Fuzhounese Americans, also known as Hokchew Americans or Fuzhou Americans or imprecisely Fujianese, are Chinese American people of Fuzhou descent, in particular from the Changle district.[3] Many Chinese restaurant workers in the United States are from Fuzhou.[3][4] There are also a number of undocumented Fuzhounese immigrants in the United States who are smuggled in by groups such as snakeheads.[5][6][7][8]
Unlike other Chinese Americans and Asian American groups, Fuzhounese Americans are almost completely concentrated in the U.S. Northeast. The vast majority live in New York City and on Long Island, but some also live in Middlesex and Morris counties in New Jersey; and in the Boston and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.
After the lifting of emigration restriction in the 1980s, people began leaving the Fuzhou area. Illegal immigration from Fujian province peaked at around 8,000 per month in June 1992.[9] During the second half of 1992, illegal immigration into the US was about 2500 per month. Migrants were mostly men, but in 1992 around 20–30% of them were women and children. These arrivals were mostly unskilled agricultural workers. About 80% of them were from the Changle District of Fuzhou, with smaller numbers from Lianjiang and Minhou counties, and other places.[10]
Many Fuzhounese people also work in the Chinatown garment industry. With time, however, the Fuzhounese population has become upwardly mobile in socioeconomic status. Second-generation Fuzhounese have high rates of educational attainment and often work in professional occupations like tech and finance.[12]
LocationsEdit
Hokchiu people in the US are almost singularly concentrated in the New York metropolitan area, unlike other Chinese Americans and Asian American groups. The number of Fuzhounese in New York City and nationwide is notably difficult to enumerate precisely, since as many as 50% of Fuzhounese immigrants are undocumented and may be reluctant to respond to census-takers.[11] One estimate put the number of Fuzhou people in New York City at over 70,000;[2] however, Einhorn in 1994 estimated that as many as 100,000 Fujianese were living in New York at the time, and that an additional 10,000 were arriving each year. Data from the 2005–2009 American Community Survey suggests there are around 1,450 Fuzhou speakers in the United States, although the number is likely to be far greater as most respondents simply wrote "Chinese".
New York CityEdit
Manhattan's Chinatown and Lower East SideEdit
During the 1980s, growing numbers of Fuzhou immigrants started arriving into Manhattan's Chinatown. Because Manhattan's Chinatown was mostly Cantonese-speaking, many could not integrate well there. Instead they began to settle on East Broadway and east of The Bowery, which was not fully developed as part of Chinatown but an overlapping enclave of Chinese, Latinos and Jewish populations. Many of the earlier Fuzhou immigrants learned to speak Cantonese to find work and to interact with most of Chinatown's residents. Many of the earlier Fuzhou immigrants to New York lived in Hong Kong for some time, adapting to the Hong Kong culture and learning to speak Cantonese. [13][14][15][16] The Little Fuzhou enclave slowly emerged on the eastern borderline of Chinatown, which was still overlapped with some Latino and Jewish populations. It eventually became fully Chinese-populated and fully part of Manhattan's Chinatown. However, Chinatown became subdivided into the older established Cantonese Chinatown, in the western portion, and the newer Fuzhou Chinatown in the eastern portion. Some longtime Cantonese residents (many of them older generations) and businesses remain in Fuzhou Chinatown.
Hokchiu people have founded business organizations such as the Fuzhou-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.[17] In 1998, businesspeople from Changle founded the Changle American Association, which has become one of the most influential community organizations.
Shift to Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau CountyEdit
However, due to the gentrification situation of Manhattan's Chinatown since the 2000s, the Chinese population and businesses are declining and moving from the original Chinatown to newer Chinatowns in New York, and the Fuzhou immigrants are also part of this decline as well. Many of Chinese in Manhattan's Chinatown are relocating to the newer Chinese enclaves in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County. However, the Fuzhous that are moving out are mostly relocating to Sunset Park, which now has the largest Fuzhou community in all of New York City, while the Cantonese are moving to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn's newer and growing Chinese enclaves, which are more primarily Cantonese populated.
Brooklyn's Sunset Park ChinatownEdit
Like Manhattan's Chinatown in the past, Brooklyn's Sunset Park Chinatown was primarily Cantonese, but was much smaller and less developed unlike Manhattan's Chinatown, which already had been very large and developed. With the gentrification and lack of available apartment units in Manhattan's Chinatown that came in the 2000s, the growing Fuzhou population shifted to Brooklyn's Sunset Park Chinatown to seek affordable housing and jobs. The shift of the Fuzhou immigration to Brooklyn's Sunset Park Chinatown dramatically expanded the Chinese enclave so prominently that it is now overwhelmingly Fuzhou populated and has far surpassed the size of the Fuzhou enclave in Manhattan's Chinatown. In addition, the Brooklyn Sunset Park Chinatown has overall surpassed the size of Manhattan's Chinatown. Unlike in Brooklyn's Sunset Park Chinatown, where the Fuzhou population has managed to dominate the whole enclave and still quickly growing, the Fuzhou enclave in Manhattan's Chinatown only managed to occupy the eastern portion while the western portion of Manhattan's Chinatown still remains primarily Cantonese.
