Faulkner Street

One of my favourite Streets in Central Manchester (of which I have many) this street is seemingly split in space and time. Two thirds of this lies in Chinatown and forms one side of the main square in Chinatown and includes the Chinese Imperial Arch the first, and once largest, of it’s kind in Europe. What I like about this street is that the first part of Faulkner Street (I’ll call it Part I) is pure Chinatown and home to the fantastic Ho’s Bakery amongst other restaurants, Oriental craft shops (windows full of those waving cats) and supermarkets. Come night time and it’s full on Neon and hanging lanterns shining their spirits on the tourists and human browsers below. Due to it’s density it has a real Chinatown (still one of the largest in Europe) feel, rather a brief nod to the Orient with one supermarket and a generic Mr Wok restaurant. A large proportion of Manchester’s Chinese community live in the area and are often seen about either shopping or working. The sights and smells of this area give it a genuine, almost cinematic aura. Grab an ultra large spring roll from Ho’s and just pot around here taking it all in. But this review is not all about Chinatown per se, more Faulkner street which cuts through it. Because once you walk out of Chinatown’s northern end and carry on towards the latter half of Faulkner Street (I’ll name this bit Part II) you’re entering a set from a 70’s made Sci Fi movie (think Logan’s Run).
I barely see anyone walking down this bit of street on which the glorious, monolithic ‘Bank House’ building sits upon, aside from the odd security guard. It’s the kind of back street which seems to energise you and make your brains synapses sparkle large cities do this very well.
Take a stride down this street (commencing at the Princess Street end) via Ho’s bakery and finally into the last section (which then leads into the newly refurbished and mighty fine New York Street); Manchester’s coming on in leaps and bounds now the landscape is altering at a quick rate around here (and for the better in my opinion).