Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante this week announced that the city’s historic Chinatown became its first area designated as a heritage site, making it part of Quebec province's Directory of Cultural Heritage. What it means: The city broke the news in a press release on Wednesday, declaring its Chinatown as the only “significant historic Chinatown preserved in Quebec and Eastern Canada” and the only French-speaking Chinatown in North America. Officials say its registration into Quebec's Directory of Cultural Heritage creates “a lever for cultural and tourism development."