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Chinatown

Chinatown (Chinese: 唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

Chinatown
New York's Manhattan Chinatown has the highest concentration of Chinese people outside of Asia.[1][2][3]
Chinese唐人街
Literal meaning"Tang people street"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTángrénjiē
Bopomofoㄊㄤˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄝ
Wade–GilesTʻang2 jen2 chieh1
IPA[tʰǎŋ.ɻə̌n.tɕjé]
Wu
RomanizationDaon nin ka
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTòhngyàhngāai
JyutpingTong4 jan4 gaai1
IPA[tʰɔːŋ˩ jɐn˩ kaːi˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTông-jîn-ke
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCTòng-ìng-kĕ
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese中國城
Simplified Chinese中国城
Literal meaning"China-town"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōngguóchéng
Bopomofoㄓㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊ
Wade–GilesChung1-kuo2 chʻeng2
IPA[ʈʂʊ́ŋ.kwǒ.ʈʂʰə̌ŋ]
Wu
RomanizationTson koh zen
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJūnggwoksìhng
JyutpingZung1 gwok3 sing4
IPA[tsoŋ˥.kʷɔːk̚˧.seŋ˩]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTiong-kok-siânn
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCDŭng-guók-siàng
Second alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese華埠
Simplified Chinese华埠
Literal meaning"Chinese district"

The development of most Chinatowns typically resulted from human migration to an area without any or with few Chinese residents. Binondo in Manila, established in 1594, is recognized as the world's oldest Chinatown. Notable early examples outside Asia include San Francisco's Chinatown in the United States and Melbourne's Chinatown in Australia, which were founded in the early 1850s during the California and Victoria gold rushes, respectively. A more modern example, in Montville, Connecticut, was caused by the displacement of Chinese workers in New York's Manhattan Chinatown following the September 11th attacks in 2001.[4][5]

Definition edit

Oxford Dictionaries defines "Chinatown" as "... a district of any non-Asian town, especially a city or seaport, in which the population is predominantly of Chinese origin".[6] However, some Chinatowns may have little to do with China.[7] Some "Vietnamese" enclaves are in fact a city's "second Chinatown", and some Chinatowns are in fact pan-Asian, meaning they could also be counted as a Koreatown or Little India.[8] One example includes Asiatown in Cleveland, Ohio. It was initially referred to as a Chinatown but was subsequently renamed due to the influx of non-Chinese Asian Americans who opened businesses there. Today the district acts as a unifying factor for the Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Nepalese and Thai communities of Cleveland.[9]

Further ambiguities with the term can include Chinese ethnoburbs which by definition are "... suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas[10][11] An article in The New York Times blurs the line further by categorizing very different Chinatowns such as Chinatown, Manhattan, which exists in an urban setting as "traditional"; Monterey Park's Chinatown, which exists in a "suburban" setting (and labeled as such); and Austin, Texas's Chinatown, which is in essence a "fabricated" Chinese-themed mall. This contrasts with narrower definitions, where the term only described Chinatown in a city setting.[12]

History edit

Trading centers populated predominantly by Chinese men and their native spouses have long existed throughout Southeast Asia. Emigration to other parts of the world from China accelerated in the 1860s with the signing of the Treaty of Peking (1860), which opened China's borders to free movement. Early emigrants came primarily from the coastal provinces of Guangdong (Canton, Kwangtung) and Fujian (Fukien, Hokkien) in southeastern China – where the people generally speak Toishanese, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew (Chiuchow) and Hokkien. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, a significant amount of Chinese emigration to North America originated from four counties called Sze Yup, located west of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, making Toishanese a dominant variety of the Chinese language spoken in Chinatowns in Canada and the United States.

As conditions in China have improved in recent decades, many Chinatowns have lost their initial mission, which was to provide a transitional place into a new culture. As net migration has slowed into them, the smaller Chinatowns have slowly decayed, often to the point of becoming purely historical and no longer serving as ethnic enclaves.[13]

In Asia edit

 
Binondo, Manila, home to the world's oldest Chinatown

In the Spanish Philippines, where the oldest surviving Chinatowns are located, the district where Chinese migrants (sangleyes) were required to live is called a parián, which were also often a marketplace for trade goods. Most of them were established in the late 16th century to house Chinese migrants as part of the early Spanish colonial policy of ethnic segregation. There were numerous pariáns throughout the Philippines in various locations, the names of which still survive into modern district names. This include the Parián de Arroceros of Intramuros, Manila (which was eventually moved several times, ending up in Binondo). The term was also carried into Latin America by Filipino migrants.[14][15][16] The central market place of Mexico City (now part of Zócalo) selling imported goods from the Manila galleons in the 18th and early 19th centuries was called "Parián de Manila" (or just "Parián").[17]

Along the coastal areas of Southeast Asia, several Chinese settlements existed as early as the 16th century according to Zheng He and Tomé Pires' travel accounts. Melaka during the Portuguese colonial period, for instance, had a large Chinese population in Campo China. They settled down at port towns under the authority's approval for trading. After the European colonial powers seized and ruled the port towns in the 16th century, Chinese supported European traders and colonists, and created autonomous settlements.

Several Asian Chinatowns, although not yet called by that name, have a long history. Those in Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama, Japan,[18] Binondo in Manila, Hoi An and Bao Vinh in central Vietnam[19] all existed in 1600. Glodok, the Chinese quarter of Jakarta, Indonesia, dates to 1740.[20]

Chinese presence in India dates back to the 5th century CE, with the first recorded Chinese settler in Calcutta named Young Atchew around 1780.[21] Chinatowns first appeared in the Indian cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai.

The Chinatown centered on Yaowarat Road in Bangkok, Thailand, was founded at the same time as the city itself, in 1782.[22]

Outside of Asia edit

 
Chinatown, Melbourne is the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western World and the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere.[23][24][25][26]

Many Chinese immigrants arrived in Liverpool in the late 1850s in the employ of the Blue Funnel Shipping Line, a cargo transport company established by Alfred Holt. The commercial shipping line created strong trade links between the cities of Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Liverpool, mainly in the importation of silk, cotton, and tea.[27] They settled near the docks in south Liverpool, this area was heavily bombed during World War II, causing the Chinese community moving to the current location Liverpool Chinatown on Nelson Street.

The Chinatown in San Francisco is one of the largest in North America and the oldest north of Mexico. It served as a port of entry for early Chinese immigrants from the 1850s to the 1900s.[28] The area was the one geographical region deeded by the city government and private property owners which allowed Chinese persons to inherit and inhabit dwellings within the city. Many Chinese found jobs working for large companies seeking a source of labor, most famously as part of the Central Pacific[29] on the Transcontinental Railroad. Since it started in Omaha, that city had a notable Chinatown for almost a century.[30] Other cities in North America where Chinatowns were founded in the mid-nineteenth century include almost every major settlement along the West Coast from San Diego to Victoria. Other early immigrants worked as mine workers or independent prospectors hoping to strike it rich during the 1849 Gold Rush.

Economic opportunity drove the building of further Chinatowns in the United States. The initial Chinatowns were built in the Western United States in states such as California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. As the transcontinental railroad was built, more Chinatowns started to appear in railroad towns such as St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Butte, Montana. Chinatowns then subsequently emerged in many East Coast cities, including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Baltimore. With the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, many southern states such as Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia began to hire Chinese for work in place of slave labor.[31]

The history of Chinatowns was not always peaceful, especially when labor disputes arose. Racial tensions flared when lower-paid Chinese workers replaced white miners in many mountain-area Chinatowns, such as in Wyoming with the Rock Springs Massacre. Many of these frontier Chinatowns became extinct as American racism surged and the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed.

In Australia, the Victorian gold rush, which began in 1851, attracted Chinese prospectors from the Guangdong area. A community began to form in the eastern end of Little Bourke Street, Melbourne by the mid-1850s; the area is still the center of the Melbourne Chinatown, making it the oldest continuously occupied Chinatown in a western city (since the San Francisco one was destroyed and rebuilt). Gradually expanding, it reached a peak in the early 20th century, with Chinese business, mainly furniture workshops, occupying a block wide swath of the city, overlapping into the adjacent 'Little Lon' red light district. With restricted immigration it shrunk again, becoming a strip of Chinese restaurants by the late 1970s, when it was celebrated with decorative arches. However, with a recent huge influx of students from mainland China, it is now the center of a much larger area of noodle shops, travel agents, restaurants, and groceries. The Australian gold rushes also saw the development of a Chinatown in Sydney, at first around The Rocks, near the docks, but it has moved twice, first in the 1890s to the east side of the Haymarket area, near the new markets, then in the 1920s concentrating on the west side.[32] Nowadays, Sydney's Chinatown is centered on Dixon Street.

Other Chinatowns in European capitals, including Paris and London, were established at the turn of the 20th century. The first Chinatown in London was located in the Limehouse area of the East End of London[33] at the start of the 20th century. The Chinese population engaged in business which catered to the Chinese sailors who frequented the Docklands. The area acquired a bad reputation from exaggerated reports of opium dens and slum housing.

France received a large settlement of Chinese immigrant laborers, mostly from the city of Wenzhou, in the Zhejiang province of China. Significant Chinatowns sprung up in Belleville and the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

1970s to the present edit

By the late 1970s, refugees and exiles from the Vietnam War played a significant part in the redevelopment of Chinatowns in developed Western countries. As a result, many existing Chinatowns have become pan-Asian business districts and residential neighborhoods. By contrast, most Chinatowns in the past had been largely inhabited by Chinese from southeastern China.

In 2001, the events of September 11 resulted in a mass migration of about 14,000 Chinese workers from Manhattan's Chinatown to Montville, Connecticut, due to the fall of the garment industry. Chinese workers transitioned to casino jobs fueled by the development of the Mohegan Sun casino.

