Gong Hey Fat Choy – Parisian Style!

Gong Hey Fat Choy (Cantonese) or Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) for Happy New Year in Chinese!

Paris is one of the few cities in the western world that actually has two official Chinatowns within its city limits. The largest of the two Chinatowns and the largest Chinatown in ALL of Europe is located in the 13th arrondissement (left bank) at the edge of Place d’Italie.

Parisian’s will sometimes refer to this dynamic area as Triangle de Choisy or Petite Asie, with over 50,000 Asian nationals representing numerous countries including China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, New Caledonian, French Polynesian and French Guiana.

The second Chinatown is located in the Belleville section of Paris and touches two arrondissements (the 19th and 20th). The Belleville Chinatown is actually Paris’s original Chinatown which began back in 1900 when the first Chinese immigrants settled in this northeastern suburb.

The “Year of the Snake” celebration/parade was filled with beautiful colors, dance, music and “fireworks” – 10′s of thousands of people lined the streets to enjoy this very festive event!