China Trade Gate, Paifang gate in Chinatown, Boston, United States
The China Trade Gate is a ceramic paifang with green-glazed tile roofs and animal figures along the ridgelines, standing at the Beach Street entrance to Boston's Chinatown. Stone guardian lions flank both sides of the passage, a standard feature of this type of Chinese gateway.
Taiwan donated the materials in 1982, and the gate was built and put in place in 1988. A formal rededication ceremony followed in 1990, establishing it as a landmark of the neighborhood.
Chinese inscriptions carved into the gate express hopes for shared prosperity and social harmony, and are visible to anyone passing through. They form the central message that the neighborhood sends to people arriving from outside.
The gate stands directly facing the Rose Kennedy Greenway, which makes it easy to spot from a distance. A small public park nearby offers a good spot to look at the front of the structure without being in the flow of foot traffic.
Of the two stone guardian lions, the female on the left holds a cub beneath her paw, while the male on the right rests a paw on a ball. Most visitors walk past without noticing this difference, which is a standard way to tell the two figures apart in Chinese gateway architecture.
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