Chinatown is a neighborhood in Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars located in the southern region of Algonquin, Liberty City.
Description[]
A bird's eye view of Chinatown.
Chinatown is bordered to the north by Emerald Street (Lower Easton), to the west by Columbus Avenue (City Hall), to the south by Calcium Street (The Exchange), and to the east by Borlock Road (Fishmarket South). A residential and commercial neighborhood, it is essentially a working class enclave which presents a stark contrast to the wealthier and more prominent surrounding neighborhoods of City Hall and The Exchange.
The district, recognisable for its narrow streets - namely Cavity Lane -, is made up of a mixture of low-rise tenements and office buildings, some decorated with Oriental ornaments. Some are also uniquely adorned with large, overhanging signs reminiscent of those of Hong Kong, despite their relative scarcity in New York City's Chinatown, where signs do not usually extend beyond the edge of sidewalks. Most businesses are Chinese-owned.
Influence[]
Algonquin's Chinatown is directly inspired by New York City's own Chinatown in Manhattan. Many buildings in GTA IV's Chinatown are apparently based on those situated within Manhattan's Chinatown as well as adjacent Lower East Side districts.
Crime[]
The district is the main territory of the Liberty City Triads in both Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
Demographics[]
Most of the residents are Chinese. The spoken languages are Cantonese and English. Some businesses are unique in the Hong Kong Society, such as "tea restaurant" ("卜街茶餐廳", could be found in the Chinatown is a "tea restaurant"). Interestingly, some Chinese names of businesses have a similar pronunciation to Chinese foul language, such as "卜街茶餐廳" and "杏家富貴", or with some special colors, including "吉川春代", "奔周物業貸款", "藝技文化中心", "柯蘭詩職業服務社" and "黃色網吧". Most of the shop names (particularly Chinese wise when spoken in Cantonese language) are puns on Cantonese phrases, which consist of sexual organs, stool and insults among other things.
Prominent Appearances in Missions[]
Grand Theft Auto IV[]
The Lost And Damned[]
The Ballad of Gay Tony[]
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars[]
Collectibles[]
Grand Theft Auto IV[]
Items & Weapons[]
- First aid kit at the bottom of a hatch located on Wong Way at the Columbus Avenue-Emerald Street Building.
- Grenade at the Dragon Heart Plaza construction site.
Stevie's Car Thefts[]
- Faggio Sport parked on Diamond Street in front of the Dragon Heart Plaza.
Places of Interest[]
- Broker Bridge Approach Arch
- Bank of Liberty (Chinatown)
- Columbus Avenue-Emerald Street Building, home to Videogeddon.
- Dragon Heart Plaza
Transportation[]
Public transportation[]
Chinatown is served by the Algonquin Outer Line of the Liberty City Subway which passes by Emerald Station.
Businesses[]
- Ai Gei (Homophone of Geisha) Cultural Center
- B.A.H. Finance (大耳窿財務). In Chinese, 大耳窿 (big earhole) means 'Loan Shark'.
- Bank of Liberty
- Bean Machine (機械豆豆). In Chinese, 機械豆豆 means 'mechanical bean'.
- Beauty Saloon (slogan: Beauty Money Can Buy)
- Ben Chow MD (中醫周賓). "中醫" generally means "Traditional Chinese medicine", but sometimes means "Chinese physician". "Ben Chow 賓周"(reversed order of given name and family name) in Cantonese slang means penis.
- Ben Zhou Property Loans
- Big Boss Night Club (大帝卡拉OK夜總會)
- Big Wang Restaurant (老來旺餐廳)
- B.L. Building Material Co. (包林建築材料有限公司). "包林" sounds similar as 包冧, which means "guarantee collapse" in Cantonese slang.
- Bo Gai Supermarket
- Body Canvas Tattoos
- Bridal Make Up & Hair Styling
- Buxie Boss
- Common Travel (流氓旅行社). "流氓" means gangster in Chinese.
- Creative Trendy Styling House (創新時髦髮型部屋)
- Cum Ming Traditional Massage (卡明古法按摩). "卡明" sounds similar to "cumming".
- Dei Zhong Hoi Hair Saloon
- Dragon Heart Plaza (龍心廣場)
- Dr. Steve Sze (史塔西醫內科). "史塔(si-taap/shit-tower)" means toilet in Cantonese slang.
- Fashion Jewelry (時尚鑽飾珠寶).
