A Chinatown is a section of an urban area containing a large population of Chinese people within a city that is not predominantly Chinese. Chinatowns are most common in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and North America.
Chinatowns were formed in the 19th century in many areas of the United States partially as a result of the Chinese Exclusion Act and other anti-Chinese policieswhich forbade, to the Chinese, property ownership and sometimes even residence in certain cities or towns*.
In the past, overcrowded Chinatowns in urban areas were shunned by the general non-Chinese public as ethnic ghettos, and seen as places of vice and cultural insularism where "unassimilable foreigners" congregated. Nowadays, many old and new Chinatowns are considered important centers of commercialism and tourism; some of them also serve, in various degrees, as centers of multiculturalism in progressive societies, if in a somewhat superficial manner.
Quite a number of Chinatowns have a Disneyland-esque atmosphere, while others are actual living and working communities; some are a synthesis of both. Chinatowns also range from rundown ghettoes to sites of recent development. In some, recent investments have revitalized run-down and blighted areas and turned them into centers of vibrant economic and social activity. In some cases this has led to gentrification and a reduction in the specifically Chinese character of the neighborhoods.
Many Chinatowns have a long history, such as Shinchimachi, the nearly three-century old Chinatown in Nagasaki, Japan, or Yaowarat Road in Bangkok, which was founded by Chinese traders more than 200 years ago. Other Chinatowns are much newer: the Chinatown in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. formed in the 1990s. Most Chinatowns grew without any organized plans set in place, while a very few (such as the one in Las Vegas and a new area outside the city limits of Seoul, South Korea to be completed by late 2005) resulted from deliberate master plans by the Chinatown community overlord (overseer) (sometimes as part of redevelopment projects to better the location). Indeed, many areas of the world are embracing the development and redevelopment (or regeneration) of Chinatowns, such as in Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. In Ireland and Italy, national-culture sentiments have made efforts at such redevelopment more challenging.
The Hokkien and Teochew (both groups speaking the Minnan sub-group of Chinese dialects), along with Cantonese are the dominant group in Southeast Asian Chinatowns. The Hakka groups established Chinatowns in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Northern Chinese settled in Korea in the 1940s. In Europe, early Chinese were seamen and longshoremen; Chinatowns were established in European port cities as Chinese traders settled in the area. France received the largest settlement of the early Chinese immigrant laborers. Chinatowns are also found in the Indian cities of Calcutta and Bombay.
By the late 1970s, the Vietnam War also played a significant part in the development and redevelopment of various Chinatowns in developed Western countries. As a result, many Chinatowns have become pan-Asian business districts and residential neighborhoods. By contrast, most Chinatowns in the past were solely inhabited by Chinese from southeastern China.
The historic Chinatown in San Francisco (Chinatown, San Francisco) has defined the Westerners' perceptions of Chinatowns.
Yaowarat Road, Bangkok, Thailand Chinatown is located in one of the oldest areas in Bangkok. See Yaowarat Road.
Shinchimachi, Nagasaki, Japan
With the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty by the Qing in the late 17th century, some Chinese fled to Japan and formed a Chinatown community in Nagasaki before the start of the 18th century, making it (along with the Binondo district of Manila of the Philippines) one of the earliest Chinatowns to be established. Under the isolationist policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, Chinese and Dutch traders and settlers were confined to Nagasaki. Trade was subsequently resumed with China and Shinchimachi became a trading hub. Shinchimachi has long been the ethnic Chinese cultural and commercial center in Japan.
Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
In the early 18th century, Chinese settlers established Chinatowns mainly in Southeast Asia, including the Cholon district of the former Saigon, Vietnam. Cholon was heavily fortified by Chinese to protect against frequent harassment by Tay Son loyalists. It remains largely a bustling Cantonese-speaking enclave.
Chinatown, San Francisco, California, United States
As a port city, San Francisco's Chinatown formed in the 1850s and served as a gateway for incoming immigrants who arrived during the California gold rush and construction of the transcontinental railroads of the wild western United States. Chinatown was later reconceptualized as a tourist attraction in the 1910s. Once a community of predominantly Taishanese Chinese-speaking inhabitants, it has remained the preeminent Chinese center in the United States.
Chinatown, London, United Kingdom
London's original Chinatown was established in the Limehouse district in the late 19th century as Chinese seamen established themselves in the city. Limehouse would become synonymous with Chinese residents. Its reputation has come to define Chinatowns as exotic and dangerous with opium dens and gambling dens (called fan tans) as well as places where white girls disappeared mysteriously. Chinatown served as the setting for classic British anti-Chinese literature such as villainous Dr. Fu Manchu as well as a setting for one Sherlock Holmes story. Limehouse was destroyed during the blitz of London by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Another Chinatown was established in the Soho district in the 1950s and 1960s.
Chinatown, le quartier chinois, Paris, France
The history, and even location, of Paris's Chinatown have followed political changes in both France and Asia in the last 100 years.
