Washington's Chinatown is entered through the Chinatown Friendship Archway, where more than 280 painted and carved dragons crowned by 700 glazed tiles symbolize spirits that bring rain and prosperity in China. Built in the ancient Chinese tradition of "gong" balancing, the archway's seven nine-ton roofs are cantilevered without nails almost 50 feet above the street, making it the largest single-span Chinese archway in the world. Designed by Chinese-born Washington architect Alfred Liu and erected in 1986 as a joint project of Washington, D.C., and Beijing, it stands as a statement of international friendship, built by Chinese and American craftsmen working side by side. Washington's Chinese community dates to the 1880s, when immigrants settled along Pennsylvania Avenue between Third and Sixth Streets, N.W., before being displaced by construction of the Federal Triangle in the 1930s and relocating here with help from the On Leong Chinese Merchants Association. They moved into homes once occupied by German Christian and Eastern European Jewish immigrants, and some of the city's oldest pre-Civil War buildings still remain beneath the neighborhood's colorful Chinese facades. Although many Chinese Americans later moved to newer homes in the city and suburbs, the community has remained dedicated to preserving Chinese culture downtown, with institutions such as Calvary Baptist Church at 8th and H and St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church near 5th and H continuing to serve it, while Chinese symbols, signs, and the annual Chinese New Year's dragon parade sustain the area's spirit.
