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Chinatown Gate
5th Avenue S and S King Street
Chinatown Gate
Not every Chinatown has a gate, and the planning, funding, design, and permitting of the Seattle gate took the local Chinese community 50 years to complete. Dedicated in February 2008, the effort was spearheaded by Tuck Eng, president of the Historic Chinatown Gate Foundation, a nonprofit organization of community leaders that helped raise the $500,000 needed for its construction. Around the pillars of the gateway are the names of all the financial contributors who supported the gate.
Many of the materials used for the gate and the design were an international collaborative effort of local architects. Ming Zhang of MulvannyG2 and Paul Wu designed the gate. The foundation footing for the gate sinks 85 feet into the ground to stabilize it. Materials included steel and ceramic ornaments with 8,000 tiles that were manufactured in China. Gate construction experts from China stayed in Seattle for five months to supervise and work on its completion. The phoenix and dragon along with the colors of red, yellow, green, and blue of the gate reinforce good luck, happiness, optimism, harmony, and good fortune.
Turn left on 5th Avenue S to go to the front of the Publix Hotel.