In 2012, Tijuana's Chinatown formed as a result of availability of direct flights to China. The La Mesa District of Tijuana was formerly a small enclave, but has tripled in size as a result of direct flights to Shanghai. It has an ethnic Chinese population rise from 5,000 in 2009 to roughly 15,000 in 2012, overtaking Mexicali's Chinatown as the largest Chinese enclave in Mexico.

 
The busy intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in the Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), Downtown Flushing, Queens, New York City. The segment of Main Street between Kissena Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, punctuated by the Long Island Rail Road trestle overpass, represents the cultural heart of Flushing Chinatown. Housing over 30,000 individuals born in China alone, the largest by this metric outside Asia, Flushing has become home to the largest and one of the fastest-growing Chinatowns in the world.[36] Flushing is undergoing rapid gentrification by Chinese transnational entities,[37] and the growth of the business activity at the core of Downtown Flushing, dominated by the Flushing Chinatown, has continued despite the Covid-19 pandemic.[38] As of 2023, illegal Chinese immigration to New York City, and especially to the city's Flushing Chinatown, has accelerated.[39]

The New York metropolitan area, consisting of New York City, Long Island, and nearby areas within the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, is home to the largest Chinese-American population of any metropolitan area within the United States and the largest Chinese population outside of China, enumerating an estimated 893,697 in 2017,[40] and including at least 12 Chinatowns, including nine in New York City proper alone.[3] Steady immigration from mainland China, both legal[41][42] and illegal,[43] has fueled Chinese-American population growth in the New York metropolitan area. New York's status as an alpha global city, its extensive mass transit system, and the New York metropolitan area's enormous economic marketplace are among the many reasons it remains a major international immigration hub. The Manhattan Chinatown contains the largest concentration of ethnic Chinese in the Western hemisphere,[2] and the Flushing Chinatown in Queens has become the world's largest Chinatown.[44]

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected tourism and business in Chinatown, San Francisco[45] and Chinatown, Chicago, Illinois[46] as well as others worldwide.

Chinese settlements edit

History edit

Settlement pattern edit

  • The settlement was developed along a jetty and protected by Mazu temple, which was dedicated for the Goddess of Sea for safe sailing. Market place was open in front of Mazu temple, and shophouses were built along the street leading from west side of the Mazu temple. At the end of the street, Tudigong (Land God) temple was placed. As the settlement prospered as commercial town, Kuan Ti temple would be added for commercial success, especially by people from Hong Kong and Guangdong province. This core pattern was maintained even the settlement got expanded as a city, and forms historical urban center of the Southeast Asia.[49]

Characteristics edit

The features described below are characteristic of many modern Chinatowns.

Demographics edit

The early Chinatowns such as those in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the United States were naturally destinations for people of Chinese descent as migration were the result of opportunities such as the California Gold Rush and the Transcontinental Railroad drawing the population in, creating natural Chinese enclaves that were almost always 100% exclusively Han Chinese, which included both people born in China and in the enclave, in this case American-born Chinese.[50] In some free countries such as the United States and Canada, housing laws that prevent discrimination also allows neighborhoods that may have been characterized as "All Chinese" to also allow non-Chinese to reside in these communities. For example, the Chinatown in Philadelphia has a sizeable non-Chinese population residing within the community.[51]

A recent study also suggests that the demographic change is also driven by gentrification of what were previously Chinatown neighborhoods. The influx of luxury housing is speeding up the gentrification of such neighborhoods. The trend for emergence of these types of natural enclaves is on the decline (with the exceptions being the continued growth and emergence of newer Chinatowns in Queens and Brooklyn in New York City), only to be replaced by newer "Disneyland-like" attractions, such as a new Chinatown that will be built in the Catskills region of New York.[52] This includes the endangerment of existing historical Chinatowns that will eventually stop serving the needs of Chinese immigrants.

Newer developments like those in Norwich, Connecticut, and the San Gabriel Valley, which are not necessarily considered "Chinatowns" in the sense that they do not necessarily contain the Chinese architectures or Chinese language signs as signatures of an officially sanctioned area that was designated either in law or signage stating so, differentiate areas that are called "Chinatowns" versus locations that have "significant" populations of people of Chinese descent. For example, San Jose, California in the United States has 63,434 people (2010 U.S. Census) of Chinese descent, and yet "does not have a Chinatown". Some "official" Chinatowns have Chinese populations much lower than that.[53]

Town-Scape edit

Many tourist-destination metropolitan Chinatowns can be distinguished by large red arch entrance structures known in Mandarin Chinese as Paifang (sometimes accompanied by imperial guardian lion statues on either side of the structure, to greet visitors). Other Chinese architectural styles such as the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Sydney Chinatown and the Chinese stone lions at the gate to the Victoria, British Columbia Chinatown are present in some Chinatowns. Mahale Chiniha, the Chinatown in Iran, contains many buildings that were constructed in the Chinese architectural style.

Paifangs usually have special inscriptions in Chinese. Historically, these gateways were donated to a particular city as a gift from the Republic of China and People's Republic of China, or local governments (such as Chinatown, San Francisco) and business organizations. The long-neglected Chinatown in Havana, Cuba, received materials for its paifang from the People's Republic of China as part of the Chinatown's gradual renaissance. Construction of these red arches is often financed by local financial contributions from the Chinatown community. Some of these structures 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.

Benevolent and business associations edit

 
Headquarters of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Chinatown, San Francisco

A major component of many Chinatowns is the family benevolent association, which provides some degree of aid to immigrants. These associations generally provide social support, religious services, death benefits (members' names in Chinese are generally enshrined on tablets and posted on walls), meals, and recreational activities for ethnic Chinese, especially for older Chinese migrants. Membership in these associations can be based on members sharing a common Chinese surname or belonging to a common clan, spoken Chinese dialect, specific village, region or country of origin, and so on. Many have their own facilities.

Some examples include San Francisco's prominent Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (中華總會館 Zhōnghuá Zǒng Huìguǎn), aka Chinese Six Companies and Los Angeles' Southern California Teochew Association. The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association is among the largest umbrella groups of benevolent associations in the North America, which branches in several Chinatowns. Politically, the CCBA has traditionally been aligned with the Kuomintang and the Republic of China.

The London Chinatown Chinese Association is active in Chinatown, London. Chinatown, Paris has an institution in the Association des Résidents en France d'origine indochinoise and it servicing overseas Chinese immigrants in Paris who were born in the former French Indochina.

Traditionally, Chinatown-based associations have also been aligned with ethnic Chinese business interests, such as restaurant, grocery, and laundry (antiquated) associations in Chinatowns in North America. In Chicago's Chinatown, the On Leong Merchants Association was active.

Names edit

English edit

 
Official signs in Boston pointing towards "Chinatown"

Although the term "Chinatown" was first used in Asia, it is not derived from a Chinese language. Its earliest appearance seems to have been in connection with the Chinese quarter of Singapore, which by 1844 was already being called "China Town" or "Chinatown" by the British colonial government.[54][55] This may have been a word-for-word translation into English of the Malay name for that quarter, which in those days was probably "Kampong China" or possibly "Kota China" or "Kampong Tionghua/Chunghwa/Zhonghua".

The first appearance of a Chinatown outside Singapore may have been in 1852, in a book by the Rev. Hatfield, who applied the term to the Chinese part of the main settlement on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena.[56] The island was a regular way-station on the voyage to Europe and North America from Indian Ocean ports, including Singapore.

 
Sign inside Jefferson Station in Philadelphia pointing to "Chinatown"

One of the earliest American usages dates to 1855, when San Francisco newspaper The Daily Alta California described a "pitched battle on the streets of [SF's] Chinatown".[57] Other Alta articles from the late 1850s make it clear that areas called "Chinatown" existed at that time in several other California cities, including Oroville and San Andres.[58][59] By 1869, "Chinatown had acquired its full modern meaning all over the U.S. and Canada. For instance, an Ohio newspaper wrote: "From San Diego to Sitka..., every town and hamlet has its 'Chinatown'."[60]

In British publications before the 1890s, "Chinatown" appeared mainly in connection with California. At first, Australian and New Zealand journalists also regarded Chinatowns as Californian phenomena. However, they began using the term to denote local Chinese communities as early as 1861 in Australia[61] and 1873 in New Zealand.[62] In most other countries, the custom of calling local Chinese communities "Chinatowns" is not older than the twentieth century.

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; some of these are now historical sites). In the case of Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada, China Alley was a parallel commercial street adjacent to the town's Main Street, enjoying a view over the river valley adjacent and also over the main residential part of Chinatown, which was largely of adobe construction. All traces of Chinatown and China Alley there have disappeared, despite a once large and prosperous community.

In Chinese edit

 
Street sign in Chinatown, Newcastle, with 唐人街 below the street name

In Chinese, Chinatown is usually called 唐人街, in Cantonese Tong jan gai, in Mandarin Tángrénjiē, in Hakka Tong ngin gai, and in Toisan Hong ngin gai, literally meaning "Tang people's street(s)". The Tang Dynasty was a zenith of the Chinese civilization, after which some Chinese call themselves. Some Chinatowns are indeed just one single street, such as the relatively short Fisgard Street in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

A more modern Chinese name is 華埠 (Cantonese: Waa Fau, Mandarin: Huábù) meaning "Chinese City", used in the semi-official Chinese translations of some cities' documents and signs. , pronounced sometimes in Mandarin as , usually means seaport; but in this sense, it means city or town. Tong jan fau (唐人埠 "Tang people's town") is also used in Cantonese nowadays. The literal word-for-word translation of ChinatownZhōngguó Chéng (中國城) is also used, but more frequently by visiting Chinese nationals rather than immigrants of Chinese descent who live in various Chinatowns.

