Why This Drink is Killing Chinatown

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Chinatown is known for being the go to spot for East and Southeast Asian cuisine. But thanks to viral food trends on TikTok, Chinatown is now overrun with 20+ bubble tea stores and other picturesque food spots. Today we want to ask: Why does one place need so many bubble tea stores and bakeries, and as a result, who loses out? What establishments have to close down to make way for this new trend?
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Executive Producer/Story Editor/Host: Andy Burgess
Story/Research: Anjali Sharma
Reporter: Andy Burgess
Senior Producer: Anjali Sharma
Production Assistant: Mack Mooney
Edit & Motion Graphics: Andy Burgess
Additional Motion Graphics: Jatin Nahata
Consultant: Dr Anne Witchard
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FL Intro track by @musicofwei
Sources 🔗
web.archive.org/web/202305291...
www.oldbaileyonline.org/about...
www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...
chinatown.co.uk/en/culture/ch...
flashbak.com/sex-drugs-jazz-a...
www.nytimes.com/1970/08/31/ar...
chinatown.co.uk/en/about-us/
www.shaftesburycapital.com/en...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-6...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...
london.eater.com/2020/7/14/21...
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/20...
www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
www.bloomberg.com/features/20...
www.washingtonpost.com/food/2...
mailchi.mp/insightswest/nl-ap...
Time Stamps:
0:00 - TikTok is changing Chinatown
3:44 - Bubble Tea, explained
4:21 - The history of London's first Chinatown
7:02 - Establishing a new Chinatown
9:07 - The boom of the 1970s
10:03 - Who owns Chinatown?
11:15 - The effects of 2020 in Chinatown
12:46 - Why Chinatown looks so different to China
13:42 - Why Chinatown's food & drinks are going viral
15:07 - What's all the Bubble Tea shops?
17:13 - The effects on old school establishments
19:24 - Why Bubble Tea is replacing traditional restaurants
20:06 - Threats to other Chinatowns
21:16 - What's the deal with Chinatown Bakery?
22:28 - The future of Chinatown
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#chinatown #bubbletea

[@Faultlinevideos]

Hey guys thanks for checking this video out if you enjoyed it you might like this one as well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4akooZ_rLtnsLc

[@jdjphotographynl]

So it's high rents that kill Chinatown rather than a friggin drink...

[@PeidosFTW]

just like most problems cities face, it's almost always the fault of the landlord lmao

[@x.vanila]

The emphasis was that major bubble tea chains and franchises are pushing out small businesses. The segment starts at timestamp 15:07. I get what you mean tho, the drink has kinda become a symbol of gentrification. Like breweries or overpriced coffee shops. The meme is if you see these things in your neighborhood, it's already gentrified

[@Reixuria]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@x.vanila happened in my town, some elderly chinese folks been selling bubble tea for almost a decade but only in recent years they’ve been almost pushed out of business due a lot of chains opening up in recent years.

[@WindowsXP_logon_sound_25yrsago]

Everybody needs rent control now especially small businesses. The extreme greed of the big business, usually private equity driven landlord class is breaking it off deep in all of our assholes. As with the vast majority of people who rent apartments right now, small business owners are likewise being cheated and squeezed. And that is where we need hard laws to drop the hammer on these assholes hard. Did I mention the laws should be hard?? Sure the generic boba tea outlets are one thing but the rent is the real problem. It's like the elephant in the room that he mentioned but refused to mention.

[@TanukiDigital]

What came first in this equation... rent for the renter or taxes for the landlord...? Hmmmm.

[@znicho]

Most of these "trends" aren't trends, they have been around in Asia for years and are simply becoming mainstream in the west now. Next you should make a video about how cafes have killed the traditional pie and mash shops in London.

[@pollutingpenguin2146]

This video is like “tell me you haven’t been to Asia without telling you have been to Asia”. I’m sorry, but bubble teas are everywhere in Asia.

