Originally London's Chinese population was centered around the Limehouse area of the east end where businesses catered to the Chinese sailors. Famous for its legal opium dens and slum housing much of it was destroyed by bombing in World War II and the Chinese population scattered across London. Boosted by the popularity of Chinese food and an influx of Hong Kong immigrants the present Chintown formed around a previously run-down area of Soho from the 1970's. It is centred around Gerrard Street.

Previously Gerrard Street was famous for the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club started in the basement of No. 39. It saw the first ever rehearsal of Led Zeppelin in 1968, where they played "Train Kept a Rollin" in another of the basements now converted into business premises. Earlier still Samuel Johnson and Joshua Reynolds met at the Turk's Head Tavern to found The Club dining club in 1764. The site is commemorated by a plaque at No. 9.

Chinatown is mostly a commercial district with few residents although there is a large residential block called Vale Royal House built in the 1980's. It was made famous by housing the China Town car park underneath it. There are repeated claims of illegal workers in the area and associations with the Triads - there was a shooting in broad daylight in the Bar Room Bar in 2003.

2007 saw a multimillion-pound redevelopment of a large area at the heart of the community. It resulted in 17 local businesses being evicted when the property developer Rosewheel gained approval to create Chinatown Zone. This houses an international food court, bars, restaurants and retail markets. Many of the authentic shopkeepers were replaced with shops and stalls selling mainly Western clothes and tourist knickknacks.

Further controversy centres around Chinatown’s Feng Shui pagoda in Lisle Street. Rosewheel intends to move it to its new shopping centre. The pagoda was built by the London Chinese Community Association in the early 1970s. Jabez Lam, the founder of the Save Chinatown Campaign, said that “Members of the community believe that removing the pagoda will affect the Feng Shui of Chinatown and protection it gives to the community. Having a pagoda inside the building will bring bad luck to the community and remove a key landmark.”