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The best things to do in Chinatown Boston fit into an afternoon: walk under the Chinatown Gate on Beach Street, sit in Auntie Kay & Uncle Frank Chin Park on the Greenway, and eat, with dim sum at Hei La Moon or China Pearl, hot pot at Shabu Zen or The Q, and egg tarts from a Beach Street bakery. Add an exhibition at the Pao Arts Center, or plan the trip around the August Moon Festival.
Boston's Chinatown is small, dense and lived-in, a working neighborhood of family associations, groceries and restaurants beside Downtown Crossing and the Theatre District. Here is how to spend time there.
How to get to Chinatown
Chinatown station on the Orange Line is in the neighborhood, and South Station on the Red Line and Commuter Rail is a short walk from the gate. From Boston Common, walk down Washington Street through Downtown Crossing.
See the Chinatown Gate and the park
The China Trade Gate, the ceremonial paifang archway guarded by stone lions at Beach Street and Surface Road, was a gift from Taiwan in 1982 and is the neighborhood's front door. Behind it, the southern end of the Rose Kennedy Greenway is Auntie Kay & Uncle Frank Chin Park, renamed in 2019 for Frank Chin and his wife Kathleen, longtime Chinatown advocates. It is a good place to sit with a bakery bag before or after a meal.
Where to eat in Chinatown
| Craving | Where | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Dim sum | Hei La Moon, 83 Essex St | Bi-level banquet hall; from 10 a.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. weekends |
| Dim sum | China Pearl, 9 Tyler St | A Chinatown fixture for more than 30 years |
| Hot pot | Shabu Zen, 16 Tyler St | Individual pots, cook-it-yourself |
| Mongolian hot pot | The Q, 660 Washington St | Reservations on OpenTable; open until midnight Friday and Saturday |
| Taiwanese | Taiwan Cafe, 34 Oxford St | Homestyle Taiwanese plates |
| Malaysian | Penang, 685 Washington St | Roti and noodle dishes |
| Bakery | Ho Yuen Bakery, 54 Beach St | Egg tarts and buns to take away |
Dim sum is a morning and early-afternoon meal, so go before 1 p.m. on a weekend and expect a wait. Hot pot works best for a group dinner. The Q began in Quincy in 2006 as Little Q Hot Pot before moving to Chinatown. One older name to cross off: Bao Bao Bakery on Harrison Avenue has closed permanently.
Art and culture
The Pao Arts Center at 99 Albany Street opened in 2017 as Chinatown's first arts and cultural center, run by the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center with Bunker Hill Community College. It shows exhibitions and hosts performances and the Experience Chinatown festival; the gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday afternoons. The Chinatown Main Street program publishes a directory of neighborhood businesses if you want to explore further.
Festivals: the August Moon Festival
Chinatown's biggest public day is the August Moon Festival, organized each year by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. Performances of lion dancing, Chinese opera, music and martial arts fill two stages around Phillips Square, and vendors line Beach, Tyler and Hudson streets and Harrison Avenue. Dates change each year, so check before you plan around it.
What is near Chinatown?
Chinatown shares its edge with the Theatre District, so dinner and a show at the Wang Theatre or the Emerson Colonial Theatre is an easy evening. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is across the Fort Point Channel, and the Public Garden is a walk up Boylston Street. For more nearby, see things to do in downtown Boston, things to do near the Tea Party museum and things to do in the South End.
Sources: Chinatown Main Street; China Trade Gate; Rose Kennedy Greenway; Pao Arts Center; Hei La Moon; China Pearl; The Q; Boston.com on the August Moon Festival; Google Places status for each business. Checked October 1, 2026.