The Gay Village is Next to the Chinese Quarter

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 23:18:33 GMT

There's a phenomenon in at least three major British cities where the gay district is located right next to Chinatown. I mused on this as I finished my breakfast at a Hong Kong-style cafe in Brick Lane and crossed the street to the queer bookshop.

But there, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So despite all my resolutions about not letting work take over my life, work unhinged its jaws wider than I thought them possible and swallowed me whole, and now I'm only just managing to briefly resurface because things have slowed down for Easter. I'm already dreading the return to work next week. Down with capitalism, etc.

ANYWAY I managed to get down to London last week to see Cynthia Erivo's one-woman performance of Dracula and also to eat things. Dracula was fun mostly as a spectacle. I'm not sure it really holds up without that element, especially given the odd decision to have Cynthia Erivo straight-up narrate the letters/diaries from the novel itself instead of adapting them as dialogue.

Perhaps equally (or more) interesting, food pictures (I was mostly hanging out in Brick Lane/Shoreditch, hence the selection).

( pictures under the cut )

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douqi

The Gay Village is Next to the Chinese Quarter