[@ryoukwjdbwopqmqpzl73819]

East Asia*

[@dogedogego]

nah it’s in south east asia too

[@ramavasthi927]

Not in Srilanka, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan etc..

[@zzzyyyxxx]

@@ramavasthi927 They're starting to be in South Asia as well, last time I went to India there were already a lot of bubble tea places

[@dressrosacr7]

he isn't in Asia tho so idk what that has to do with the relevance of the video

[@roflmywaffles1313]

Bubble tea is very popular in asia though It's like introducing prime drinks to an American town in Poland stuck in the 80s

[@virtualet]

YES!!! Such a good analogy! As a Korean American, going to Korea is like visiting an alien world. The Korea I know in the states is a Korea from the 1970s.

[@clay77539]

One thing this video fundamentally misunderstands is that these "TikTok trends" aren't simply creations of the West. All the items mentioned in this video (bubble tea, Taiwanese fried chicken, bakery items, custard buns, etc.) are very prevalent in Asia, and they are not new. It is not unusual to see 5+ consecutive bubble tea shops on a given street in Taiwan. These changes are reflective of what modern China and Taiwan look like, and these items have become popular on social media in the West because they challenge the narrow conception of Chinese food that many people in the West have.

[@midshipman8654]

They dont care too much, they want a juicy dramatic story instead of a well explained one.

[@Curiouscrazy]

I think its important to note that the food trends you are seeing in UK Chinatown and all the bubble tea is mirroring the food trends happening in Asia currently. So its more like modern Asia vs old school Asia rather than ruining chinatown. I've often felt the old-school restaurants in a lot of Chinatowns around the world are very old-fashioned and don't reflect modern Asia at all. It just feels like UK Chinatown is finally modernising and that's fine. I say all this as an Asian from Asia. People do love bubble tea, myself included.This is a good video, since you acknowledge that the new trends is just simply the new iteration of Chinatown. I see this as a win win, brings new crowds in, lower overheads, and bringing Asian youth culture to the UK.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Sydney CBD and its suburbs all have their own chinatowns now. It’s more likely that the CBD one would’ve been totally demolished in favour of hyper costly apartments, if not for its passionate youth culture.

[@NewsGuyFred]

I’m from the US. 15 years ago our Chinatown and most around the US was mostly OLD fashioned Chinese food and outside of Chinatown most Chinese restaurants were American - Chinese OLD fashion. Today, almost every single new restaurant is modern Chinese from hot pot to bao to dumplings to more modern stir fry dishes from all over China and not just old school Cantonese

[@Devilishlybenevolent]

As a British Chinese living in the US now, I've explored US Chinatowns and London's Chinatown will soon follow their paths. The old shops will close, newer/non-Cantonese restaurants from wealthier immigrants will open up shops, Chinatown shrinks and it mainly becomes a tourist destination and the people who used to live there will move away, the community doesn't really exist.

[@BrooklynRedneck]

hopefully due to NYCs large Chinese and asian population i won’t have to worry about that. although there’s a few new style shops coming in. there’s still hundreds more traditional style restaurants and food

[@Devilishlybenevolent]

@@BrooklynRedneck The old community doesn't exist anymore, a new one will replace it. That's not either a good or a bad thing, change will always happen. So it's important to enjoy things while you can, you never know when its gone

[@ahriboy]

Manila's Binondo is in trouble, once reserved for Chinese Catholics, now just a regular Chinatown. I just don't want bubble tea sales to ruin the world's oldest Chinatown.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

@@ahriboy when you talked about the bubble tea drinks, are you thinking about the high-up costly rents turning Binondo into a bubble tea town?

[@shad0wrune]

The customers aren't making tradition disappear, these building owners are! Make a video about the criminal practices of rent increase. They are killing the "traditional" businesses.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Gahh? It is True AF for the Sydney CBD Chinatown near Tafe Ultimo! The Sydney CBD Koreatown and Thaitown are its two different neighbours next door, but are also gentrifying as fast. I feel mixed about it because a crap ton of newer criminal building practices are in Sydney without me knowing why.

