Chinese in dealing with the host society by offering a translation and interpreting service. In the 1970s and 1980s, many ethnic Chinese who had settled in Vietnam for generations were forced to leave as "boat people" following the Vietnam War. Many settled in Greenwich, Lewisham, and Southwark, as well as elsewhere in the UK. The 1980s and 1990s saw a migration of academics and professionals from Chinatown to the suburbs of Croydon and Colindale. Since the 1980s, London's Chinatown has been transformed by Westminster City Council to become a major tourist attraction and a cultural focal point of the Chinese community in London. Today over 100,000 Chinese people live in London, and are more evenly dispersed throughout the city and its boroughs. Roughly a quarter of the Chinese population of the United Kingdom now live in London, mainly in the boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets, Camden, Southwark and Westminster. Mare Street in Hackney is the hub of a small Vietnamese community. The principal languages of the London Chinese community are Hokkien, Cantonese, Foochow, Teochew, Hainanese and Hakka (from the New Territories, Hong Kong, and Vietnam). There are also some speakers of Hokkien, Teochew and Hainanese. The Chinese from the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore tend to speak Mandarin (or Putonghua). A large network of Chinese schools and community centres offers support and a means of passing on cultural identity from one generation to the next. Sheffield Sheffield has no official Chinatown although London Road, Highfield is the centre of the Sheffield Chinese community. There are many Chinese restaurants, supermarkets, and community stores as well as the Sheffield Chinese Community Centre. The Sheffield Chinese community is pressing for the street to be formally labelled Sheffield's Chinatown. The Chinese community in Sheffield is also spreading toward the city centre, with a notable number of Chinese people, greatly influenced by the city's university, which has the largest number of Chinese in the country. Wales The largest two communities of Chinese people in Wales are in Swansea (approx 2,000+), and Cardiff (approx 1,750+). A number of the former seamen from the port of Liverpool have retired, with a resultant aged community in Gwynedd. There are noted Chinatowns in both cities, as well as dedicated Chinese cemeteries. See also British Chinese China–United Kingdom relations References British people of Chinese descent History of immigration to the United Kingdom Chinese emigration