 40 years. Chinatown restaurateurs, members of the London Chinatown Chinese Association and The China Exchange, a Chinese culture organisation, signed the lanterns as a show of support. The aim was to show a nod to the rainbow of hope thanking the work of NHS staff and key workers throughout the pandemic, with positive messages of hope from tenants, community figures and visitors. “The pandemic has brought the

community together, Chinatown has always benefited from a diverse and close-knit community, and many of our tenants have been sharing their experiences with each other to help learn and support each other,” said Wilkinson. During the second lockdown, a number of Chinese restaurants were offering delivery. These included Taiwanese Fried Chicken shop Good Friend Chicken, Singaporean and Malaysian eatery Rasa Sayang and Chinese restaurants Four Seasons and Bun House, among others. Wilkinson said for this second lockdown, ‘our tenants have been more prepared and many more have opted to stay open to provide their offering with delivery and takeaway services’. She added that by nurturing and growing connections, being transparent with activities, and importantly health and safety procedures, Chinatown hopes to continue to inspire people to revisit safely and follow guidelines. Chinatown has some more exciting activities to come which will be focused on ‘community’ and ensuring it continues to support the tenants, celebrates diversity and safely welcomes people back to the area. The al fresco dining area created for the #LoveChinatown campaign at Newport Place will be reinstated as soon as lockdown restrictions ease. Shaftesbury aims for the outdoor communal seating to be in place at least until spring 2021, depending on government guidelines, which will support tenants that have had to reduce restaurant capacity for social distancing measures.