Tiretta Bazaar, located in central Kolkata, was once known as the Old China Market. Many Chinese workers moved to Kolkata during the Raj, from various communities in China. For example, the Haka community, Cantonese, Hupey, and those from Shanghai. The Chinese community established residences and businesses such as dentistry, leather tanning and manufacturing, shoemaking, restaurants, and beauty salons.
There was a time when around 20,000 ethnic Chinese Indian nationals lived here. It is known as Cheenapara and is India's only Chinatown. Today, there is probably less than one-tenth of that number remaining. But the area has still held on to Chinese temples, provision stores, and restaurants that have moulded the neighbourhood.
Cheenapara was listed on the World Monument Fund's endangered heritage watchlist in 2022 as "one of the heritage sites of extraordinary significance, facing pressing challenges".
The WMF said that although Tiretta is the earliest Chinatown in India, its community is marginalised and its heritage is at risk. As a result of industrialisation and ever-expanding global supply chains that make local production unsustainable, ad hoc breakfast markets for Kolkata’s commuters have taken over the neighborhood. Once breakfast is over, the open space becomes a car park and the community retreats into itself. Read more about the WMF's analysis here.
Recently, in January, various suggestions for the area's conservation were announced, along with the estimated funds needed by heritage architects and planners in front of World Monument Fund representatives, government officials, community people, and other stakeholders.
The Singapore-based Cha Project, a Design and Placemaking Lab, in cooperation with the INTACH Calcutta Chapter, has announced a Rs 10 crore proposal to map the Tiretta Bazaar precinct. Tiretta Bazaar, Challenges and Opportunities, a public talk in Kolkata, featured proposals for urban renewal, street restoration, conservation, and documentation.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the area are the Chinese clubs and temples such as Gee Hing and Toong On. The latter was built in 1924 and had housed the famous Nanking restaurant where celebrities like Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari and Shammi Kapoor used to hang out. Check out the Sea Ip Church's antique wooden staircase, brought here from China. Pick up Chinese spices, tea, noodles, dried plums and mushrooms from Chinese provision stores.
You can taste the community’s food at the early morning breakfast in Bentinck Street. For every generation that grows up in Calcutta, doing this breakfast is like a rite of passage. Though what exists today is a watered-down version of what it used to be, we would still recommend a morning outing for the breakfast. You can sample home-style food like light soups and broths, some with noodles and fish or meat balls, and a few greens. You can pair that with some momos or steamed baos with assorted fillings.
The numbers are depleted, but the area still has some shops where you can pick up a handmade shoe with a custom fit. And you will also see a couple of Chinese dentist clinics here. There are a few Chinese grocery stores where you can stock up on special kitchen provisions like dried fungus, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese spice powders, sun-dried fish, prawn wafers, jasmine tea, and therapeutic balms.
You can also pick up bamboo and ceramic steamers, teapots, and mugs. For instance, Pou Chong and the Sing Cheung stores are always bustling with customers. They make their own line of sauces and condiments. and piping hot, freshly made momos. In multiple glass cabinets and wooden shelves, salted black bean packets jostle for space with bottles of sauce, packets of dried mushrooms, black fungus, rice sticks, glass noodles, rice vinegar, and jars packed with sweet and sour dried plums.
There are traditional Chinese temples in the area that also function as gathering places for people to pray, socialise, and host festivals. Look for the Toong On Church, which was constructed in 1924. It used to house the famous Nanking restaurant, Kolkata's first Chinese restaurant, and was a popular hangout for celebrities such as Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, and Shammi Kapoor. Several scenes in Dibakar Banerjee's film Detective Byomkesh Bakshi took place in the restaurant. After a short walk, you will come across the 108-year-old Sea Ip Church. This organisation was founded in 1905 by migrants from four counties in China's Guangdong Province. The wooden staircase leading to the altar here was brought all the way from China. There was a time when you would find someone poring over the only Chinese newspaper in India.
The Chinese New Year celebration has become a popular fixture in Kolkata's festive calendar. While all the traditional customs are followed by the Chinese people at home, they have opened up the community celebrations for everyone to join in. Watch the lion and dragon dancers and their accompanying party of drummers walking past.
The community also celebrates the autumn Moon Festival, which is the second most popular festival for the Chinese next to the New Year. The Moon Festival, observed on the 15th day of the eighth Lunar month of the Chinese calendar, is rooted in legends.