Chinatowns in Southeast Asia have unique Chinese names used by the local Chinese, as there are large populations of people who are Overseas Chinese, living within the various major cities of Southeast Asia. As the population of Overseas Chinese, is widely dispersed in various enclaves, across each major Southeast Asian city, specific Chinese names are used instead.

For example, in Singapore, where 2.8 million ethnic Chinese constitute a majority 74% of the resident population,[63] the Chinese name for Chinatown is Niúchēshǔi (牛車水, Hokkien POJ: Gû-chia-chúi), which literally means "ox-cart water" from the Malay 'Kreta Ayer' in reference to the water carts that used to ply the area. The Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, (where 2 million ethnic Chinese comprise 30% of the population of Greater Kuala Lumpur[64]) while officially known as Petaling Street (Malay: Jalan Petaling), is referred to by Malaysian Chinese by its Cantonese name ci4 cong2 gaai1 (茨廠街, pinyin: Cíchǎng Jiē), literally "tapioca factory street", after a tapioca starch factory that once stood in the area. In Manila, Philippines, the area is called Mínlúnluò Qū 岷倫洛區, literally meaning the "Mín and Luò Rivers confluence district" but is actually a transliteration of the local term Binondo and an allusion to its proximity to the Pasig River.

Other languages edit

In Philippine Spanish, the term used for Chinatown districts is parián, the etymology of which is uncertain.[16] In the rest of the Spanish Empire, the Spanish-language term is usually barrio chino (Chinese neighborhood; plural: barrios chinos), used in Spain and Latin America. (However, barrio chino or its Catalan cognate barri xinès 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.).

In Portuguese, Chinatown is often referred to as Bairro chinês (the Chinese Neighbourhood; plural: bairros chineses).

In Francophone regions (such as France and Quebec), Chinatown is often referred to as le quartier chinois (the Chinese Neighbourhood; plural: les quartiers chinois). The most prominent Francophone Chinatowns are located in Paris and Montreal.

The Vietnamese term for Chinatown is Khu người Hoa (Chinese district) or phố Tàu (Chinese street). Vietnamese language is prevalent in Chinatowns of Paris, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Montreal as ethnic Chinese from Vietnam have set up shop in them.

In Japanese, the term "chūkagai" (中華街, literally "Chinese Street") is the translation used for Yokohama and Nagasaki Chinatown.

In Indonesia, chinatown is known as Pecinan, a shortened term of pe-cina-an, means everything related to the Chinese people. Most of these pecinans usually located in Java.[65]

Some languages have adopted the English-language term, such as Dutch and German.

Locations edit

 
Street scene of the Chinatown in Cyrildene, Johannesburg

Africa edit

There are three noteworthy Chinatowns in Africa located in the coastal African nations of Madagascar, Mauritius and South Africa. South Africa has the largest Chinatown and the largest Chinese population of any African country and remains a popular destination for Chinese immigrants coming to Africa. Derrick Avenue in Cyrildene, Johannesburg, hosts South Africa's largest Chinatown.

America edit

 
Celebrating Chinese New Year in Fuzhou Town, Brooklyn

In the Americas, which includes North America, Central America and South America, Chinatowns have been around since the 1800s. The most prominent ones exist in the United States and Canada in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto and Vancouver. The New York City metropolitan area is home to the largest ethnically Chinese population outside of Asia, comprising an estimated 893,697 uniracial individuals as of 2017,[66] including at least 12 Chinatowns – six[67] (or nine, including the emerging Chinatowns in Corona and Whitestone, Queens,[68] and East Harlem, Manhattan) in New York City proper, and one each in Nassau County, Long Island; Edison, New Jersey;[68] and Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, not to mention fledgling ethnic Chinese enclaves emerging throughout the New York City metropolitan area. San Francisco, a Pacific port city, has the oldest and longest continuous running Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere.[69][70][71] In Canada, The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is home to the 2nd largest ethnically Chinese population outside of Asia, comprising 694,970 individuals as of the 2021 Census. Vancouver's Chinatown is the country's largest.[72]

The oldest Chinatown in the Americas is in Mexico City and dates back to at least the early 17th century.[73] Since the 1970s, new arrivals have typically hailed from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Latin American Chinatowns may include the descendants of original migrants – often of mixed Chinese and Latin parentage – and more recent immigrants from East Asia. Most Asian Latin Americans are of Cantonese and Hakka origin. Estimates widely vary on the number of Chinese descendants in Latin America. Notable Chinatowns also exist in Chinatown, Lima, Peru.

In Brazil, the Liberdade neighborhood in São Paulo has, along with a large Japanese community, an important Chinese community.[74] There is a project for a Chinatown in the Mercado neighborhood, close to the Municipal Market and the commercial Rua 25 de Março.[75][76][77]

Asia edit

Chinatowns in Asia are widespread with a large concentration of overseas Chinese in East Asia and Southeast Asia and ethnic Chinese whose ancestors came from southern China – particularly the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan – and settled in countries such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam centuries ago—starting as early as the Tang Dynasty, but mostly notably in the 17th through the 19th centuries (during the reign of the Qing Dynasty), and well into the 20th century. Today the Chinese diaspora in Asia is largely concentrated in Southeast Asia however the legacy of the once widespread overseas Chinese communities in Asia is evident in the many Chinatowns that are found across East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Vietnam houses the largest Chinatown by size in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

Australia and Oceania edit

The Chinatown of Melbourne lies within the Melbourne central business district and centers on the eastern end of Little Bourke Street. It extends between the corners of Swanston and Exhibition Streets. Melbourne's Chinatown originated during the Victorian gold rush in 1851, and is notable as the oldest Chinatown in Australia. It has also been claimed to be the longest continuously running Chinese community outside of Asia, but only because the 1906 San Francisco earthquake all but destroyed the Chinatown in San Francisco in California.[69][70][71]

Sydney's main Chinatown centers on Sussex Street in the Sydney downtown. It stretches from Central Station in the east to Darling Harbour in the west, and is Australia's largest Chinatown.

The Chinatown of Adelaide was originally built in the 1960s and was renovated in the 1980s. It is located near Adelaide Central Market and the Adelaide Central bus station.

Chinatown Gold Coast is a precinct in the Central Business District of Southport, Queensland, that runs through Davenport Street and Young Street. The precinct extends between Nerang Street in the north and Garden Street/Scarborough Street east-west. Redevelopment of the precinct was established in 2013 and completed in 2015 in time for Chinese New Year celebrations.

There are additional Chinatowns in Brisbane, Perth, and Broome in Australia.

Europe edit

Several urban Chinatowns exist in major European capital cities. There is Chinatown, London, England as well as major Chinatowns in Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Manchester. Berlin, Germany has one established Chinatown in the area around Kantstrasse of Charlottenburg in the West. Antwerp, Belgium has also seen an upstart Chinese community, that has been recognized by the local authorities since 2011.[78] The city council of Cardiff has plans to recognize the Chinese Diaspora in the city.[79]

The Chinatown in Paris, located in the 13th arrondissement, is the largest in Europe, where many Vietnamese – specifically ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam – have settled and in Belleville in the northeast of Paris as well as in Lyon. In Italy, there is a Chinatown in Milan between Via Luigi Canonica and Via Paolo Sarpi and others in Rome and Prato. In the Netherlands, Chinatowns exist in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague.

In the United Kingdom, several exist in Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle Upon Tyne. The Chinatown in Liverpool is the oldest Chinese community in Europe.[80] The Chinatown in London was established in the Limehouse district in the late 19th century. The Chinatown in Manchester is located in central Manchester.

In popular culture edit

Chinatowns have been portrayed in various films including The Joy Luck Club, Big Trouble in Little China, Year of the Dragon, Flower Drum Song, The Lady from Shanghai and Chinatown. Within the context of the last film "Chinatown" is used primarily as an extended metaphor for any situation in which an outside entity seeks to intervene without having the local knowledge required to understand the consequences of that intervention. The neighborhood or district is often associated with being outside the normal rule of law or isolated from the social norms of the larger society.

Chinatowns have also been mentioned in the song "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas whose song lyrics says "... There was funky China men from funky Chinatown ..."[81]

The martial arts actor Bruce Lee is well known as a person who was born in the Chinatown of San Francisco.[82] Other notable Chinese Americans such as politician Gary Locke and NBA player Jeremy Lin grew up in suburbs with lesser connections to traditional Chinatowns. Neighborhood activists and politicians have increased in prominence in some cities, and some are starting to attract support from non-Chinese voters.

Some notable temples in Chinatowns worldwide edit

See also edit

References edit

Citations edit

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Sources edit

  • Chew, James R. "Boyhood Days in Winnemucca, 1901–1910." Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 1998 41(3): 206–209. ISSN 0047-9462 Oral history (1981) describes the Chinatown of Winnemucca, Nevada, during 1901–10. Though many Chinese left Winnemucca after the Central Pacific Railroad was completed in 1869, around four hundred Chinese had formed a community in the town by the 1890s. Among the prominent buildings was the Joss House, a place of worship and celebration that was visited by Chinese revolutionist Sun Yat-Sen in 1911. Beyond describing the physical layout of the Chinatown, the author recalls some of the commercial and gambling activities in the community.
  • Ki Longfellow, China Blues, Eio Books 2012, ISBN 0975925571, San Francisco's Chinatown during the 1906 earthquake and in the early 1920s. ()
  • "Chinatown: Conflicting Images, Contested Terrain", K. Scott Wong, Melus (Vol. 20, Issue 1), 1995. Scholarly work discussing the negative perceptions and imagery of old Chinatowns.
  • Pan, Lynn. Sons of the Yellow Emperor: A History of the Chinese Diaspora (1994). Book with detailed histories of Chinese diaspora communities (Chinatowns) from San Francisco, Honolulu, Bangkok, Manila, Johannesburg, Sydney, London, Lima, etc.
  • Williams, Daniel. , The Washington Post Foreign Service, March 1, 2004; Page A11.

