[2] Since the 1980s Chinatown has become increasingly pan-Asian and includes Vietnamese, Cambodian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian and Indonesian immigrants and businesses.

[3]The first Chinese immigrants to Philadelphia were largely young men who had left their families in China in search of work.

In Chinatown, they were able to form communities and find social support with extended kin and through cultural associations.

[7] During various periods of urban renewal, starting in the 1960s, portions of Chinatown were razed for the construction of the Vine Street Expressway and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

[7] Eventually the Phillies built Citizens Bank Park at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which opened in 2004.

In years leading up to 1998, businesses catering to other immigrants from East and Southeast Asian countries, like Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, opened in Chinatown.

[9] In 2012, a plan to build the Eastern Tower Community Center (renamed "Crane Chinatown" since Nov 2018) was approved by the city council.

At another point, the city condemned an area east of what is now Chinatown so that the new headquarters of the Philadelphia Police Department, Independence Mall, and the Metropolitan Hospital could be constructed.

[12] At one point, the city proposed building an eight lane highway that would divide the Philadelphia Chinatown into two parts and eliminate the Holy Redeemer Church and School.

The church and school remained, while the Vine Street Expressway, smaller than its original proposed size, was built.

AsianWeek said "Each was built with much compromising, and now they form a circle around Chinatown’s current core of about five city blocks.

[7] The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation said that the area also serves about 250,000 Chinese Americans residing in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

[15] Weighing about 88 tons and standing 40 feet high, the Gate has bright colors and elaborate designs that reflect early Chinese imperial construction.

The dragon, said to have the magical power of retaining water in its mouth, is intended to protect the structure of the Gate and the community from fire.

The four traditional Chinese characters on both sides of the Gate are, "費城華埠" (Fèichéng huá bù), which means Philadelphia Chinatown.

Numerous restaurants in Philadelphia's Chinatown feature other Asian cuisines, such as Burmese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Jefferson Station is located in the neighborhood and SEPTA provides local bus transportation to the area.

At one time China Airlines provided a private complimentary bus service from the Holy Redeemer Church in the Philadelphia Chinatown to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to facilitate transportation for passengers for its flights to Taipei, Taiwan.

[23] Previously most area residents were zoned to Horace Furness High School in South Philadelphia.

At the time the Chinatown Community Development Corporation opposed the creation of the charter school, saying that it was not necessary and that it would hurt enrollment figures at McCall and Holy Redeemer.