Friendship Archway

This guide to the Friendship Archway in Washington, D.C. follows architect Alfred Liu, hired in 1984 by Mayor Marion Barry to design a ceremonial gate funded jointly with Beijing. You'll hear why Chinatown's own elders, led by Lawrence Locke of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, fought the project as a Taiwanese-rooted community wary of a mainland-funded monument, and how a rival gate was raised in protest a few blocks away. It traces the seven roofs and thousands of hand-painted dragons built into the design.