Rainy evening in Manhattan Chinatown. As the oldest of New York’s numerous ethnically Chinese enclaves, Manhattan Chinatown architecture is characterized by older construction and higher density. There is a greater proportion of Cantonese businesses as compared to, for example, Mandarin-heavy Flushing. You can see this in the number of HK-style cafes when you visit - and even in the hanging signs here, which have more traditional Chinese characters than what you would see in other Chinese enclaves in NYC.