Johannesburg’s Chinatown is Cyrildene. Numerous Chinese businesses with names like Jing Hua grocery and Jong Hua Tea Shop are scattered throughout the neighbourhood’s streets, especially Derrick Avenue. These establishments offer the neighbourhood a unique charm and authenticity.
As the heart of Johannesburg gave way to squatters and peeling paint, Johannesburg’s old Chinatown in Newtown at the bottom end of Commissioner Street upped and moved here almost silently. What had previously been primarily a Jewish suburb (there is still one functioning synagogue) became a cosmopolitan collection of shops while maintaining its residential homes.
In close proximity to Gilooly’s Farm and Bruma Lake, which now resembles a fishing village with a number of eateries, shops, and bargain hunters, Cyrildene is located immediately below Observatory. Like many other southern suburbs, Cyrildene has adopted the trend of renovating older homes. The neighbourhood is filled with typical solid face-brick residences from the 1950s, many of which have been renovated with stripped flooring and pressed ceilings.
Along with the fishermen’s community, Bruma Lake is home to one of the most fascinating lakeside markets, which has over 600 vendors and stocks a wide variety of arts, crafts, textiles, antiques, and curios that offer visitors a true sense of the city’s informal commerce.
Weekend family picnics are popular at Gillooly’s Farm, which is located in the Harvey Nature Reserve’s southernmost section. Gillooly’s offers a number of lovely gardens that provide a truly rural atmosphere in the heart of the suburbs and are located just west of Cyrildene in the neighbourhood of Bedfordview. Here, one can picnic or go for a walk (there are hiking trails).
Cyrildene Map
Cyrildene is a suburb in Gauteng. Cyrildene is situated nearby to Bruma, and south of Linksfield.
History Of Cyrildene
The area is located on a portion of the Doornfontein farm, an old Witwatersrand farm. The area was designated as a suburb on May 18 of that year and was given the Cyril Cooper name by the land developer. Cyrildene was mostly a Jewish neighbourhood until around 2000. The majority of the new residents of the Chinatown in Cyrildene are first-generation Chinese immigrants from mainland China, in contrast to the former and now largely abandoned Chinatown in Newtown, which was predominately made up of second or third-generation South African Chinese.