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News

TRH visit London's Chinatown

1st November 2007

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited London's Chinatown today.

Their Royal Highnesses were greeted by a traditional Chinese lion dance as they stood beneath the dozens of red and gold lanterns hanging over Gerrard Street in Soho.

Their Royal Highnesses spent around two hours in the district, dropping in on a Chinese bakery, supermarkets and restaurant. The Prince last visited Chinatown in 2000.

The Duchess spoke of her love of Chinese food, wanting to visit China and her delight at the birth of her first grandchild.

Linda Wan, of the London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA), said: "She was talking a bit about her granddaughter, Lola. She was very happy about being a grandmother.

"She also said she loves Chinese food, especially the duck and pork. She said she wanted to come back and do a tour of all the Chinese restaurants.”

Both The Duchess and The Prince tried their hand at the ancient Chinese martial art of Tai Chi.

First The Duchess watched as a class of elderly women slowly stretched out their hands in front of her, with the pensioners practising their deep breathing, postures and gentle movements.

Teacher and Tai Chi expert Austin Goh then encouraged The Duchess to take part.

First she shook her hands by her sides, then patted them towards the floor before gesturing upwards with upturned palms.

She was told to carry out the sequence of three movements for five minutes each day.

The Duchess said: "This is making me feel much better. Is it all breathing? It's very good for the circulation. I can see I'll have to take up Tai Chi."

The Duchess went to fetch The Prince so that he could also take part.

Mr Goh said afterwards: "I was explaining about Qigong energy and how the blood is made of forces which crash against each other. The heat warms up your blood.

"Moving your hands to the floor is about the yin energy of the ground, while raising them up is about yang - the energy of the sun.

"I think they liked it. The Prince is into complementary medicine."

Outside in the street, teenagers Jeremy and Karlie Lau performed an auspicious lion dance to the sound of beating drums and clashing cymbals.

In a traditional gold and green costume, they performed acrobatic feats, jumping on each other's shoulders to make the lion stand tall.

The Prince and The Duchess peered under the large lion head to see who was beneath as they met the dancers.

Karlie Lau, 16, said afterwards: "The dance is supposed to bring good luck and frighten all the bad spirits away.

"They asked if it was tiring. It is if you're doing it for a long time."

As Their Royal Highnesses moved down Gerrard Street past the array of Chinese shops and restaurants, the lion followed behind them, jumping, twisting and turning.

The Prince and The Duchess stopped off at the sweet-smelling Far East Bakery where they were shown traditional delicacies, all organic, including Chinese Moon Cake, egg tarts and deep fried dough.

The Duchess tried some Chinese muffin made from egg and flour.

"It's lovely - very light," she said as she finished off the piece.

In the New Loon Moon Supermarket, they inspected the organic vegetables, with The Duchess examining a healthy looking pak choi, before heading to the New World Chinese Restaurant.

Inside, The Prince met members of the LCCA and sampled a cup of organic ginger tea as he sat at a circular table, decorated with neatly folded white napkins, blue and white china and chop sticks.

A spread of dim sum pork and scallops, organic noodles, egg tarts and fried dough with sesame seeds was laid out.

A red banner above the street's ornate gate proclaimed in gold letter a "Warm Welcome" to the royals.

The Prince unveiled a plaque, which was flanked by two stone dragons, to mark the visit.

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