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Chinatown East: Zhong Hua Men Gate

It's a very disappointing location, I agree. Without a reason to pass under it on a regular basis, a gate will have no true significance to anyone.

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I think this is an advantage of placing the gate in this location rather than across a busy street... it's going to being a tourist attraction where people pose and have photos taken. Imagine people posing while cars are running beside them...... And I don't see the city pedestrianize that part of Chinatown, similar to the Chinatown in London, England...
 
Things are moving slowly but at least they are moving.

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I think it looks pretty nice.

Arch Rival

Many Torontonians are unaware that Chinatown East even exists, let alone that a significant landmark—almost a decade in the making—opened last week at Gerrard and Broadview. The Zhong Hua Men ("Chinese Arch") brings a higher profile to Chinatown East, and gives the district a gateway that its famous cousin on Spadina surprisingly doesn't have.

This is because a hallmark of Chinatowns around the world is a gate based on Chinese architecture known as Pailou or Paifang: a custom of building archways to honour ancestry, historical figures, or significant events. The Zhong Hua Men is Toronto's first, commemorating the contribution of Chinese workers to early railway development, which subsequently spurred an economic shift in the city.

The impressive granite-clad structure looms thirteen metres high, but is marred by the land it sits on, which was donated by the Toronto Parking Authority. Traditional Pailou usually spans a road, but the Zhong Hua Men is perched on the corner of Hamilton Street, and leads to nothing but an ugly, generic parking lot. A utility pole and a tangle of overhead wires also somewhat blight the view from the road. When it comes to the surrounding landscape, the arch is actually more attractive from behind, with a glimpse of Gerrard Street's streetcars and the foliage in front of the Don Jail. Because the plot is small, this is a really only a monument to look at rather than play around.

Still, it was nice to see the scaffolding finally come down this month after more than a year of construction. Fundraising for the Zhong Hua Men actually began in 2002, and though the city kicked-in $415,000 to the project, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce still had more than half a million dollars to raise. The two traditional marble fu lions flanking the monument were donated by the Chinese government, and were the first elements to be installed onto the foundation last November.

As Riverdale develops, Chinatown East tends to continually fight predictions of its demise, but the completion of the Zhong Hua Men sends a clear message that the area is thriving and significant. Both Greektown and Little Italy no longer boast a concentration of their respective cultural immigrants, and Chinatown East will likely result in the same, but the new archway no longer leaves any suspicion of a neighbourhood struggling to define itself.
 
It looks pretty good, and it's nice to see it done. Ideally the parking lot will be turned into a small park someday, which would do the gate a little more justice in its location.
 
I`d have to disagree. I think it`s very well done. If I`m not mistaken, it`s actually a replica of an historic arch in China. I agree the parking lot needs to be replaced with a park. Thanks for the pics, drum.
 
It could be worse... the original design called for digital clocks on the sides of the arch.

I would like to see the calligraphy painted in red, like in China. The characters are hardly legible right now.
 
its a decent Chinese heritage-inspired replica structure IMO ... but it would have made a lot more sense if it was spanned across a roadway to act as a gateway like typical Chinatowns around the world ...

in fact, the 'Men' in 'Zhong Hua Men' means doorway in Chinese, it is logical that you go THROUGH a doorway, rather than PASS BY IT on the side of the road ~ :rolleyes:
 
I think it looks just fine. We should be so luck as to have more corners of the city with this kind of detail and investment. Now what can be done with the rest of the context around the gate? That is the question. You can't even take a photo of the the thing from the front without getting intercepted by overhead wires, cars etc.
 
A monument like this may seem alright as a symbol of investment, but let's face it, it's an elaborate gate to an ordinary parking lot, a rather ridiculous notion. I hope they have some plans for transforming the parking lot.
 
Up the gate!

Took the girls down for a look on our way to the Cabbagetown Festival on Sunday, and ended up at the Pearl Court for dim sum. Yum! Where else can a family of four stuff themselves for $38?

The gate's great. Actually straddling Gerrard would have been both way more expensive as it would be twice the size, there would be lots o' issues with the streetcar wires, sidewalks, etc., etc. Where it stands, it makes a dramatic entrance to Chinatown and really stands out. Yes, it would be nice to have a park behind it, but quite frankly the area needs the parking. Maybe once the Hospital lot is built, depending on how easy it is to access for Chinatowners.

But that brings up a different issue on the whole 'park' thing -- once Bridgepoint is done, the whole north side of Gerrard from the library to the jail will be park. So, having a little park behind the gate would nicely frame the gate, but as parks go, the hospital greensward will be much more impressive and useful.

One quibble -- love the Great Wall and railway worker carvings, but what's with the goofy pandas and the Notre Dame image on the back?
 

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