Canal Street
Canal Street is an experience as well as a destination. Canal Street runs through Chinatown and provides a border separating Chinatown and Little Italy. Because Chinatown encompasses much of the area surrounding the Canal Street subway stop, visitors can find a large selection of Chinese restaurants and Asian imports. Some of the signs in the area list information in both English and Mandarin.
Many tourists visit Canal Street to shop. The location is bustling in the afternoon. To avoid difficulty navigating and to get first pick at merchandise, visitors should consider arriving around 10 a.m. By lunch time, the streets are crowded, the office crowd is out for a meal and lines grow longer.
Canal Street shops offer clothing, watches, jewelry, electronics and accessories. Most famously, Canal Street offers counterfeit and grey market items. If you are a female tourist walking along the street, vendors will approach you. They’ll quietly indicate that they have [usually fake] “Gucci, Prada.” If you are not interested, you cannot simply ignore them as deemed normal in other American cities—Canal Street etiquette dictates that you say “No thank you.”
Should you oblige one of the vendors, you’ll reportedly be taken to an individual who will walk you to the secret location. Locations can include false storefronts and walls. These cash-dealing vendors do their best to remain hidden if they are selling items illegally. Some of the destinations may also feel unsafe as you may be alone in a false room with a vendor. (Unsafe procedures and illegal purchasing of counterfeit goods are not recommended.)
Some of the vendors on the street sell similar knockoffs and reproductions on the street. Canal Street is not a preferable location to purchase genuine designer goods, but if you’re looking for a certain color handbag just to match something and have no preference for label, it’s easy to find just about anything here. Canal Street vendors are also excellent resources for other items from China, including both stylish contemporary and traditional Chinese clothing for half the price of clothing sold in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
ATMs are located at various banks along Canal Street. It is advisable to deal in cash here and it is preferred by most vendors, including licensed (and unlicensed) vendors of food.
Posted by Tara M. Clapper
