Chinatown and Little Italy

Disorient yourself at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, where videos of immigrants recounting their trip to the United States let visitors sense the challenges Asian immigrants faced.

There is a recreation of a Chinatown shop and photographs and artifacts from immigrants. The museum was designed by Maya Lin, who is perhaps best known for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., a concept she submitted through a public design competition when she was just 21 years old (1981). The 14,000-square-foot MOCA opened in 2009.

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Address: 215 Center St.
Phone: 212-619-4785

Hours:
Monday, 11am - 5pm;
Thursday, 11am - 9pm;
Friday, 11am - 5pm;
Saturday & Sunday, 10am - 5pm
The Museum is closed to the public on Tuesday & Wednesday, except for prescheduled groups and the special dates listed below.

Admission:
- General Admission $7
- Seniors 65+ and Students $4
- Children under 12 in groups less than 8: FREE
- MOCA Members: FREE
- FREE Admission on Thursdays

Ferrara Bakery & Cafe, open since 1892, churns out authentic cannolis and Napoleons. If you haven't been to Italy, the pastries here are a pretty close second.

You can sit at one of the marble-topped tables and get an espresso or Italian soda, or you can take your pastries to go.

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Address: 195 Grand St.
Phone: 212-226-6150
Hours: Sunday through Friday 8am - 12am, Saturday 8am - 1am

DiPalo Dairy is the source for Italian cheese, but you also can get imported pasta, prosciutto, olive oil, vinegar and bread. Pick up the fixings for a picnic or stock up on pignoli (pine) nuts to bring home.

The store, owned by the same family since 1910, lets you sample so you expand your palate and buy a few extra items.

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Address: 200 Grand St.
Phone 212-226-1033
Hours: Monday through Saturday 9am - 6:30pm, Sunday 9am - 4pm

Kam Man Food Products has inexpensive chopsticks, soup spoons and ceramic bowls, plus all the ingredients to make a Chinese feast. You can get tea pots and a huge, bargain selection of loose leaf tea.

You also can get Japanese snacks and big packages of nori for making sushi. They also carry Hello Kitty merchandise.

There are three floors to explore.

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Address: 200 Canal St.
Phone: 212-571-0330
Hours: Daily 9am - 9pm

A block from the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Chinatown has a Haagen Dazs store. But skip that for this sliver of a shop, which has red bean, black sesame and green tea flavors, in addition to the holy trinity of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Cash only.
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Address: 65 Bayard St.
Phone: 212-608-4170
Hours: Daily 11am-10pm

Stop by the Mahayana Buddhist Temple, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, to see a 16-foot gold Buddha.

Free; a $1 donation gets you a fortune.
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133 Canal St.
212-925-8787