[@justinsalamanca2033]

Similar things are happening here in the US too, but I think another important thing to consider is the different generations of waves of immigration. Where I live in the 626/San Gabriel Valley, home to one of LA's biggest Chinese/Asian populations, a few yrs back there was a news article that was talking about a noticeable shift in the culinary landscape of the 626/SGV. Historically, before the 2010s, most of the Chinese population that migrated here were mostly Cantonese-speaking from rural/lower SES areas. However, after the 2010s, there was a noticeable increase in migration of more affluent, higher SES Mandarin-speaking Chinese that moved into these communities, coming as college students or wealthy businessmen/families. As a result, the culinary landscape started changing around here, moving from mom-and-pop Cantonese diners and traditional sit down restaurants to more Asian fusion, fast casual places like boba tea shops, hot pot restaurants, etc. I think a big part of this has to do w/ the changing tastes/interests of this newer generation of Chinese immigration, but yeah I do feel sad about this slowly pushing out these older Cantonese family restaurants that I grew up with :(

[@wizirbyman]

exactly! it's so interesting to see a video that still has this archaic view of what asian culture should look like and IMO the new businesses reflect the actual modern asian culture. It is sad seeing the old style cantonese chinese places go but now we have access to a lot more styles of chinese cuisine. It used to be impossible to find anything that wasn't cantonese but now it's so easy to find sichuan, taiwanese, guilin, heck i've even seen chinese breakfast shops open and i've even seen muslim chinese food too.

[@morrischen5777]

Me, a Taiwanese: 20 bubble tea shop in a street? Seems normal to me.

[@VulcanTrekkie45]

Jesus, I didn't realise until I saw this video how small Chinatown is in London. Boston's Chinatown is more than 5 times bigger in area.

[@mateuszgorczycki1523]

Greedy corporations destroying communities, who could guess that.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Similar for many communities around the world. What a shame! 😫

[@parapluie000]

Shoutout Cantonese food, greatest cuisine on earth! (from a biased person of canto descent)

[@jerome_morrow]

17:06 Lotus Garden is one of my go-to restaurants in Chinatown London for Cantonese cuisine and Dim Sum. 👍 I’ve eaten there each time I visit London over the last two decades.

[@XX-yx1pc]

This is the speed of food innovation in East Asia & SE Asia. Every year there is a new trend of street food that you will find them everywhere. And the food stores will be replaced by a new trend in the next year. Even for tradition dim sum, there is also innovation like the egg lava buns, bunny har gow etc. This is the continuous refinement that makes many Asian cuisines exciting & delicious.

[@jonathanrouse]

Man i been drinking boba tea for 10 years, this ain’t a trend LOL

[@abdullahsarker3595]

It absolutely is when you consider price surges and the surge of boba stores everywhere. That's literally an indicator of a trend. Boba tea shouldn't be expensive to produce and yet its fairly common for the average cup to go for well above $4.

[@GGray.]

I've had boba since early 2000's but i guess it's a new thing for westerners.

[@lignenox]

Bubble tea has been around since early 2000's, and there are more bubble tea stores now than ever. I wouldn't call 20 years a 'trend' @@abdullahsarker3595

[@nodrogkam]

Thanks for making this video.

[@mattd2026]

To summarize, the markets adapt.

[@na195097]

I've only had bubble tea once while in NYC several years ago. I didn't know what it was. I was just hot an thirsty while walking around. It was fun but I felt more refreshed from the bottle of water I bought from the same vendor. I live in such a rural location that there's nowhere here to get bubble tea.

