Sketchcrawl in Chinatown

Yes, this is Johannesburg… our sketch group went to Cyrildene, where ‘New’ Chinatown has sprung up over the past few years. Chinatown in the city has fallen into a sad state of neglect, but a new, thriving community has established itself in this old suburb, and is buzzing with tea shops, restaurants, fishmongers, hairdressers, Chinese massage and therapy studios, supermarkets full of strange, unidentifiable products and wonderful fresh vegetables that spill onto the pavements from doorways – grown, I was told in the gardens of surrounding houses. The colourful and elaborate Hang Cheng Palace houses a supermarket and a South African/Chinese trade organisation. We stopped half way for a delicious, large and cheap lunch – a mistake as we all felt a bit sleepy to carry on sketching after that!