Art Tour
Augmented Chinatown 2.0 Tour
17 Dec 2021 – 31 Dec 2022
Regular hours
- Friday
- 08:00 – 23:30
- Saturday
- 08:00 – 23:30
- Sunday
- 08:00 – 23:30
- Monday
- 08:00 – 23:30
- Tuesday
- 08:00 – 23:30
- Wednesday
- 08:00 – 23:30
- Thursday
- 08:00 – 23:30
Cost of entry
Download the app on the App Store or Google Play.
£4.99 for iOS and free for Android.
Please note that the the app on Android phones only includes music and the audio tour.
Address
- Newport Place
- London
England - WC2H 7PU
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- 14, 19, 38, 24, 29, 176,
- Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus
“Walk through Chinatown and see beneath the surface it presents… walk through these streets and think about the dreams that have brought people here… People seeking a new home, love, fortune. People seeking comfort, familiarity, kinship, community.”
About
Start the tour in Newport Place and walk the streets guided via your phones by writer and narrator, Joel Tan. Over the course of an hour, Tan’s narration looks at Chinatown’s history, architecture and culture, as well as ideas about belonging, identity and migration. He evokes the sensory impact of the streets, the ornate decorations, the tempting smells and tastes, and distinctive sounds. He takes us to the four gates, only the last of which was created by Chinese artists, and tells how the iconic pagoda was demolished in 2015 without consultation.
At five locations along the way, there is the opportunity to delve deeper into hidden dramas and, for a few minutes, plunge into the lives of characters including Kim, a stripper who met the Beatles; Anita, a homesick waitress; and a woman whose home is being raided by immigration officials.
Donald Shek’s augmented reality adds another dimension, creating dazzling visual overlays on the real-life environment. Tall flowers blossom from the pavement, lanterns light up overhead and newspaper banners hang down from the buildings. The soundscore, composed by An-Ting Chang with DJ QuestionMark, includes interactive elements in response to both the augmented reality and the miniature dramas.
Helpful guidelines for using the app
- Suggested age range is 16+
- Headphones are strongly recommended.
- Switch off screen lock and enable camera and location in your phone settings.
- The app is best experienced during the day (as in some cases the camera requires a level of reflection off the ground surface to calibrate the augmented reality).
- To maximise the effects of the AR scenes, hold your camera horizontal to the floor.
- The route is in a busy area of Chinatown so please take care!
The app for Augmented Chinatown 2.0 is available any time via the Apple Store or Google Play. You can buy the app, download it, and take the tour at a time convenient to you.