[@officialmcdeath]

As a small child, I was taken specially to a Chinese restaurant in the early '70s, opposite what is now Westferry DLR, so very much at the tail end of Limehouse Chinatown - thanks for the context \m/

[@lightontheceiling]

Impressive in depth video as always! Really appreciate the genuine effort to dig deep into each community and provide insight beyond the initial video title. 😊 Enjoying the comments offering the view that bubble tea has been trending in SE Asia for years (and years), and has simply made its way over here. 2 points- 1) Not all trends stick (anyone remember frozen yoghurt?) 2) The same patterns apply anywhere in the world ... high margins x mass appeal makes for better business, hence even more traditional traditions (eg. herbal teas, tofu dessert, proper tea houses) are being pushed out in favour of bubble tea/ bakeries/waffle places. Concur with the video idea of cafes vs pie and mash 😅

[@mlchallenges9043]

Amazing video! You guys did another awsome job of breaking down a community and making their situation digestable and enjoyable for a viewer. I have always thought that you were going places and this video proves it once again! China town London has such a rich and interesting history (packed into such a small area)!. You really explained the situation alot of places in China town are experincing, the increasing bubble tea shops leading to less authentic Cantonese resturants, it is so sad!

[@sadmopsadpan4440]

Although there are bubble tea shops everywhere in China, it is common to open them intensively in high rent areas. because the profits are high enough and the store room is small. BTW The bubble tea shops in London are the best in Europe(still too sweet for me)the update of taste is only three to five years behind China. As for bubble tea in other European cities like stay in the 1990s forever.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

I’ve seen Sydney’s competing bubble tea shops too. Local stores tend to compete intensely with international chains as well.

[@lordofthepies]

This video has a good premise but reaches a flawed conclusion. Chinatowns across the western world have long been dominated by canto cuisine, and in some ways, frozen in time compared what chinese cuisine looks like back on the mainland. I dont think tiktok/the social media effect is the story here. Rather the better story to explore is: what are the affects of a rising middle class in China, whats causing this migration, are they still settling in the same places as the Cantonese immigrants did, etc.

[@ThisIsACryFromHell]

People going to places just because of Tik Tok reminds me of what my teachers said to me when I did something my friend told me to do. "If [James] told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?" We need more teachers saying that expression for this exact reason. It's crazy how much social media can influence people nowadays. I'm a big fan of bubble tea, though! My sister introduced it to me in Leeds.

[@hrsmrt9292]

During Chinatown visit, looking for a cold Earl Gray tea, Red bean mooncakes and roasted peking duck with steamed yellow rice is a must, Boba tea was good, but it's not my favorite.

[@rsybing]

Good luck trying to convince people not to have something they like. Pretty sure the butter curry thing isn't going away either.

[@Fister-kw5un]

Maybe we can keep elevator operators, coal chute delivery boys, and other dying economies…OR NOT

[@jjhphotography]

'Thats all you...' great reaction! Custard buns can be good but that didn't look good. I prefer them to be more flaky. Cantonese food is great! I feel like bubble tea shops are like the Starbucks craze 10ish years ago in Beijing where some shopping malls near where I worked had 2-3 shops in each mall.

[@KathyXie]

Looks like a averange shoping street or night market in Taiwan

[@gilberttello08]

Hello from Philippines

[@togo7022]

£1000 a month for a central london retail premesis is cheap

[@itchimo82]

How did the transition from jazz clubs to Chinese restaurants unfold? My sociological Spidey Sense is detecting a period of potential inter-racial conflict between the old and new inhabitants of the area. Would that be accurate? I know it's not the focus of this film, but it just struck me as weird that one day, Gerrard St was jazzy, and then, not. What happened?

[@Simkets]

No, I won't!

[@michaelhiggins9188]

This is an interesting video. I hope this one does a bit better than some of your recent ones, all of which I really liked, btw. I think the concern that bubble tea will have on Chinatown’s culture is misplaced. Bubble tea is a bit of a fad and most of these places will soon be gone.

[@znicho]

A fad that's been popular since the 1980s?

[@HarvestStore]

Great video.

[@joenoel7115]

Seriously some of the best content I can find on youtube at the moment. The production value is unreal

[@dadnation7227]

I heavily disagree with this take, first off (maybe in uk it’s different) but in New York there’s tons of traditional restaurants that are constantly packed to the brim and are promoted on social media too, also isnt having bubble tea places and little bakeries promoting China town more and encouraging the people to check out small restruants while they are there?

