Chicago by Red Line: Downtown to Chinatown

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, and although the Loop has so much to see, you’re missing 199+ neighborhoods if you only ever explore that one part. Inside Chicago Walking Tours wants to bring you away from the well-beaten path of the Loop to experience one of Chicago’s most culturally rich neighborhoods, Chinatown! This route is the perfect way to see a part of Chicago most tourists won’t see, all within easy access of the city’s center via an 8-minute ride on the “L” — Chicago’s world-famous elevated train.

We’ll start this route in the more tourist-familiar territory of downtown, and then take a quick “L” ride together (train ticket included!) to Chinatown, where we’ll spend the rest of our time exploring both the older part of Chinatown and the newer part. On this tour, you’ll learn about Chicago’s Chinese immigration history, and how the neighborhood we now know as “Chinatown” wasn’t always a Chinese enclave — just ask Al Capone’s mother. We’ll decode the cultural characteristics imbuing this neighborhood with its unique charm, like why certain colors are so prevalent here. We’ll learn the symbolism behind imperial guard lions (no, they’re not “dogs”) and curled rooftop corners. Like we say on all of our tours, everything has a reason for looking the way it looks — you just have to ask why.

Over the course of our 2-hour walking tour, we will also — and perhaps most importantly — hook you up with some suggestions of where to eat after the tour. By the end of this tour, you’ll not only have an idea of which restaurants you’ll want to try, but also why their cuisines are so different in the first place. Come explore Chinatown with us!

(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A FOOD-TASTING TOUR, THOUGH WE PURPOSELY END THIS TOUR IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD SO THAT YOU CAN STAY AND EAT AFTER THE TOUR, WHICH WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND!)