Further reading edit

  • Kwan, Cheuk (2023). Have you eaten yet? : stories from Chinese restaurants around the world (First Pegasus Books cloth ed.). New York: Pegasus Books. ISBN 9781639363346.

chinatown, little, china, redirects, here, ideology, little, china, ideology, other, uses, disambiguation, chinese, 唐人街, catch, name, ethnic, enclave, chinese, people, located, outside, greater, china, most, often, urban, setting, areas, known, exist, througho. Little China redirects here For the ideology see Little China ideology For other uses see Chinatown disambiguation Chinatown Chinese 唐人街 is the catch all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China most often in an urban setting Areas known as Chinatown exist throughout the world including Europe Asia Africa Oceania and the Americas ChinatownNew York s Manhattan Chinatown has the highest concentration of Chinese people outside of Asia 1 2 3 Chinese唐人街Literal meaning Tang people street TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinTangrenjieBopomofoㄊㄤˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄝWade GilesTʻang2 jen2 chieh1IPA tʰa ŋ ɻe n tɕje WuRomanizationDaon平 nin平 ka平Yue CantoneseYale RomanizationTohngyahngaaiJyutpingTong4 jan4 gaai1IPA tʰɔːŋ jɐn kaːi Southern MinHokkien POJTong jin keEastern MinFuzhou BUCTong ing kĕAlternative Chinese nameTraditional Chinese中國城Simplified Chinese中国城Literal meaning China town TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinZhōngguochengBopomofoㄓㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊWade GilesChung1 kuo2 chʻeng2IPA ʈʂʊ ŋ kwo ʈʂʰe ŋ WuRomanizationTson平 koh入 zen平Yue CantoneseYale RomanizationJunggwoksihngJyutpingZung1 gwok3 sing4IPA tsoŋ kʷɔːk seŋ Southern MinHokkien POJTiong kok siannEastern MinFuzhou BUCDŭng guok siangSecond alternative Chinese nameTraditional Chinese華埠Simplified Chinese华埠Literal meaning Chinese district TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinHuabuBopomofoㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄅㄨˋWade GilesHua2 pu4IPA xwa pu WuRomanizationGho平 bu去Yue CantoneseYale RomanizationWahfauhJyutpingWaa4 fau6IPA waː fɐu Southern MinHokkien POJHoa buEastern MinFuzhou BUCHua pu The development of most Chinatowns typically resulted from human migration to an area without any or with few Chinese residents Binondo in Manila established in 1594 is recognized as the world s oldest Chinatown Notable early examples outside Asia include San Francisco s Chinatown in the United States and Melbourne s Chinatown in Australia which were founded in the early 1850s during the California and Victoria gold rushes respectively A more modern example in Montville Connecticut was caused by the displacement of Chinese workers in New York s Manhattan Chinatown following the September 11th attacks in 2001 4 5 Contents 1 Definition 2 History 2 1 In Asia 2 2 Outside of Asia 2 3 1970s to the present 3 Chinese settlements 3 1 History 3 2 Settlement pattern 4 Characteristics 4 1 Demographics 4 2 Town Scape 5 Benevolent and business associations 6 Names 6 1 English 6 2 In Chinese 6 3 Other languages 7 Locations 7 1 Africa 7 2 America 7 3 Asia 7 4 Australia and Oceania 7 5 Europe 8 In popular culture 9 Some notable temples in Chinatowns worldwide 10 See also 11 References 11 1 Citations 11 2 Sources 12 Further readingDefinition editOxford Dictionaries defines Chinatown as a district of any non Asian town especially a city or seaport in which the population is predominantly of Chinese origin 6 However some Chinatowns may have little to do with China 7 Some Vietnamese enclaves are in fact a city s second Chinatown and some Chinatowns are in fact pan Asian meaning they could also be counted as a Koreatown or Little India 8 One example includes Asiatown in Cleveland Ohio It was initially referred to as a Chinatown but was subsequently renamed due to the influx of non Chinese Asian Americans who opened businesses there Today the district acts as a unifying factor for the Chinese Taiwanese Korean Japanese Filipino Indian Vietnamese Cambodian Laotian Nepalese and Thai communities of Cleveland 9 Further ambiguities with the term can include Chinese ethnoburbs which by definition are suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas 10 11 An article in The New York Times blurs the line further by categorizing very different Chinatowns such as Chinatown Manhattan which exists in an urban setting as traditional Monterey Park s Chinatown which exists in a suburban setting and labeled as such and Austin Texas s Chinatown which is in essence a fabricated Chinese themed mall This contrasts with narrower definitions where the term only described Chinatown in a city setting 12 History editSee also Chinese emigration Trading centers populated predominantly by Chinese men and their native spouses have long existed throughout Southeast Asia Emigration to other parts of the world from China accelerated in the 1860s with the signing of the Treaty of Peking 1860 which opened China s borders to free movement Early emigrants came primarily from the coastal provinces of Guangdong Canton Kwangtung and Fujian Fukien Hokkien in southeastern China where the people generally speak Toishanese Cantonese Hakka Teochew Chiuchow and Hokkien In the late 19th century and early 20th century a significant amount of Chinese emigration to North America originated from four counties called Sze Yup located west of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province making Toishanese a dominant variety of the Chinese language spoken in Chinatowns in Canada and the United States As conditions in China have improved in recent decades many Chinatowns have lost their initial mission which was to provide a transitional place into a new culture As net migration has slowed into them the smaller Chinatowns have slowly decayed often to the point of becoming purely historical and no longer serving as ethnic enclaves 13 In Asia edit nbsp Binondo Manila home to the world s oldest Chinatown In the Spanish Philippines where the oldest surviving Chinatowns are located the district where Chinese migrants sangleyes were required to live is called a parian which were also often a marketplace for trade goods Most of them were established in the late 16th century to house Chinese migrants as part of the early Spanish colonial policy of ethnic segregation There were numerous parians throughout the Philippines in various locations the names of which still survive into modern district names This include the Parian de Arroceros of Intramuros Manila which was eventually moved several times ending up in Binondo The term was also carried into Latin America by Filipino migrants 14 15 16 The central market place of Mexico City now part of Zocalo selling imported goods from the Manila galleons in the 18th and early 19th centuries was called Parian de Manila or just Parian 17 Along the coastal areas of Southeast Asia several Chinese settlements existed as early as the 16th century according to Zheng He and Tome Pires travel accounts Melaka during the Portuguese colonial period for instance had a large Chinese population in Campo China They settled down at port towns under the authority s approval for trading After the European colonial powers seized and ruled the port towns in the 16th century Chinese supported European traders and colonists and created autonomous settlements Several Asian Chinatowns although not yet called by that name have a long history Those in Nagasaki Kobe and Yokohama Japan 18 Binondo in Manila Hoi An and Bao Vinh in central Vietnam 19 all existed in 1600 Glodok the Chinese quarter of Jakarta Indonesia dates to 1740 20 Chinese presence in India dates back to the 5th century CE with the first recorded Chinese settler in Calcutta named Young Atchew around 1780 21 Chinatowns first appeared in the Indian cities of Kolkata Mumbai and Chennai The Chinatown centered on Yaowarat Road in Bangkok Thailand was founded at the same time as the city itself in 1782 22 Outside of Asia edit nbsp Chinatown Melbourne is the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western World and the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere 23 24 25 26 Many Chinese immigrants arrived in Liverpool in the late 1850s in the employ of the Blue Funnel Shipping Line a cargo transport company established by Alfred Holt The commercial shipping line created strong trade links between the cities of Shanghai Hong Kong and Liverpool mainly in the importation of silk cotton and tea 27 They settled near the docks in south Liverpool this area was heavily bombed during World War II causing the Chinese community moving to the current location Liverpool Chinatown on Nelson Street The Chinatown in San Francisco is one of the largest in North America and the oldest north of Mexico It served as a port of entry for early Chinese immigrants from the 1850s to the 1900s 28 The area was the one geographical region deeded by the city government and private property owners which allowed Chinese persons to inherit and inhabit dwellings within the city Many Chinese found jobs working for large companies seeking a source of labor most famously as part of the Central Pacific 29 on the Transcontinental Railroad Since it started in Omaha that city had a notable Chinatown for almost a century 30 Other cities in North America where Chinatowns were founded in the mid nineteenth century include almost every major settlement along the West Coast from San Diego to Victoria Other early immigrants worked as mine workers or independent prospectors hoping to strike it rich during the 1849 Gold Rush Economic opportunity drove the building of further Chinatowns in the United States The initial Chinatowns were built in the Western United States in states such as California Oregon Washington Idaho Utah Colorado and Arizona As the transcontinental railroad was built more Chinatowns started to appear in railroad towns such as St Louis Chicago Cincinnati Pittsburgh and Butte Montana Chinatowns then subsequently emerged in many East Coast cities including New York City Boston Philadelphia Providence and Baltimore With the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation many southern states such as Arkansas Louisiana and Georgia began to hire Chinese for work in place of slave labor 31 The history of Chinatowns was not always peaceful especially when labor disputes arose Racial tensions flared when lower paid Chinese workers replaced white miners in many mountain area Chinatowns such as in Wyoming with the Rock Springs Massacre Many of these frontier Chinatowns became extinct as American racism surged and the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed In Australia the Victorian gold rush which began in 1851 attracted Chinese prospectors from the Guangdong area A community began to form in the eastern end of Little Bourke Street Melbourne by the mid 1850s the area is still the center of the Melbourne Chinatown making it the oldest continuously occupied Chinatown in a western city since the San Francisco one was destroyed and rebuilt Gradually expanding it reached a peak in the early 20th century with Chinese business mainly