During World War I, 140,000 Chinese arrived in France as temporary labour, replacing French male workers who went to the war. Most left after 1918, but a community of 2,000 stayed and created the first Chinatown (l'Ilot Chalon) near the Gare de Lyon. Nothing is left of it today.
In the 1930s and 1940s, waves of Wenzhou Chinese settled in Paris and worked as leather workers near the Jewish neighborhood in the 3e arrondissement. Taking over the wholesale trade lost by the Jews during the German occupation of France during World War II, this Chinese community still exists today, but remains extremely discreet. No obvious signs of Chinese culture are to be seen in the rue du Temple, though most shops in this wholesale neighborhood are held by overseas Chinese.
Today's main Chinatown was created in the 1970s in 13e arrondissement. Fleeing persecution and civil wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, those overseas Chinese, mostly Teochew and Cantonese, settled in this newly renovated area. Unlike the Wenzhou settlement in 3e arrondissement, clear and obvious signs of Chinese culture are to be seen and strong community business has developed: not only restaurants and food retail, but also banks, real estate agencies and other services. An estimated 35,000 residents of Chinese origin now live in this area of Paris.
With China opening up, more Chinese settlements are developing in Paris and its suburban areas. In Belleville (19e arrondissement), another wave of Wenzhou have settled and has taken over this originally North African settlement. Large communities are to be found in small towns outside Paris like Lognes/Torcy, or Noisy Le Grand, where earlier migrants settled, but again without bringing out the usual signs of Chinatown. Illegal workshops also exist in different areas in the 11e arrondissement and outside of the city of Paris.
Many tourist-destination metropolitan Chinatowns can be easily distinguished by large red arch entrance structures known in Mandarin Chinese as Paifang (sometimes accompanied by mason lion statues called "foo dogs" on the opposite sides of the street that greet visitors). They usually have special inscriptions in Chinese. Historically, these gateways were donated to a particular city as a gift from the Republic of China government and business organizations. Construction of these red arches was also financed by local financial contributions from the Chinatown community. The lengths of these arches generally vary from Chinatown to Chinatown; some span an entire intersection and some are smaller in height and width. Some paifang can be made of wood, masonry, or steel and may incorporate an elaborate or simple design. The popular perception of Chinatown often includes these arches.
San Francisco's Chinatown retains many historic restaurants, including those established from the 1910s to the 1950s, although some that lasted for generations have shuttered in recent years and others have modernized their menus. Many Chinatown eateries from that era specialized in American Chinese cuisine (or, depending on where they were located, Canadian Chinese cuisine, Chinese Cuban cuisine, etc.), especially chop suey and chow mein. They often used gaudy neon lighting to attract non-Chinese customers, large red doors, Chinese paper lanterns, and zodiac placemats. Often these restaurants had English-language signs written in a typeface intended to appear stereotypically "Chinese" by being composed of strokes similar to those in hanzi writing.
Generally speaking, restaurants serving authentic Chinese food primarily to immigrant customers have never conformed to these Chinatown stereotypes as much as those aimed at non-Chinese tourists (although some banquet-oriented restaurants do use some of the same features). Because of new ethnic Chinese immigration and the expanded palate of many contemporary cultures, the remaining American Chinese and Canadian Chinese cuisine restaurants are seen as anachronisms but remain popular and profitable. In many Chinatowns, there are now many large, authentic Cantonese seafood restaurants, restaurants specializing in other varieties of Chinese cuisine such as Hakka cuisine, Szechuan cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, etc., and small restaurants with delis.
Lit by neon signage, restaurants offering chop suey or chow mein mainly for the benefit for non-Chinese customers were fairly frequent fixtures in Chinatowns of old. These dishes are offered in standard barbecue restaurants and takeouts.
Some small Chinese restaurants in Chinatowns may offer both Chinese American cuisine — for Western customers - and authentic Chinese cuisine for Chinese-speaking customers. According to an interview of Chinese cuisine chef Martin Yan (host of the television program Martin Yan's Chinatown), more and more non-Chinese are becoming acquainted with authentic cuisine.
In integrating with the larger population, Chinese cuisine has evolved. To adapt to local tastes, the best Chinese Mexican-style Cantonese cuisine is said to be found in Mexicali's Chinatown (or La Chinesca in its local Spanish) or the Chinese Peruvian cuisine in the Barrio Chino of Lima.
Vietnamese immigrants, both ethnic Chinese and non-Chinese, have opened restaurants in many Chinatowns, serving Vietnamese pho beef noodle soups and Franco-Vietnamese sandwiches. Some immigrants have also started restaurants serving Teochew Chinese cuisine. Some Chinatowns old and new may also contain several pan-Asian restaurants offering a variety of Asian noodles under one roof.
Most Chinatown businesses are engaged in the import-export and wholesale businesses; hence a large number of trading companies are found in Chinatowns.
