Limehouse; in Stepney; was London's first Chinatown. The Chinese began settling in Limehouse before 1850; arriving as seamen or ship's launderers. By 1890 sailors from Shanghai were colonizing Pennyfields; Amoy Place and Ming Street; while those from Guangzhou (Canton) and southern China chose Gill Street and Limehouse Causeway; slightly further west.

From the 1890s the Chinese community in the East End grew in size and spread eastwards; from the original settlement in Limehouse Causeway; into Pennyfields. The area provided for the Lascar; Chinese and Japanese sailors working the Oriental routes into the Port of London.

The main attractions for these men were the opium dens; hidden behind shops in Limehouse and Poplar; and also the availability of prostitutes; Chinese grocers; restaurants and seamen's lodging-houses. Hostility from British sailors and the inability of many Chinese to speak English fostered a distinct racial segregation and concentrated more and more Chinese into Limehouse.

From the 1970s; London's Chinatown was increasingly established further to the west; in Soho; centred on Gerrard Street. Pictures From History