furniture workshops occupying a block wide swath of the city overlapping into the adjacent Little Lon red light district With restricted immigration it shrunk again becoming a strip of Chinese restaurants by the late 1970s when it was celebrated with decorative arches However with a recent huge influx of students from mainland China it is now the center of a much larger area of noodle shops travel agents restaurants and groceries The Australian gold rushes also saw the development of a Chinatown in Sydney at first around The Rocks near the docks but it has moved twice first in the 1890s to the east side of the Haymarket area near the new markets then in the 1920s concentrating on the west side 32 Nowadays Sydney s Chinatown is centered on Dixon Street Other Chinatowns in European capitals including Paris and London were established at the turn of the 20th century The first Chinatown in London was located in the Limehouse area of the East End of London 33 at the start of the 20th century The Chinese population engaged in business which catered to the Chinese sailors who frequented the Docklands The area acquired a bad reputation from exaggerated reports of opium dens and slum housing France received a large settlement of Chinese immigrant laborers mostly from the city of Wenzhou in the Zhejiang province of China Significant Chinatowns sprung up in Belleville and the 13th arrondissement of Paris nbsp Manhattan s Chinatown the largest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere 1 2 and one of nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City 3 as well as one of twelve in the surrounding New York metropolitan area nbsp Brooklyn the borough with the highest number of Chinatowns in New York City nbsp Chinatown San Francisco the oldest Chinatown in the US nbsp Chinatown Boston a Chinatown inspired and developed on the basis of modern engineering concepts nbsp Chinatown Philadelphia the recipient of significant Chinese immigration from both New York City 34 and China 35 nbsp Liverpool s Chinatown the oldest Chinatown in Europe 1970s to the present edit By the late 1970s refugees and exiles from the Vietnam War played a significant part in the redevelopment of Chinatowns in developed Western countries As a result many existing Chinatowns have become pan Asian business districts and residential neighborhoods By contrast most Chinatowns in the past had been largely inhabited by Chinese from southeastern China In 2001 the events of September 11 resulted in a mass migration of about 14 000 Chinese workers from Manhattan s Chinatown to Montville Connecticut due to the fall of the garment industry Chinese workers transitioned to casino jobs fueled by the development of the Mohegan Sun casino In 2012 Tijuana s Chinatown formed as a result of availability of direct flights to China The La Mesa District of Tijuana was formerly a small enclave but has tripled in size as a result of direct flights to Shanghai It has an ethnic Chinese population rise from 5 000 in 2009 to roughly 15 000 in 2012 overtaking Mexicali s Chinatown as the largest Chinese enclave in Mexico nbsp The busy intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in the Flushing Chinatown 法拉盛華埠 Downtown Flushing Queens New York City The segment of Main Street between Kissena Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue punctuated by the Long Island Rail Road trestle overpass represents the cultural heart of Flushing Chinatown Housing over 30 000 individuals born in China alone the largest by this metric outside Asia Flushing has become home to the largest and one of the fastest growing Chinatowns in the world 36 Flushing is undergoing rapid gentrification by Chinese transnational entities 37 and the growth of the business activity at the core of Downtown Flushing dominated by the Flushing Chinatown has continued despite the Covid 19 pandemic 38 As of 2023 illegal Chinese immigration to New York City and especially to the city s Flushing Chinatown has accelerated 39 The New York metropolitan area consisting of New York City Long Island and nearby areas within the states of New York New Jersey Connecticut and Pennsylvania is home to the largest Chinese American population of any metropolitan area within the United States and the largest Chinese population outside of China enumerating an estimated 893 697 in 2017 40 and including at least 12 Chinatowns including nine in New York City proper alone 3 Steady immigration from mainland China both legal 41 42 and illegal 43 has fueled Chinese American population growth in the New York metropolitan area New York s status as an alpha global city its extensive mass transit system and the New York metropolitan area s enormous economic marketplace are among the many reasons it remains a major international immigration hub The Manhattan Chinatown contains the largest concentration of ethnic Chinese in the Western hemisphere 2 and the Flushing Chinatown in Queens has become the world s largest Chinatown 44 The COVID 19 pandemic has adversely affected tourism and business in Chinatown San Francisco 45 and Chinatown Chicago Illinois 46 as well as others worldwide Chinese settlements editHistory edit People of Fujian province used to move over the South China Sea from the 14th century to look for more stable jobs in most cases of trading and fishery and settled down near the port jetty under approval of the local authority such as Magong Penghu Hoian Vietnam Songkla Thailand Malacca Malaysia Banten Semarang Tuban Indonesia Manila the Philippines etc A large number of this kind of settlements was developed along the coastal areal of the South China Sea and was called Campon China by Portuguese account 47 and China Town by English account 48 Settlement pattern edit The settlement was developed along a jetty and protected by Mazu temple which was dedicated for the Goddess of Sea for safe sailing Market place was open in front of Mazu temple and shophouses were built along the street leading from west side of the Mazu temple At the end of the street Tudigong Land God temple was placed As the settlement prospered as commercial town Kuan Ti temple would be added for commercial success especially by people from Hong Kong and Guangdong province This core pattern was maintained even the settlement got expanded as a city and forms historical urban center of the Southeast Asia 49 nbsp Hoian Settlement Pattern Vietnam 1991 nbsp Pengchau Settlement Pattern Hong Kong 1991 nbsp Chinese Settlement in Georgetown Malaysia 1991 nbsp Chinese Settlement in Kuching Malaysia 1991 nbsp Tin Hau Goddess of Sea Temple in Kuching Malaysia 1991 nbsp To Di Gong Land God Temple at Kuching 1991Characteristics editThe features described below are characteristic of many modern Chinatowns Demographics edit The early Chinatowns such as those in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the United States were naturally destinations for people of Chinese descent as migration were the result of opportunities such as the California Gold Rush and the Transcontinental Railroad drawing the population in creating natural Chinese enclaves that were almost always 100 exclusively Han Chinese which included both people born in China and in the enclave in this case American born Chinese 50 In some free countries such as the United States and Canada housing laws that prevent discrimination also allows neighborhoods that may have been characterized as All Chinese to also allow non Chinese to reside in these communities For example the Chinatown in Philadelphia has a sizeable non Chinese population residing within the community 51 A recent study also suggests that the demographic change is also driven by gentrification of what were previously Chinatown neighborhoods The influx of luxury housing is speeding up the gentrification of such neighborhoods The trend for emergence of these types of natural enclaves is on the decline with the exceptions being the continued growth and emergence of newer Chinatowns in Queens and Brooklyn in New York City only to be replaced by newer Disneyland like attractions such as a new Chinatown that will be built in the Catskills region of New York 52 This includes the endangerment of existing historical Chinatowns that will eventually stop serving the needs of Chinese immigrants Newer developments like those in Norwich Connecticut and the San Gabriel Valley which are not necessarily considered Chinatowns in the sense that they do not necessarily contain the Chinese architectures or Chinese language signs as signatures of an officially sanctioned area that was designated either in law or signage stating so differentiate areas that are called Chinatowns versus locations that have significant populations of people of Chinese descent For example San Jose California in the United States has 63 434 people 2010 U S Census of Chinese descent and yet does not have a Chinatown Some official Chinatowns have Chinese populations much lower than that 53 Town Scape edit Main article Chinese architecture Many tourist destination metropolitan Chinatowns can be distinguished by large red arch entrance structures known in Mandarin Chinese as Paifang sometimes accompanied by imperial guardian lion statues on either side of the structure to greet visitors Other Chinese architectural styles such as the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Sydney Chinatown and the Chinese stone lions at the gate to the Victoria British Columbia Chinatown are present in some Chinatowns Mahale Chiniha the Chinatown in Iran contains many buildings that were constructed in the Chinese architectural style Paifangs usually have special inscriptions in Chinese Historically these gateways were donated to a particular city as a gift from the Republic of China and People s Republic of China or local governments such as Chinatown San Francisco and business organizations The long neglected Chinatown in Havana Cuba received materials for its paifang from the People s Republic of China as part of the Chinatown s gradual renaissance Construction of these red arches is often financed by local financial contributions from the Chinatown community Some of these structures 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 Chinatown landmarks nbsp Entrance to Sydney nbsp Paifang in Philadelphia nbsp Friendship Archway in the Chinatown of Washington D C nbsp Paifang in Buenos Aires Argentina nbsp Chinatown Boston looking towards the paifang nbsp Gate of Chinatown Portland Oregon nbsp Chinatown entry arch in Newcastle England nbsp Chinese Garden of Friendship part of Sydney Chinatown nbsp Chinese stone lions at the Chinatown gate in Victoria British Columbia Canada nbsp Harbin Gates in Chinatown of Edmonton Alberta Canada nbsp Millennium Gate on Pender Street in Chinatown of Vancouver British Columbia Canada nbsp The Chinese Cultural Centre in the Calgary Alberta Canada Chinatown nbsp Chinese Temple Toong On Church in Kolkata India nbsp Chinese Temple in Yokohama Chinatown Japan nbsp Filipino Chinese Friendship Arch in ManilaBenevolent and business associations editMain article Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association nbsp