- Fortune Jewelry (睦福珠寶金行). It related to the 六福珠寶(LukFook Jewellery), a famous jewellery store's brand-name in Hong Kong.
- Go-Go-Gold Jewelry (金元寶珠寶首飾). "金元寶" means gold sycee.
- Great Burning Kitchen
- Grill-O-Rama
- Hack Computer Inc (駭客)
- Happy Motel (歡樂旅館)
- Heng Ka Fu Gwai
- High-End Massage Spa (超世紀水療按摩)
- Hong Kong Food Cantonese Cuisine Restaurant
- Jat-Tin-Tong Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Institute (壹天堂中藥研究院)
- J.J. Frozen Food Co. (晶晶凍肉公司). Although there is a dozen of business called JJ in real world, "JJ" can means penis as the same pronounce.
- Kak Chuin Chun Doi Bookstore
- Kyle Health Food Co. Ltd.
- Lax Convenient Store (佘王士多)."佘王" has a similar pronounciation to "蛇王(snake-king)" which means lazy guy.
- Lee Finance (貴利王財務)
- Li Yi Nightclub
- Liberty City Shopping Center
- Liberty City Telecom (自由城電訊)
- Little Duck Travel Inc. (鴨仔旅遊代理). In Cantonese "趕鴨仔(ducklings driving)" is a negative term for package tours in which the tour guide drives the tourist sites to sites as fast as possible.
- Lucky Stroke Massage (賓旺指壓按摩)
- MK Restaurant (銘機茶餐廳)
- New Centry Fast Food Restaurant (新萬年小食)
- O Lan Si Job Service Center
- People Restaurant (中華樓). "中華" means Chinese. Also there's another business in the same building upper floors: JJ International Corp. (晶晶移民旅貿公司), KK Employment Agency Center (K. K. 職業介紹中心), New Gen Times (新一代華人民生報), Coek-Jyut Life Insurance(卓越人壽保險).
- People Sport (人民體育用品)
- Peter Wong Chinese Pancake House (皮蛋黃正宗蔥油餅)
- Porka (Tea Restaurant) (卜佳茶餐廳). "卜佳(baak-gai)" looks similar as "仆街"
- Ranch
- S' Ho Duck Shop
- Sha Bi Translation Software
- Singapore Food Chinese Cuisine Restaurant
- Super Real Fashion Jewelery (超假首飾). Ironically, 超假 means "super fake".
- Sweet Potato Hair Saloon (蕃薯髮型屋). 蕃薯頭 (sweet potato head) in Cantonese slang means dumbass' hair-style.
- Tai Tai Po Groups Ltd. (大大煲廚具公司). 大煲 means "big trouble" in Cantonese slang.
- Tam Int'l Enterprise Ltd (譚冠企業有限公司). 譚冠 is pronounced similarly to 痰罐(Spittoon).
- TJ's Disco Emporium
- Uncle E Jewellry (貳叔公珠寶金行). 貳叔公/二叔公 usually means pawnbroker in Cantonese slang.
- Uncle Lee Attorney (律師李公公). 公公 means grandfather/elder, but it's common use as eunuch (negative).
- Body Canvas, and the underground gun shop at the basement
- Videogeddon
- Y G Drugs (黃綠藥房). 黃 (yellow), 綠(green), 醫生 (doctor/physician) means quack in Cantonese slang.
- Yellow Cybercafe
- 167 Telecom (電訊數碼)
- 9394 Studio (九三九四工作室)
- Canguan-Ju Dim Sum House (粵港居點心坊)
- Chinese Medicine Gynaecology Clinic (中醫婦科診所)
- Dat-Sai-Man Accountant Office (達西文會計師事務所)
- Illegal Copy (老翻)
- Lei Dab Lei Financial Company Ltd (利疊利財務). Lei Dab Lei means "compound interest" in Cantonese.
- New Asia Chinese Laundry General Chamber of Commerce (新亞華人洗衣總商會)
- Ng Hiu Juk Life Insurance (吳曉郁人壽保險). Ng Hiu Juk means immobile in Cantonese.
- Pawnshop (大押). 大押 means "pawnshop".
- Shoe-Repair Big Brother (補鞋大佬).
- Underground Mansion: Traditional Food (地下山莊 傳統地道美食)
- Wang-Sat Loan & Finance (宏實貸款財務 )
- Zeng-Sim Pou-Jin Buddhist Temple (淨禪普賢佛寺)
Gallery[]
