An Insider's Guide to Paris's Chinatowns-Where to Eat and Drink

"I spent the first half of 2025 in Paris, and while I loved living in a walkable city overflowing with art and culture, I often found myself craving a taste of home. Fortunately, Paris has not one but two Chinatowns: Belleville and the 13th arrondissement. Belleville is an artsy, historically progressive neighborhood shaped by centuries of immigration from Europe, Africa, and Asia. At its center is Parc de Belleville, known for its rotating street art and sweeping sunset views of the Eiffel Tower."

"When visiting friends in the nearby 20th arrondissement, we always gravitated toward Belleville for its abundance of affordable Asian food. Around the Belleville metro station, Chinese, Vietnamese, and other Asian restaurants cluster together, with standouts like Panda Belleville for bánh mì and Best Tofu, for, well, tofu. Wenzhou cuisine-known for seafood-is particularly prominent, reflecting the neighborhood's large immigrant community from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, in eastern part of China."

"The Chinatown in the 13th arrondissement, often considered Paris's "official" one, is the largest in Europe. This triangle-shaped district is marked by the Georges Rousse-designed Arche de la Fraternité, a sculptural gateway inspired by the Chinese character for "door." Despite its name, the 13th arrondissement is home to many Southeast Asian communities-particularly Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian-who arrived during postcolonial immigration in the 1970s."

Paris contains two notable Chinatowns: Belleville and the 13th arrondissement. Belleville is an artsy, historically progressive neighborhood shaped by centuries of immigration from Europe, Africa, and Asia. Parc de Belleville anchors the area and offers rotating street art and sweeping sunset views of the Eiffel Tower. The neighborhood concentrates affordable Asian eateries near Belleville metro, including Vietnamese bánh mì at Panda Belleville and tofu specialties at Best Tofu, with strong representation of Wenzhou seafood traditions. The 13th arrondissement is the largest Chinatown in Europe, marked by the Arche de la Fraternité and home to many Southeast Asian communities, offering diverse cuisines and specialty markets.

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