Headquarters of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Chinatown San Francisco A major component of many Chinatowns is the family benevolent association which provides some degree of aid to immigrants These associations generally provide social support religious services death benefits members names in Chinese are generally enshrined on tablets and posted on walls meals and recreational activities for ethnic Chinese especially for older Chinese migrants Membership in these associations can be based on members sharing a common Chinese surname or belonging to a common clan spoken Chinese dialect specific village region or country of origin and so on Many have their own facilities Some examples include San Francisco s prominent Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association 中華總會館 Zhōnghua Zǒng Huiguǎn aka Chinese Six Companies and Los Angeles Southern California Teochew Association The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association is among the largest umbrella groups of benevolent associations in the North America which branches in several Chinatowns Politically the CCBA has traditionally been aligned with the Kuomintang and the Republic of China The London Chinatown Chinese Association is active in Chinatown London Chinatown Paris has an institution in the Association des Residents en France d origine indochinoise and it servicing overseas Chinese immigrants in Paris who were born in the former French Indochina Traditionally Chinatown based associations have also been aligned with ethnic Chinese business interests such as restaurant grocery and laundry antiquated associations in Chinatowns in North America In Chicago s Chinatown the On Leong Merchants Association was active Names editEnglish edit nbsp Official signs in Boston pointing towards Chinatown Although the term Chinatown was first used in Asia it is not derived from a Chinese language Its earliest appearance seems to have been in connection with the Chinese quarter of Singapore which by 1844 was already being called China Town or Chinatown by the British colonial government 54 55 This may have been a word for word translation into English of the Malay name for that quarter which in those days was probably Kampong China or possibly Kota China or Kampong Tionghua Chunghwa Zhonghua The first appearance of a Chinatown outside Singapore may have been in 1852 in a book by the Rev Hatfield who applied the term to the Chinese part of the main settlement on the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena 56 The island was a regular way station on the voyage to Europe and North America from Indian Ocean ports including Singapore nbsp Sign inside Jefferson Station in Philadelphia pointing to Chinatown One of the earliest American usages dates to 1855 when San Francisco newspaper The Daily Alta California described a pitched battle on the streets of SF s Chinatown 57 Other Alta articles from the late 1850s make it clear that areas called Chinatown existed at that time in several other California cities including Oroville and San Andres 58 59 By 1869 Chinatown had acquired its full modern meaning all over the U S and Canada For instance an Ohio newspaper wrote From San Diego to Sitka every town and hamlet has its Chinatown 60 In British publications before the 1890s Chinatown appeared mainly in connection with California At first Australian and New Zealand journalists also regarded Chinatowns as Californian phenomena However they began using the term to denote local Chinese communities as early as 1861 in Australia 61 and 1873 in New Zealand 62 In most other countries the custom of calling local Chinese communities Chinatowns is not older than the twentieth century 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 some of these are now historical sites In the case of Lillooet British Columbia Canada China Alley was a parallel commercial street adjacent to the town s Main Street enjoying a view over the river valley adjacent and also over the main residential part of Chinatown which was largely of adobe construction All traces of Chinatown and China Alley there have disappeared despite a once large and prosperous community In Chinese edit nbsp Street sign in Chinatown Newcastle with 唐人街 below the street name In Chinese Chinatown is usually called 唐人街 in Cantonese Tong jan gai in Mandarin Tangrenjie in Hakka Tong ngin gai and in Toisan Hong ngin gai literally meaning Tang people s street s The Tang Dynasty was a zenith of the Chinese civilization after which some Chinese call themselves Some Chinatowns are indeed just one single street such as the relatively short Fisgard Street in Victoria British Columbia Canada A more modern Chinese name is 華埠 Cantonese Waa Fau Mandarin Huabu meaning Chinese City used in the semi official Chinese translations of some cities documents and signs Bu pronounced sometimes in Mandarin as fu usually means seaport but in this sense it means city or town Tong jan fau 唐人埠 Tang people s town is also used in Cantonese nowadays The literal word for word translation of Chinatown Zhōngguo Cheng 中國城 is also used but more frequently by visiting Chinese nationals rather than immigrants of Chinese descent who live in various Chinatowns Chinatowns in Southeast Asia have unique Chinese names used by the local Chinese as there are large populations of people who are Overseas Chinese living within the various major cities of Southeast Asia As the population of Overseas Chinese is widely dispersed in various enclaves across each major Southeast Asian city specific Chinese names are used instead For example in Singapore where 2 8 million ethnic Chinese constitute a majority 74 of the resident population 63 the Chinese name for Chinatown is Niucheshǔi 牛車水 Hokkien POJ Gu chia chui which literally means ox cart water from the Malay Kreta Ayer in reference to the water carts that used to ply the area The Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia where 2 million ethnic Chinese comprise 30 of the population of Greater Kuala Lumpur 64 while officially known as Petaling Street Malay Jalan Petaling is referred to by Malaysian Chinese by its Cantonese name ci4 cong2 gaai1 茨廠街 pinyin Cichǎng Jie literally tapioca factory street after a tapioca starch factory that once stood in the area In Manila Philippines the area is called Minlunluo Qu 岷倫洛區 literally meaning the Min and Luo Rivers confluence district but is actually a transliteration of the local term Binondo and an allusion to its proximity to the Pasig River Other languages edit In Philippine Spanish the term used for Chinatown districts is parian the etymology of which is uncertain 16 In the rest of the Spanish Empire the Spanish language term is usually barrio chino Chinese neighborhood plural 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 In Portuguese Chinatown is often referred to as Bairro chines the Chinese Neighbourhood plural bairros chineses In Francophone regions such as France and Quebec Chinatown is often referred to as le quartier chinois the Chinese Neighbourhood plural les quartiers chinois The most prominent Francophone Chinatowns are located in Paris and Montreal The Vietnamese term for Chinatown is Khu người Hoa Chinese district or phố Tau Chinese street Vietnamese language is prevalent in Chinatowns of Paris Los Angeles Boston Philadelphia Toronto and Montreal as ethnic Chinese from Vietnam have set up shop in them In Japanese the term chukagai 中華街 literally Chinese Street is the translation used for Yokohama and Nagasaki Chinatown In Indonesia chinatown is known as Pecinan a shortened term of pe cina an means everything related to the Chinese people Most of these pecinans usually located in Java 65 Some languages have adopted the English language term such as Dutch and German Locations edit nbsp Street scene of the Chinatown in Cyrildene Johannesburg Africa edit Main article Chinatowns in Africa There are three noteworthy Chinatowns in Africa located in the coastal African nations of Madagascar Mauritius and South Africa South Africa has the largest Chinatown and the largest Chinese population of any African country and remains a popular destination for Chinese immigrants coming to Africa Derrick Avenue in Cyrildene Johannesburg hosts South Africa s largest Chinatown America edit Main article Chinatowns in the Americas nbsp Celebrating Chinese New Year in Fuzhou Town Brooklyn In the Americas which includes North America Central America and South America Chinatowns have been around since the 1800s The most prominent ones exist in the United States and Canada in New York Boston San Francisco Chicago Toronto and Vancouver The New York City metropolitan area is home to the largest ethnically Chinese population outside of Asia comprising an estimated 893 697 uniracial individuals as of 2017 66 including at least 12 Chinatowns six 67 or nine including the emerging Chinatowns in Corona and Whitestone Queens 68 and East Harlem Manhattan in New York City proper and one each in Nassau County Long Island Edison New Jersey 68 and Parsippany Troy Hills New Jersey not to mention fledgling ethnic Chinese enclaves emerging throughout the New York City metropolitan area San Francisco a Pacific port city has the oldest and longest continuous running Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere 69 70 71 In Canada The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is home to the 2nd largest ethnically Chinese population outside of Asia comprising 694 970 individuals as of the 2021 Census Vancouver s Chinatown is the country s largest 72 The oldest Chinatown in the Americas is in Mexico City and dates back to at least the early 17th century 73 Since the 1970s new arrivals have typically hailed from Hong Kong Macau and Taiwan Latin American Chinatowns may include the descendants of original migrants often of mixed Chinese and Latin parentage and more recent immigrants from East Asia Most Asian Latin Americans are of Cantonese and Hakka origin Estimates widely vary on the number of Chinese descendants in Latin America Notable Chinatowns also exist in Chinatown Lima Peru In Brazil the Liberdade neighborhood in Sao Paulo has along with a large Japanese community an important Chinese community 74 There is a project for a Chinatown in the Mercado neighborhood close to the Municipal Market and the commercial Rua 25 de Marco 75 76 77 Chinatowns in the Americas nbsp Manhattan Chinatown nbsp San Francisco s Chinatown nbsp Chinatown Boston nbsp Chinatown Philadelphia nbsp Portland Oregon s Chinatown nbsp Seattle Chinatown International District Seattle nbsp Vancouver Chinatown nbsp Chinatown in Canada s Capital Ottawa nbsp Arch honors Chinese Mexican community of Mexico City built in 2008 Articulo 123 Street nbsp Barrio Chino Buenos Aires nbsp Barrio Chino Lima Asia edit Main article Chinatowns in Asia Chinatowns in Asia are widespread with a large concentration of overseas Chinese in East Asia and Southeast Asia and ethnic Chinese whose ancestors came from southern China particularly the provinces of Guangdong Fujian and Hainan and settled in countries such as Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Singapore