If you walk around a bit in Chinatown {or the Tiretti Bazaar area}, you will come across several Chinese clubs/churches in its narrow lanes. These were set up to nurture social and cultural aspects of the community. They are actually traditional Chinese temples. The ‘church’ tag came from the British colonial administration.
These temples also serve as ‘clubs’ – meeting points for people to gather in the evenings, or to pray, socialise, and also to host festivals. In the evenings, you will find people clustered on the upper floor of the Gee Hing Temple playing mah jong, the clackety-clack sound of the green and red tiles resonating in the air.
In Chhatawalla Guli nearby is the two-storeyed, red colonial building that is the Toong On Church. Built in 1924, it once housed the famous Nanking restaurant, Kolkata’s first Chinese restaurant and a hotspot for spotting celebrities such as Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari and Shammi Kapoor. Dibakar Banerjee’s recent film Detective Byomkesh Bakshi had several scenes set in the restaurant.
Walk a few minutes and you will come across the 108-year-old Sea Ip Church. This was set up in 1905 by migrants from four counties in China’s Guangdong Province. The wooden staircase leading to the altar is from China!