What's a Chinatown without an arch?

Philadelphia's one has a gate. So does Boston's. Montreal's has four, and Ottawa’s is especially pretty. San Francisco’s is made of stone and has slithering dragons on its roof. But Manhattan’s Chinatown, one of the most famous in the country, does not have a gateway arch to welcome visitors despite years of planning. OK so suburban and satellite Chinatowns are often arch-free. But Manhattan's is indeed the only large, traditional Chinatown in the U.S. without a gateway. For the sometimes fading enclaves that have them, the colorful gates, known as paifang in Mandarin, are tourist attractions — the backdrop to countless vacation snapshots. Most span a roadway, with lions guarding the sidewalk. In New York, efforts to build an arch have been launched periodically for four decades. 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, so it’s a good year to get it started and hopefully get it done. I've been to the Chinatown in Melbourne and that had arches at each of the possible entrances.