the Philippines Thailand and Vietnam centuries ago starting as early as the Tang Dynasty but mostly notably in the 17th through the 19th centuries during the reign of the Qing Dynasty and well into the 20th century Today the Chinese diaspora in Asia is largely concentrated in Southeast Asia however the legacy of the once widespread overseas Chinese communities in Asia is evident in the many Chinatowns that are found across East Asia South Asia and Southeast Asia Vietnam houses the largest Chinatown by size in Ho Chi Minh City formerly Saigon Asian Chinatowns nbsp Yokohama Chinatown s Goodwill Gate in Japan nbsp Chinatown in Bangkok Thailand nbsp Kan Yin Temple Kwan Yin Si a place of worship for Burmese Chinese in Bago also serves as a Mandarin school nbsp Chinatown gate performing an attraction Dragon dance in Glodok Jakarta Indonesia nbsp Kya Kya or Kembang Jepun Surabaya s Chinatown one of oldest Chinatown in Indonesia nbsp The Gate of Kampung Ketandan Chinatown Yogyakarta Indonesia nbsp Chinese New Year celebrated in Chinatown Kolkata India nbsp Binondo Chinatown in Manila Australia and Oceania edit Main articles Chinatowns in Australia and Chinatowns in Oceania The Chinatown of Melbourne lies within the Melbourne central business district and centers on the eastern end of Little Bourke Street It extends between the corners of Swanston and Exhibition Streets Melbourne s Chinatown originated during the Victorian gold rush in 1851 and is notable as the oldest Chinatown in Australia It has also been claimed to be the longest continuously running Chinese community outside of Asia but only because the 1906 San Francisco earthquake all but destroyed the Chinatown in San Francisco in California 69 70 71 Sydney s main Chinatown centers on Sussex Street in the Sydney downtown It stretches from Central Station in the east to Darling Harbour in the west and is Australia s largest Chinatown The Chinatown of Adelaide was originally built in the 1960s and was renovated in the 1980s It is located near Adelaide Central Market and the Adelaide Central bus station Chinatown Gold Coast is a precinct in the Central Business District of Southport Queensland that runs through Davenport Street and Young Street The precinct extends between Nerang Street in the north and Garden Street Scarborough Street east west Redevelopment of the precinct was established in 2013 and completed in 2015 in time for Chinese New Year celebrations There are additional Chinatowns in Brisbane Perth and Broome in Australia Chinatowns in Australia and Oceania nbsp Paifang at Sydney Chinatown nbsp Paifang at Bendigo Chinese Precinct nbsp Adelaide Chinatown nbsp Melbourne Chinatown Europe edit Main article Chinatowns in Europe Several urban Chinatowns exist in major European capital cities There is Chinatown London England as well as major Chinatowns in Birmingham Liverpool Newcastle and Manchester Berlin Germany has one established Chinatown in the area around Kantstrasse of Charlottenburg in the West Antwerp Belgium has also seen an upstart Chinese community that has been recognized by the local authorities since 2011 78 The city council of Cardiff has plans to recognize the Chinese Diaspora in the city 79 The Chinatown in Paris located in the 13th arrondissement is the largest in Europe where many Vietnamese specifically ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam have settled and in Belleville in the northeast of Paris as well as in Lyon In Italy there is a Chinatown in Milan between Via Luigi Canonica and Via Paolo Sarpi and others in Rome and Prato In the Netherlands Chinatowns exist in Amsterdam Rotterdam and the Hague In the United Kingdom several exist in Birmingham Liverpool London Manchester and Newcastle Upon Tyne The Chinatown in Liverpool is the oldest Chinese community in Europe 80 The Chinatown in London was established in the Limehouse district in the late 19th century The Chinatown in Manchester is located in central Manchester European Chinatowns nbsp Map of Chinatown Milan nbsp Gate of Chinatown Liverpool England is the largest multiple span arch outside of China in the oldest Chinese community in Europe nbsp Wardour Street Chinatown London nbsp Chinese Quarter in Birmingham England nbsp Chinese new year celebration in Lyon FranceIn popular culture editChinatowns have been portrayed in various films including The Joy Luck Club Big Trouble in Little China Year of the Dragon Flower Drum Song The Lady from Shanghai and Chinatown Within the context of the last film Chinatown is used primarily as an extended metaphor for any situation in which an outside entity seeks to intervene without having the local knowledge required to understand the consequences of that intervention The neighborhood or district is often associated with being outside the normal rule of law or isolated from the social norms of the larger society Chinatowns have also been mentioned in the song Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas whose song lyrics says There was funky China men from funky Chinatown 81 The martial arts actor Bruce Lee is well known as a person who was born in the Chinatown of San Francisco 82 Other notable Chinese Americans such as politician Gary Locke and NBA player Jeremy Lin grew up in suburbs with lesser connections to traditional Chinatowns Neighborhood activists and politicians have increased in prominence in some cities and some are starting to attract support from non Chinese voters Some notable temples in Chinatowns worldwide editSan Francisco s Chinatown Tin How Temple 天后古廟 Ma Tsu Temple 美國舊金山媽祖廟朝聖宮 Los Angeles Chinatown Thien Hau Temple 天后宮 Yokohama Chinatown Yokohama Ma Zhu Miao 横濱媽祖廟 Bangkok Chinatown Leng Buai Ia Shrine 龍尾古廟 Wat Bamphen Chin Phrot 永福寺 amp Wat Mangkon Kamalawat 龍蓮寺 Yangon Chinatown Kheng Hock Keong 慶福宮 amp Guanyin Gumiao Temple 觀音古廟 Jakarta Chinatown Kim Tek Ie Temple 金德院 Kuala Lumpur Chinatown Sin Sze Si Ya Temple 仙四師爺廟 Malacca Chinatown Cheng Hoon Teng Temple 青云亭 Terengganu Chinatown Ho Ann Kiong Temple 护安宫 amp Tian Hou Gong Temple 天后宮 Davao Chinatown Lon Wa Buddhist Temple 龙华寺 Chinatown and Malaytown in Kedah Gaya Street Kota Kinabalu Chinatown KuchingSee also edit nbsp China portal nbsp Society portal nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chinatown category Chinatowns in Asia Chinatowns in Europe Chinatowns in Oceania Chinatowns in the United States List of U S cities with significant Chinese American populations Ethnic enclaveReferences editCitations edit a b Chinatown New York Civitatis New York Archived from the original on April 4 2020 Retrieved November 30 2020 As its name suggests Chinatown is where the largest population of Chinese people live in the Western Hemisphere a b c Chinatown New York City Fact Sheet PDF Explore Chinatown Archived PDF from the original on October 9 2022 Retrieved March 2 2019 Sarah Waxman The History of New York s Chinatown Mediabridge Infosystems Inc Archived from the original on May 25 2017 Retrieved March 3 2019 David M Reimers 1992 Still the golden door the Third Google Books Columbia University Press ISBN 9780231076814 Archived from the original on November 3 2023 Retrieved April 11 2016 Lawrence A McGlinn Department of Geography SUNY New Paltz 2002 Beyond Chinatown Dual immigration and the Chinese population of metropolitan New York City 2000 Page 4 PDF Journal of the Middle States Division of the Association of American Geographers Middle States Geographer pp 110 119 Archived from the original PDF on October 29 2012 Retrieved March 3 2019 David M Reimers 1992 Still the golden door the Third Google Books Columbia University Press ISBN 9780231076814 Archived from the original on November 3 2023 Retrieved April 11 2016 a b c Stefanie Tuder February 25 2019 Believe It or Not New York City Has Nine Chinatowns EATER NY Archived from the original on February 26 2019 Retrieved November 30 2020 Connecticut s Unexpected Chinatowns Archived from the original on October 31 2016 via YouTube Philip Marcelo Fortune friction and decline as casino Chinatown matures The Bulletin The Associated Press permanent dead link Definition of Chinatown Archived from the original on February 28 2014 Where You Live Chinatown Archived from the original on March 1 2014 Juan Karin Aguilar San 2009 Little Saigons Staying Vietnamese in America U of Minnesota Press p 33 ISBN 9780816654857 Archived copy Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved February 21 2016 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Ethnoburb The New Ethnic Community in Urban America Archived from the original on March 3 2014 Asians in Thriving Enclaves Keep Distance From Whites Bloomberg com June 26 2013 Archived from the original on January 22 2015 Retrieved May 2 2018 Tsui Bonnie January 24 2014 Chinatown Revisited The New York Times Archived from the original on July 6 2017 From Chinatown to Ghost Town NHPR November 14 2011 Archived from the original on November 1 2013 Retrieved May 26 2013 Dela Cerna Madrilena Parian in Cebu National Commission for Culture and the Arts Republic of the Philippines Archived from the original on February 24 2014 Retrieved October 12 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link The Parian and the Spanish Colonial Economy Intramuros Administration Republic of the Philippines Archived from the original on October 29 2023 Retrieved October 12 2023 a b Burton John William 2000 The Word Parian An Etymological and Historical Adventure The Ethnic Chinese as Filipinos Part III 8 67 72 Archived from the original on October 29 2023 Retrieved October 12 2023 Fish Shirley 2011 The Manila Acapulco galleons the treasure ships of the Pacific with an annotated list of the transpacific galleons 1565 1815 Central Milton Keynes AuthorHouse p 438 ISBN 9781456775438 Takekoshi Yosaburo 2004 economic aspects of the history of the civilization of Japan Vol 2 London Routledge p 124 Li Qingxin 2006 Maritime Silk Road China International Press p 157 Abeyesekere Susan 1987 Jakarta A History Oxford University Press All rights reserved p 6 Calcutta s Chinatown facing extinction over new rule Taipei Times July 31 2004 Archived from the original on May 13 2011 Retrieved May 2 2018 The History of Chinatown Bangkok Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center Archived from the original on September 20 2011 Retrieved October 2 2011 Chinatown Melbourne Archived from the original on January 25 2014 Retrieved January 23 2014 Melbourne s multicultural history City of Melbourne Archived from the original on September 30 2023 Retrieved January 23 2014 World s 8 most colourful Chinatowns Archived from the original on January 31 2014 Retrieved January 23 2014 The essential guide to Chinatown Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Food Drink Victoria February 3 2021 Archived from the original on February 14 2022 Retrieved February 11 2022 History of Liverpool Chinatown The Liverpool Chinatown Business Association Archived from the original on January 24 2010 Retrieved January 31 2011 Documentary film about the early history of San Francisco s Chinatown Archived 2014 01 06 at the Wayback Machine KPIX TV 1963 Lee Foster October 1 2001 