These businesses also sell red, wooden Buddhist altars and small statues for worship. Per Chinese custom, an offering of oranges are usually placed in front of the statue in the altar. Some altars are stacked atop each other. These altars may be found in many Chinatown businesses.
Some Chinatowns hold an annual "Miss Chinatown" beauty pageant, such as "Miss Chinatown San Francisco," "Miss Chinatown Hawaii," Miss Chinatown Houston" or Miss Chinatown Atlanta
Dragon and lion dances are performed in Chinatown every Chinese New Year. They are also performed to celebrate a grand opening of a new Chinatown business, such as a restaurant or bank. In Chinatowns of Western countries, the performers of dragon and lion dances in Chinatown are not necessarily all ethnic Chinese.
Ceremonial wreaths are also usually placed in front of new Chinatown businesses by well-wishers, to assure future success.
Overcoming an earlier reputation of being dirty slums, Chinatowns currently enjoy the rewards of attracting tourists with Chinese cuisine and culture. The economic success brings with it Chinese triad and organized crimes with rival gangs competing for new lucrative opportunities in extortion, people smuggling, gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking. This has led to high profile shoot-outs where innocent bystanders and police have been killed. Although some Chinatowns have experienced recent growth and success, many others are facing the difficult challenges of decay and abandonment. This has led some to fear that redevelopment initiatives will erase struggling Chinatowns completely. In 2003, along with these social problems, SARS hit Chinese Canadians' and Chinese Americans' core tourist businesses the hardest, as tourists and local residents became reluctant to risk infection.
In Chinese, Chinatown is usually called, in Standard Mandarin, Tángrénjiē (唐人街): "Tang people streets". Indeed, some Chinatowns are just a street, such as the relatively short Fisgard Street in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada or the sprawling 4-mile (6.4km) long new Chinatown of Bellaire Boulevard in Houston, Texas. In Cantonese, it is called Tong yan gai (Tang people street) and the modern Tong yan fau (唐人埠), which literally means Tang people town or more accurately, Chinese town. Hong ngin gai is used in the Taishan dialect, the once prevalent dialect spoken in North American Chinatowns. It is Tong ngin gai in Hakka, one of the widely spoken and diffused dialects among overseas Chinese. Tang and Tong refer to the Tang Dynasty, an era in Chinese history. A more modern Chinese name is Huábù (華埠: Chinese City), used in the semi-official Chinese translations of some cities' documents and signs. Bù, pronounced sometimes as fù, usually means seaport; but in this sense, it means city or town. The literal word-for-word translation of Chinatown is Zhōngguó Chéng (中國城), occasionally used in Chinese writing.
In Francophone regions (such as France and Quebec), Chinatown is often referred to as le quartier Chinois (the Chinese Quarter; plural: les quartiers Chinois) and the Spanish-language term is usually el barrio chino (the Chinese neighborhood; plural: los barrios chinos), used in Spain and Latin America. (However, barrio chino or its Catalan cognate barri xines do not always refer to a Chinese neighborhood: these are also common terms for a disreputable district with drugs and prostitution, and often no connection to the Chinese.) Other countries also have idiosyncratic names for Chinatown in local languages and in Chinese; however, some local terms may not necessarily translate as Chinatown. For example, Singapore's tourist-centric Chinatown is called in local Singaporean Mandarin Niúchēshǔi (牛车水), which literally means "Ox-cart water" from the Malay 'Kreta Ayer' in reference to the water carts that used to ply the area. Some languages have adopted the English-language term, such as Dutch, German, and Bahasa Malaysia. In Malaysia, the term Chinatown is named under administrative reason. Instead, the name Chee Chong Kai( 茨厂街)is preferred and agreed upon by the locals. Chee in Cantonese means tapioca, chong means factory and kai means street. This is originated from a factory that was set up by Yap Ah Loy, a rich Kapitan (a Chinese immigrant that has administrative and political power under the British rule) that made tapioca. Chee Chong Kai is also called jalan Petaling or "Petaling Street".
Several alternate English names for Chinatown include China Town (generally used in British and Australian English), The Chinese District, Chinese Quarter and China Alley (an antiquated term used primarily in several rural towns in the western United States for a Chinese community; these are now historical sites).
Chinatowns are most common in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe, but are common across much of the globe. Immigration patterns determine the economic, political and social character of individual Chinatowns, as do their intranational locations (urban, suburban or rural). Most Chinatowns grow organically but some countries have taken to building and promoting Chinatowns within their bigger cities.
Chinatowns | Chinese American history | Ethnic enclaves
Chinatown | Chinatown | Chinatown | Chinatown | Pecinan | Chinatown | 中華街 | Chinatown | جوڭگولۇقلار كوچىسى | Chinatown (dzielnica) | Chinatown | Чайна-таун | Chinatown | Chinatown | Chinatown | 唐人街
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the
"Chinatown".
Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world