Chinese restaurants are a mainstay of nearly every Welsh city, town, and village – but what can they tell us about the people who work and dine in them?
New research led by Cardiff University is exploring the stories behind these popular spaces.
The team, in collaboration with BAFTA Cymru award-winning cinematographer Keefa Chan, will produce a film revealing stories of migration, family connections, cuisine cultures, and how these spaces have shaped neighbourhoods and communities.
The feature will challenge stereotypes and prejudice, by instead helping to highlight nuances and diversity within the Chinese diaspora community, according to the researchers.
Project lead Dr Lui (Radium) Tam from the Welsh School of Architecture, said: "I've always been intrigued by the way many Chinese restaurants occupy such interesting buildings and so I wanted to look at the architectural history of them.
"Exploring this further, we want to address and challenge stereotypes and prejudice within broader migration discourses. When we think about what makes these restaurants 'Chinese', most people wouldn't understand the diversity in languages, places of origins, culinary culture, and architectural expressions.
"Even for me, being considered part of the 'Chinese diaspora', going to Chinese restaurants in Britain or attending events with the Chinese diaspora community can sometimes feel like both a very familiar and very foreign experience.
"These nuances have intricate relationships with where people come from originally, but also what they want to present as 'Chinese' or what people perceive as 'Chinese'. The different waves of migration of Chinese diaspora are also related to this, and they are not really talked about enough in the context of diaspora architecture in Britain.
"These themes will be explored in this project, where we are particularly intrigued to find out what makes these restaurants Chinese, who run and eat in them, and how these restaurants have integrated into the neighbourhood fabrics around them – in some cases becoming anchors or hubs of their communities."
By being in these spaces, we aim to learn about the stories behind different businesses and how these spaces nurture, negotiate, and contest intercultural heritage.
Focusing on Cardiff, Swansea, and Cwmbran, the team will interview people who have managed and dined in these spaces over many decades.
The work, funded through the Welsh Crucible programme, will capture the stories via a dining interview format filmed in different restaurants across the South Wales cities and town.
Dr Helena Lopes, from the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, said: "This collaboration will hopefully bring to light – and celebrate – important aspects of the long history of different Chinese experiences in South Wales."
I have long been interested in histories of migration and had wanted to research histories of Chinese restaurants in Wales since coming across some archival records while working on another project on Wales-Asia connections. It's such a rich history to explore - I can't wait to see what we unearth.
"The choice of places is also important to the project," explains Dr Aled Singleton from the School of Geography and Planning.
For example, we'll be exploring the stories behind a pioneering former Chinese restaurant which opened at the Cwmbran shopping centre during the late-1960s. This represents the only post-war new town in Wales and so it will be fascinating to learn from the interviews how stories may differ when they emerge from places with only a limited experience of migration.
For cinematographer Keefa Chan, documenting these spaces transcends architectural study; it is a philosophical pursuit through the lens. He frames each restaurant as a vessel of quiet history, seeking the subtle textures of displacement and the enduring silhouette of colonialism upon community life.
For Chan, this inquiry is intimate. His own identity was shaped within the sanctuary of his family's Chinese takeaway, a refuge forged after escaping the aftermath of the French colonial and American wars in Vietnam.
"Within Chinese culture, food is far more than sustenance; it is a primary language of heritage, memory, and belonging," he reflects.
These establishments are living archives. My work traces how the legacy of transcontinental displacement is patiently translated into the familiar fabric of Welsh streets, how a history of rupture becomes a story of place.
The project will involve local Chinese restaurants and the broader community through the spring, leading to a celebration event in the summer of 2026.
The gathering will be a chance to savour the many flavours of China in Wales through both a film screening and a Chinese feast.
