Liverpool's Chinese community is one of the oldest in Europe, dating to when sailors from around the world flocked to the city's docks.
Growing up the hill from Liverpool city centre is a new collection of Chinese businesses catering for a younger audience than the shops and restaurants centred on Great Nelson Street.
Only a few years ago, just Tesco and KFC sat in retail units on Myrtle Parade opposite the University of Liverpool.
A flurry of stores have since opened, and students are driving a new wave of Chinese culture in Liverpool, like the sailors did generations before.
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A bubble tea store called Happy Lemon opened on the corner of Myrtle Parade and Bedford Street South in December 2019.
They serve up a range of milk and fresh teas, like a mango tea topped with mango purls.
Weng San, 44: "Bubble tea is their culture. In their hometowns, bubble tea is everywhere, so they want to find their home taste.
"That's why, all around here, you see bubble tea and Chinese food."
The University of Liverpool has strong links with China, co-owning a university in the east of the country with Xi'an Jiaotong University.
Students from Liverpool go to China for semesters or years abroad, and people from China make the same journey in reverse.
The Myrtle Street area is a hub of both student accommodation and more permanent residential buildings.
Although it was overseas students who attracted these businesses, they've found a footing among local residents too.
Weng San said: "When I first joined, what impressed me was that there are a lot of local customers, because I thought it mostly would be the overseas students.
"But I found that locals or people from other countries, they're starting to accept this bubble tea culture as well, and they love it and they'll come back again."
This is also the experience of the three-month-old bakery that sells layered matcha cake and coconut buns two doors down from Happy Lemon.
Flowers adorn the walls of Sweet Time Bakery, reminiscent of cafés and bakeries in China where people sit with friends, taking photos in the picturesque setting to then post on social media.
Banking and finance graduate Weihao, 24, said: "I've found that a lot of local people come here, even more than the Chinese students."
Like many people here, he goes to the nearby restaurants like Mr Zhang's Kitchen.
But a lot of students are short on cash and prefer to cook for themselves, turning to eJoy for ingredients they can't find in Tesco.
The Chinese supermarket used to be where Mr Zhang's is when it first opened around seven years ago, before moving to a larger unit in 2017.
Business was "terrible" and "very quiet every day" during the lockdowns when their target market returned home, according to store manager Lian, 24.
What that lull in footfall revealed was a relatively steady flow of local customers who have helped keep businesses here alive these last two years.
Lian said: "Before we didn't notice that, but because of the lockdown and a lot of Chinese students are still in China, we realised we actually have a lot of local customers."
For both Lian and the Chinese students who come here, shops like this are vital for making them feel at home in Liverpool.
She explained: "Some special things are only in this kind of store.
"We can find some substitutes in local supermarkets, but it's different."
The freezers are full of frozen foods, the shelves are stocked with spices and sauces, and even Lian's favourite brand of noodles.
Near the entrance are a row of food stalls serving noodles and steamed buns called xiaolongbao.
More and more businesses are springing up on Myrtle Street, including a second branch of Jidong bubble tea, which has another store on the other side of the University of Liverpool campus.
Weng San of Happy Lemon hopes the pandemic will pass and business will continue flourishing.
She said: "A few years ago, this was a dead area where nobody would go, and you can see a lot of restaurants now.
"You can build up the economy for Liverpool and this area."
