On October 9th, a guided tour entitled “The Signs and Symbols of the Chinese Community of Via Paolo Sarpi” took place in Milan’s Chinatown. This event, organized in collaboration with Migrantour (Fondazione ACRA) and led by Professor Clara Bulfoni from the University of Milan, attracted significant interest. As soon as the announcement of the initiative was made, all 50 available spots were booked within a few hours.
The languages of Milan, the Milan of languages
The tour began at the Chinese Cultural Center, a symbolic venue for the promotion of artistic, linguistic, and intercultural activities. During this stop, speeches by Leo Li Ang, Maria Matilde Benzoni, Maria Vittoria Calvi, and Clara Bulfoni provided an introduction to the event’s context, laying the groundwork for an in-depth exploration of the linguistic and visual landscape of Milan’s Chinatown. Through lively explanations and engaging interactions, participants had the opportunity to immerse themselves in Chinese culture and gain a deeper understanding of its impact on the daily life of this part of the city.
This event is part of the “The languages of Milan, the Milan of languages” project, organized to celebrate the centenary of the University of Milan. The project aims to explore the city’s linguistic vitality through a series of dedicated itineraries, where languages come to life through sounds, images, stories, memories, religious beliefs, social energies, and cultural habits. It is an initiative that celebrates Milan’s linguistic and cultural diversity, highlighting how the city serves as a crossroads of intercultural interactions that connect it to the rest of the world.
Milan’s Chinatown
Milan’s Chinatown, primarily located along Via Paolo Sarpi, is one of Italy’s largest and oldest ethnic communities. Its history dates back to the 1920s and 1930s when the Chinese community began to settle in this area, making it one of the earliest Chinese settlements in Europe. With a length of about one kilometer, Via Paolo Sarpi is a street rich in history and tradition, which has undergone significant urban transformation in recent decades.
Today, the neighborhood is a highly frequented pedestrian area and a popular meeting place for both residents and tourists. Here, you can find numerous Chinese shops, street food stalls, and restaurants offering handcrafted culinary specialties, making Via Paolo Sarpi one of Milan’s most sought-after destinations. Every year, this street welcomes nearly 10 million visitors, drawn by its vibrant atmosphere and extensive culinary offerings, which have made it one of the most important street food hubs in Italy.
Chinatown: A Cultural Bridge Between East and West
The term “Chinatown” refers to communities and settlements founded by Chinese immigrants in various cities worldwide, characterized by a strong cultural and economic identity. The most famous Chinatowns can be found in cities like Kobe in Japan, Manila in the Philippines, Toronto in Canada, New York in the United States, Sydney in Australia, London in the United Kingdom, Paris in France, and in Italy in Rome and Milan. Among these, New York’s Chinatown has even been included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
In recent years, smaller and medium-sized cities in the West, such as Prato in Italy, have also seen the emergence of growing Chinese communities. These communities are marked by their cultural cohesion and a strong connection to their traditions, with a high concentration of businesses and cultural activities managed by people of Chinese origin. These settlements are increasingly making Chinese culture more visible and appreciated on a local level.
A Symbol of Chinese Culture
Chinatowns around the world are known for their vibrant atmosphere, which becomes even more enchanting during traditional Chinese festivals. The streets come alive with colorful lights, decorations, performances, and stalls offering a wide range of typical products, from restaurants to tea shops, butcher shops, fish markets, and confectioneries. Particularly during summer evenings, many Chinatowns host night markets and bustling street stalls that evoke the spirit of popular festivities.
Milan’s Chinatown, like others around the world, is not just a commercial area but a true cultural hub reflecting the identity and history of the Chinese community. It represents a place where Eastern and Western traditions blend, creating a unique environment that showcases the Chinese culture’s adaptability and richness in new contexts.
This urban space has become a symbol of Chinese culture abroad, a place where the community not only preserves its customs and traditions but also shares them with the rest of the city, fostering a continuous and stimulating intercultural dialogue. Milan’s Chinatown is, therefore, not just a neighborhood to visit but a genuine cultural experience that brings together past and present, history and modernity, East and West.