[@SakuraSakura8596]

A Taiwanese passed by😗

[@JJ-rp2df]

Tea bubble

[@quandalemuncher2337]

I must be an alien cause I've always hated how Boba tastes idk its the tapioca honestly, and when you remove the tapioca it it's just an alright drink. I feel like the hypes made it soooo expensive and whenever I tell people I don't drink Boba they get all judgey, I'll stick to dimsum and some good noodles. I've tried multiple times and it just doesn't hit for me especially for the prices.

[@licjar.xeymelloz]

As a Chinese Japanese descendant, I've always thought Chinatowns and Chinese immigrant communities to be two totally different things, but apparently in the West that's not yet the case? In Japan, there are Chinatowns (中華街, chukagai) that are mostly tourist destinations, with a long history and very "Japanized" Chinese cuisines (cf. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Chinese_cuisine ), and there are actual Chinese communities formed in the past 20 years following the liberalization of the Chinese economy, where you mostly hear Chinese languages on the street. The latter have become recognized for their "authentic" Chinese restaurants (ガチ中華, gachi chuka or ディープチャイナ, deep China) recently. We see the same structure with Korean communities too. With the rise of KPOP, there are now Korean towns where you do not hear a single Korean word spoken. It doesn't mean the end for genuine immigrant communities, they'll just move elsewhere where rents are cheaper, although I do imagine there are significant struggles and difficulties involved in the process.

[@WindowsXP_logon_sound_25yrsago]

I really liked this video and I appreciate you reporting on this, but bro let's talk about how the rents are the real problem here. EVERYBODY needs rent control now, especially small businesses. The extreme greed of big business often in partnership with these private equity criminal firms that are bleeding this country dry, are breaking it off deep in all of our rectums. Home renters and business owners alike are being cheated and squeezed by these people and that is where we need hard laws to drop the hammer. Sure the generic boba tea outlets are one thing but the rent is the real issue here. It's like the elephant in the room that you mentioned but refused to make a point of. I still appreciate the video but small businesses everywhere are being preyed upon by these extreme corporate landlords and the criminal Wall Street investor class. Without hard and fast laws to stop this, this shit is just going to get worse. If rent isn't controlled by law then we all get it broken off in our crinkle and that's bullshit.

[@davekennedy6315]

I highly recommend eating at the incredible restaurants in Chinatown, i have eaten the best Chinese food i`ve ever eaten there (by MILES the difference in quality is outstanding!) The food is on an entirely different level, the Dim Sum is unreal! I really hope that this Tik Tok crap doesn`t ruin that. It is sad that it appears younger people only consider trying different foods or restaurants if doing so becomes popular on social media. We are producing an entire generation that will be the very easiest to control of all time. The government will soon just be able to post the desired action on socials and they will all soon follow like sheep, unable to think for themselves.

[@recurse]

I enjoyed hearing about the history and people. I liked bubble tea before it was cool, though, and I'm not going to stop drinking it now. Also, I'm not sure the people in Chinatown necessarily need a white saviour to tell their customers to stay away to preserve their authenticity.

[@Lando-kx6so]

Gentrification

[@AncientRylanor69]

i

[@louisderfert9484]

Soo much unnecessary plastic in this video :/ really sad if you still have their video on recycling in mind

[@seangt]

this is stupid lol.

[@althafrafianto]

this video reeks of ignorance

[@Digitalstorm007]

Bubble Tea is so tasty, IDGAF.

[@krimke881]

Never really got it. WHY the frack do ppl go after the trends in drinks. Especially the tea thingy. jiiiz. But, this is what china wants though. Everything that can bring the government cash and popularity. This is facilitated and incentivised. Has never been a coincidence and never will be. But I guess there was something interresting there to tell a story about.

[@GGray.]

Wait what? 😂

[@althafrafianto]

mate bubble tea comes from taiwan you knob