China Exchange is a UK registered charity that creates opportunities for people to learn more about China, Chinese Culture and London's Chinatown.
We build connection and engagement between people living in the UK and China through accessible activities that value heritage and community and explore contemporary China. Since 2015, China Exchange has programmed festivals, curated exhibitions, led volunteer projects and held over 300 events, to create inclusive and unexpected ways for people living in the UK to understand China, Chinese culture and London’s Chinatown. We've welcomed over 32,000 people to our activities and our youtube channel has had almost 1m views.
Since 2018, we have offered 53 walking tours of Chinatown led by trained History Champion volunteers. These tours give insight into the area's history before and since it became Chinatown, a perspective that many guests have never heard before. We love seeing our tour guests' surprise and hearing their "well, I never knew that" comments. A donation from each ticket sold is made to two fellow Chinatown charities that support Chinese and East Asian diasporara communities. This model helps tourism contribute to the wider needs of the neighbourhood.
In 2019, we pioneered the collection, recording and celebrating of unrecorded stories of people whose lives were shaped and who shaped the history of Chinatown. This formed an exhibition, The Making of Chinatown, which launched at China Exchange and is on a pandemic-postponed tour in 2021. The project was supported by over 40 volunteers who gained new skills, new friends and new experiences through their time with us.
Collecting more stories, installing interpretation boards, launching a Chinatown Food Heritage Trail and developing our walking tours are our 2021 goals for heritage and community.
