This weekend, the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside of Asia take place in and around London’s Chinatown in Soho. But did you know that London’s original Chinatown was in East London?

Limehouse was the site of a short-lived porcelain factory founded by George Wilson in 1746. It was one of many attempts to make a British version of the beautiful, white ceramic that was flooding into London from the Far East. Limehouse porcelain  looked Chinese but was made in East London. You can see examples of this porcelain at the Museum of London.

One hundred years later, a small community of Chinese sailors settled at Limehouse Causeway. This was one of two small, East End Chinese communities. The other was in Pennyfields in Poplar, where Chinese sailors from Shanghai had settled. Virtually all were single men, some of whom married British women.

By 1914, there were around 30 businesses and 300 people living in these small East End communities. Limehouse and Pennyfields became known as Chinatown, and many of its inhabitants made a living by running laundries.

During the Second World War, the Docklands area, including Chinatown, was badly damaged and many Chinese people moved out. In the 1950s, the market for Chinese food grew and restaurants and stalls began to spring up in Gerrard Street and Lisle Street. This was the start of the Chinatown we know today in Soho.

Find out more about Chinatown’s history or discover today’s Chinatown in Soho

Guest post by the Museum of London as part of our brand new Visiting the Past blog series. More fascinating facts about London’s history from the Museum of London next week!

If you’re looking for somewhere to make the most of the recent good weather in London, try Docklands-based gastro pub The Gun.

From today, The Gun is firing up its charcoal barbecue and offering al fresco dining on its gorgeous terrace, A Grehla, for the summer.

Having recently returned from a trip to Portugal and knowing The Gun’s strong reputation for its food (and Best Gastro pub award from a few years back) I was eager to sample its Portuguese menu and see if it really could serve up a taste of the Algarve.

The Portuguese salt cod croquettes (baccalau) were as tasty as any I’d had in Portugal. We also tried spicy chicken piri piri, lamb espetada (kebab) and delicious Valencian paella (not so Portuguese!) which was cooked in a giant paella pan.

If you’ve ever had a beer in Portugal, it was probably Super Bock or Sagres. If you developed a taste for either, you’ll be happy know that both brands are served at The Gun.

I didn’t try any desserts but if you have a sweet tooth you can’t go wrong with a Pastel de Nata (Portuguese custard tart) or if you’d prefer a savoury option, The Gun serves a selection of Portuguese and Spanish cheeses to round off the meal.

You won’t be looking out onto a beach, but A Grehla does offer nice views across the Thames and of The O2.

Definitely worth a visit on a sunny summer’s evening.

A Grehla at The Gun. From 12 May until mid- September 2011 (or longer if the weather stays good!)

This week’s photo by CdL Creative (www.cdlcreative.me) shows Voala performing at the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival.

Seen any spectacular performances lately? Add your photo to the Visit London Flickr pool and we could be featuring your picture next!

Take a trip back in time in London, to when colour film was pretty exciting!

As Sonia Genaitay explains:

This film is tricky to describe: is it a boat study, a film-poem, an experiment, a picture postcard? One thing is certain: it’s a rare colour snapshot of the Thames and London in the 1930s – and it looks quite magical.

Colour film was still a novelty for audiences in 1935, and the photography (using the new Gasparcolor system) succeeds in accentuating the sharp contrast between the vivid green banks of the countryside and the drab tones of the industrial landscape.

Look out for the fantastic old images of Tower Bridge and Docklands: beyond that, we hardly recognised any other landmarks, particularly as it goes further down river and “out to sea”. Could you spot any more familiar areas of the Thames?