Chinatown

Manchester's Chinatown is compact, loud, and properly old school. The Imperial Arch on Faulkner Street has stood since 1987, the second-largest in Europe, and everything worth eating sits within a two-minute walk of it. Yang Sing has been doing dim sum since 1977 and still packs out the upstairs dining room at Sunday lunch. Red Chilli on Portland Street does proper Sichuan, tongue-numbing and unapologetic. Happy Seasons on Faulkner Street is the late-night favourite for roast duck and crispy pork belly under the hanging ducks in the window. Mei Dim, Tai Wu, and Ho's Bakery keep the block busy from breakfast to closing. The supermarkets on Nicholas Street and Upper Brook sell the ingredients you won't find anywhere else in the city. Come for Chinese New Year in late January, when the arch gets a dragon dance, lion teams clatter between restaurants, and the whole quarter shuts for a weekend of firecrackers.