Feature: Buenos Aires unveils pedestrian-friendly Chinatown

Buenos Aires' Chinatown has got a pedestrian-friendly makeover sure to draw even more visitors to the popular district in the northern part of the capital.

During a tour of the area's newly-refurbished Arribenos Street, visitor Valeria Garcia told Xinhua, "Everything is more orderly and cleaner. Today I passed through here on my way to the movies, but we'll be back this weekend to have lunch and walk around."

With many restaurants, fish markets and Asian supermarkets featuring exotic imported goods and apparel, the Chinatown is one of the city's highlights.

A traditional Chinese-style arch, or paifang, rises above the corner of Arribenos and Juramento streets, welcoming visitors and offering a perfect photo opportunity, like its counterparts in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.

The carved-stone arch, brought over from China and assembled here, stands 11 meters high. At the base of each of its two columns, a carved-stone lion stands guard.

The renovation work, begun in May, aimed to make it easier for pedestrians to stroll the streets and browse the shops' window displays, by leveling sidewalks with the streets to make them wider and blocking off traffic.

Beautification was also part of the project, with new street lamps installed and more trees planted.

As an important commercial and cultural center, the city's Chinatown deserved a face lift, the city government said.

City officials and China's Ambassador to Argentina, Yang Wanming, were on hand for the official inauguration on Monday.

"Today, Chinatown shines again," Buenos Aires Mayor-elect Horacio Rodriguez Larreta said at the ceremony.

"This is a very busy district because it attracts a lot of people, from both the city and the province of Buenos Aires," he said.

Each year, tens of thousands gather in Chinatown over two days to ring in the Chinese New Year. Thanks to the renovations, there will be more reason to celebrate next year. Endi