Between Chinatown and Commonwealth: The Diverse Development of Overseas Chinese Communities in Manchester and Liverpool

The migration of Chinese communities to the United Kingdom, especially to its northern industrial cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, represents a crucial yet under-examined chapter in the global history of overseas Chinese. While London’s Chinatown has received some scholarly and public attention, the dynamic histories of the North-West—where Chinese and broader Asian communities evolved amid industrial decline, decolonisation, and multiculturalism—remain largely peripheral in mainstream diaspora studies.

Manchester and Liverpool were not only entry points for early Chinese seamen and traders but also later became centres for post-war Commonwealth migration and higher education. The overlapping trajectories of Cantonese, Hakka, Malaysian, Singaporean, and Hong Kong migrants—together with newer arrivals from Mainland China and Taiwan—reflect the continuous reinvention of Chineseness in multi-ethnic, post-imperial Britain.

This study builds upon a broader research on interethnic participation and religious/cultural heritage in maritime Asia, extending the analysis to the North Atlantic context, culimnating in a field trip to Manchester and Liverpool from 20th to 25th of March, 2025. By situating British Chinese associations within a trans-Asian network that includes Malacca, Nagasaki, Batavia, and Tainan, the project highlights how notions of community, identity, and belonging evolve once migrants leave “China” behind and encounter new frameworks of citizenship, race, and religion.