A Cultural Immersion in Boston's Chinatown

Shop for cheap flights and sample Chinese Food

Once you've found airline tickets to Boston and are designing your Boston itinerary, one place you won't want to miss is the city's Chinatown.

Covering several blocks between Boston Common and South Station, this area is full of cultural heritage and fun for the whole family. You'll know you've found the formal entrance to Chinatown when you see the tall, traditional gate guarded by foo lions, normally stationed at important buildings or neighborhoods to keep out wandering evil spirits.
Chinese immigrants first settled in the Chinatown vicinity in the late 19th century, and since then, the neighborhood has been a home to several Asian cultures and a place full of memory for many Bostonians.  

For visitors that have taken cheap flights and are tired of sitting in a plane, stay in shape by taking one of Chinatown's great walking tours. Sampling dishes at the neighborhood's Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese eateries will make your time spent searching for cheap tickets even more worthwhile. Try a fragrant, Vietnamese noodle-based soup called pho, or grab appetizer-sized portions of Cantonese specialties from carts at a dim sum restaurant. Visitors arriving on flights to Boston look forward to all the nooks and crannies of Chinatown where they can find traditional bakeries and closet-sized teahouses. Foodies with cheap tickets to Boston will especially love Chinatown's markets, where you can find all kinds of exotic Asian vegetables to try in your own kitchen, plus some super-fresh seafood. Watch out for the live, squawking ducks and chickens!

For a true immersion in Chinese culture, pick up a few films or CDs in Chinese at one of the many shops. There are also plenty of jewelry stores selling beautiful trinkets like jade necklaces and earrings. If you’re looking at flights to the area for the fall, go to one of the open air film showings for Films at the Gate, a mini-festival of kung fu films and Chinese-language cinema. You’ll see small remnants of Chinese natural landscapes, too, like tiny bamboo gardens shooting up between buildings.

Boston's Chinatown is a lot smaller than some of America's other famous Chinatowns. This means it is quick and easy to navigate so you can take advantage of your cheap tickets and see many more sights in the city. From Chinatown, you can easily walk to the Theatre District and Downtown Crossing. If you're searching for cheap flights to Boston, remember to keep a trip to Chinatown on your to-do list.