Northern California History Weekends Globe Pequot p 13 ISBN 978 0 7627 1076 8 Retrieved December 26 2011 permanent dead link Roenfeld R 2019 A History of Omaha s Chinatown Archived March 6 2019 at the Wayback Machine NorthOmahaHistory com Retrieved March 5 2019 Okihiro Gary Y 2015 American History Unbound Asians and Pacific Islanders Berkeley University of California Press p 201 ISBN 978 0 520 27435 8 Archived from the original on May 2 2018 Chinatown Dictionary of Sydney Archived from the original on April 27 2019 Retrieved October 26 2019 Sales Rosemary d Angelo Alessio Liang Xiujing Montagna Nicola London s Chinatown in Donald Stephanie Kohman Eleonore Kevin Catherine eds 2009 Branding Cities Cosmopolitanism Parochialism and Social Change Archived February 12 2024 at the Wayback Machine Routledge pp 45 58 Matt Katz July 20 2018 Leaving New York to Find the American Dream in Philadelphia The New York Times Archived from the original on August 7 2018 Retrieved November 10 2019 Jeff Gammage May 10 2019 Welcome to Philly Percentage of foreign born city residents has doubled since 1990 The Philadelphia Inquirer Archived from the original on May 10 2019 Retrieved November 10 2019 China is far and away the primary sending country with 22 140 city residents who make up about 11 percent of the foreign born population according to a Pew Charitable Trusts analysis of Census data Melia Robinson May 27 2015 This is what it s like in one of the biggest and fastest growing Chinatowns in the world Business Insider Archived from the original on July 30 2017 Retrieved March 3 2019 Sarah Ngu January 29 2021 Not what it used to be in New York Flushing s Asian residents brace against gentrification The Guardian US Archived from the original on August 13 2020 Retrieved August 13 2020 The three developers have stressed in public hearings that they are not outsiders to Flushing which is 69 Asian They ve been here they live here they work here they ve invested here said Ross Moskowitz an attorney for the developers at a different public hearing in February Tangram Tower a luxury mixed use development built by F amp T Last year prices for two bedroom apartments started at 1 15m The influx of transnational capital and rise of luxury developments in Flushing has displaced longtime immigrant residents and small business owners as well as disrupted its cultural and culinary landscape These changes follow the familiar script of gentrification but with a change of actors it is Chinese American developers and wealthy Chinese immigrants who are gentrifying this working class neighborhood which is majority Chinese Justin Davidson December 15 2022 Can the Hochul Adams New New York Actually Happen Curbed New York magazine Archived from the original on December 18 2022 Retrieved December 18 2022 Eileen Sullivan November 24 2023 Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border The New York Times Archived from the original on November 25 2023 Retrieved November 24 2023 Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well particularly Venezuelans who rely on the city s resources including its shelters But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters Instead they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations Flushing Queens Or to some the Chinese Manhattan New York is a self sufficient Chinese immigrants community said the Rev Mike Chan the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade a faith based group in the neighborhood Selected Population Profile in the United States 2017 American Community Survey 1 Year Estimates New York Newark NY NJ CT PA CSA Chinese alone United States Census Bureau Archived from the original on February 14 2020 Retrieved March 3 2019 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2011 Supplemental Table 2 U S Department of Homeland Security April 13 2016 Archived from the original on August 8 2012 Retrieved March 3 2019 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2010 Supplemental Table 2 U S Department of Homeland Security Archived from the original on July 12 2012 Retrieved April 10 2011 John Marzulli May 9 2011 Malaysian man smuggled illegal Chinese immigrants into Brooklyn using Queen Mary 2 authorities New York Daily News New York Archived from the original on May 5 2015 Retrieved March 3 2019 Kulish Nicholas Robles Frances Mazzei Patricia March 2 2019 Behind Illicit Massage Parlors Lie a Vast Crime Network and Modern Indentured Servitude The New York Times Archived from the original on March 6 2019 Retrieved March 3 2019 Jada Chin November 30 2020 The country s oldest Chinatown is fighting for its life in San Francisco Covid 19 has decimated tourism in the neighborhood Can its historic businesses survive The Washington Post Archived from the original on December 2 2020 Retrieved December 3 2020 Robert Channick February 12 2020 Chicago s Chinatown takes a hit as coronavirus fears keep customers away Business is down as much as 50 at some restaurants Herald amp Review Archived from the original on April 27 2021 Retrieved December 3 2020 1613 Description of Malaca and Meridional India and Cathay composed by Emanuel Godinho de Eradia We firſt paſſed the lower ground from thence round the Horſe Stable Hill to the Hermitage and ſo by the China Town and brick ſhades Modern Hiſtory Bing a Continuation of the Universal History Book XIV Chap VI Hiſtory of the Engliſh Eaſt India Company 1759 Hideo Izumida Chinese Settlements and China towns along Coastal Area of the South China Sea Asian Urbanization Through Immigration and Colonization 2006 ISBN 4 7615 2383 2 Japanese version ISBN 978 89 5933 712 5 Korean version Chinatown Area Plan San Francisco Chinatown Archived from the original on May 19 2014 Chinatown Philadelphia PA Archived from the original on July 2 2014 China City Of America New Disney Like Chinese Themed Development Plans To Bring 6 Billion To Catskills In New York State International Business Times December 6 2013 Archived from the original on March 7 2014 U S Census website Archived from the original on December 27 1996 Retrieved April 4 2020 Trade and Commerce in Singapore Simmond s Colonial Magazine and Foreign 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href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a Missing or empty title help Singapore Department of Statistics 2011 Singapore Census of Population 2010 Statistical Release 1 Demographic Characteristics Education Language and Religion PDF Singapore Ministry of Trade amp Industry Republic of Singapore p 19 ISBN 9789810878085 Archived from the original PDF on February 13 2020 Retrieved December 29 2019 Department of Statistics Malaysia Migration and Population Distribution 2010 Archived 2020 02 06 at the Wayback Machine Government of Malaysia Malaysia August 2014 Retrieved on 27 December 2019 Bunnell Tim Parthasarathy D Thompson Eric C December 11 2012 Cleavage Connection and Conflict in Rural Urban and Contemporary Asia Springer Science amp Business Media ISBN 9789400754829 Archived from the original on February 12 2024 Retrieved November 9 2020 SELECTED POPULATION PROFILE IN THE UNITED STATES 2017 American Community Survey 1 Year Estimates New York Newark NY NJ CT PA CSA Chinese alone United States Census Bureau Archived from the original on February 14 2020 Retrieved January 27 2019 Kirk Semple June 23 2011 Asian New Yorkers Seek Power to Match Numbers The New York Times Archived from the original on December 19 2014 Retrieved October 3 2014 a b Lawrence A McGlinn 2002 Beyond Chinatown Dual Immigration and the Chinese Population of Metropolitan New York City 2000 PDF Middle States Geographer 35 1153 4 Archived from the original PDF on October 29 2012 Retrieved October 3 2014 a b Bacon Daniel Walking the Barbary Coast Trail 2nd ed page 50 Quicksilver Press 1997 a b Richards Rand Historic San Francisco 2nd Ed page 198 Heritage House Publishers 2007 a b Morris Charles San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire pgs 151 152 University of Illinois Press 2002 Chinatown Vancouver Online Vancouver Chinatown Archived from the original on September 3 2011 Retrieved September 11 2011 Mann Charles C 2012 1493 Uncovering the New World Columbus Created Random House Digital Inc p 416 ISBN 978 0 307 27824 1 Archived from the original on February 12 2024 Retrieved October 12 2012 A Chinatown brasileira May 12 2015 Archived from the original on December 26 2023 Retrieved December 26 2023 Revitalizacao do Centro de SP Conheca o projeto Chinatown January 4 2023 Archived from the original on December 26 2023 Retrieved December 26 2023 O Globo destaca projeto da Chinatown Sao Paulo June 5 2023 Archived from the original on December 26 2023 Retrieved December 26 2023 Opiniao Jose Ruy Gandra A Chinatown paulistana November 11 2021 Archived from the original on December 26 2023 Retrieved December 26 2023 China Town Antwerpen Chinatown antwerpen be Archived from the original on September 20 2011 Retrieved September 11 2011 What happened to Cardiff Chinatown Discussion Board Britishchineseonline com October 5 2005 Archived from the original on March 28 2012 Retrieved September 11 2011 Liverpool and it s Chinese Children Halfandhalf org uk Archived from the original on October 2 2011 Retrieved September 11 2011 Carl Douglas Kung Fu Fighting Ohanesian Liz February 12 2015 Bruce Lee s Huge Bronze Statue Turns Into a Mecca in L A s Chinatown VIDEO laweekly com Archived from the original on January 4 2018 Retrieved May 2 2018 Sources edit Chew James R Boyhood Days in Winnemucca 1901 1910 Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 1998 41 3 206 209 ISSN 0047 9462 Oral history 1981 describes the Chinatown of Winnemucca Nevada during 1901 10 Though many Chinese left Winnemucca after the Central Pacific Railroad was completed in 1869 around four hundred Chinese had formed a community in the town by the 1890s Among the prominent buildings was the Joss House a place of worship and celebration that was visited by Chinese revolutionist Sun Yat Sen in 1911 Beyond describing the physical layout of the Chinatown the author recalls some of the commercial and gambling activities in the community Ki Longfellow China Blues Eio Books 2012 ISBN 0975925571 San Francisco s Chinatown during the 1906 earthquake and in the early 1920s Eio Books Chinatown Conflicting Images Contested Terrain K Scott Wong Melus Vol 20 Issue 1 1995 Scholarly work discussing the negative perceptions and imagery of old Chinatowns Pan Lynn Sons of the Yellow Emperor A History of the Chinese Diaspora 1994 Book with detailed histories of Chinese diaspora communities Chinatowns from San Francisco Honolulu Bangkok Manila Johannesburg Sydney London Lima etc Williams Daniel Chinatown Is a Hard Sell in Italy The Washington Post Foreign Service March 1 2004 Page A11 Further reading editKwan Cheuk 2023 Have you eaten yet stories from Chinese restaurants around the world First Pegasus Books cloth ed New York Pegasus Books ISBN 9781639363346 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chinatown amp oldid 1219213621, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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