While the majority of the Fuzhou population in the US came directly from Fuzhou, some Fuzhou Americans have also descended from Matsu, Fukien Province, R.O.C. and the Hokchiu (Foochowese) diaspora in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia and Singapore.
"Left behind" childrenEdit
Some Fuzhounese people give birth to children in the US, then send their young children back to their hometowns because they are unable to raise them and work at the same time.[19] Because of jus soli laws these children automatically gain American citizenship. These children are called "left-behind Americans" and are usually cared for by grandparents.[20] They are reunited with their parents in the US once they have reached the age to attend grade school.
Notable peopleEdit
Jeffrey Yi-Lin Forrest (1959–), professor of mathematics, systems science, economics, and finance at Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (Slippery Rock campus)
Lin Chen, founder of Summit Import Corporation, one of the largest importers of Asian food on the East Coast[15]
Tung-Yen Lin (林同棪 1912–2003), structural engineer who pioneered the use of prestressed concrete
Lin Yaohua (1910–2000), leading Chinese sociologist and anthropologist
Maya Lin (October 5, 1959–), designer and artist known for her work in sculpture and land art; designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Wang Shizhen (王世真; 1916–2016), Chinese nuclear medicine physician and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), known as the "father of Chinese nuclear medicine"
Golden Venture, ship that smuggled 286 undocumented immigrants from China (mostly Fuzhou people from Fujian province) that ran aground on the beach at Fort Tilden in Rockaway Beach in Queens in 1993
^Zhao, Xiaojian. The New Chinese America : Class, Economy, and Social Hierarchy. p. 2010.
^ abKenneth J. Guest. "From Mott Street to East Broadway: Fuzhounese Immigrants and the Revitalization of New York's Chinatown" (PDF). Baruch.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
^Nierenberg, Amelia (24 December 2019). "Chinese Restaurants Are Closing. That's a Good Thing, the Owners Say". New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
^Guest, Kenneth J. (August 2003). God in Chinatown: Religion and Survival in New York's Evolving Immigrant Community. ISBN9780814731543.
^Zhao, Xiaojian. The New Chinese America: Class, Economy, and Social Hierarchy. Rutgers University Press. p. 114.
^ abLai, H. Mark. Becoming Chinese American: A History of Communities and Institutions.
^Liang, 1 Zai; Ye, Wenzhen (2001). From Fujian to New York: Understanding the New Chinese Immigration. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
^Zhao, Xiaojian. The New Chinese America: Class, Economy, and Social Hierarchy. Rutgers University Press. p. 115.
^"Children in Need - Little Americans in Fuzhou". Childreninneedclub.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
^Susan Sachs (2001-07-22). "FUJIAN, U.S.A.: A special report; Within Chinatown, a Slice of Another China". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
October 14, 2023
fuzhounese, americans, also, known, hokchew, americans, fuzhou, americans, imprecisely, fujianese, chinese, american, people, fuzhou, descent, particular, from, changle, district, many, chinese, restaurant, workers, united, states, from, fuzhou, there, also, n. Fuzhounese Americans also known as Hokchew Americans or Fuzhou Americans or imprecisely Fujianese are Chinese American people of Fuzhou descent in particular from the Changle district 3 Many Chinese restaurant workers in the United States are from Fuzhou 3 4 There are also a number of undocumented Fuzhounese immigrants in the United States who are smuggled in by groups such as snakeheads 5 6 7 8 Fuzhounese Americans福州美國儂Hok ciŭ Mi guok ne ng 福州美國人 Fuzhōu meiguo renTotal population150 000 300 000 2016 Regions with significant populationsNew York City 纽约市 LanguagesEastern Min Hokchew Standard Mandarin EnglishReligionBuddhism Taoism Syncretism Christianity Confucianism Atheism etcFuzhounese Americans helped develop the Chinatown bus lines system which originated as a means to transport restaurant workers from New York City to various parts of the northeastern United States 5 Unlike other Chinese Americans and Asian American groups Fuzhounese Americans are almost completely concentrated in the U S Northeast The vast majority live in New York City and on Long Island but some also live in Middlesex and Morris counties in New Jersey and in the Boston and Philadelphia metropolitan areas Contents 1 Immigration 2 Businesses 2 1 Restaurants 2 2 Other 3 Locations 3 1 New York City 3 1 1 Manhattan s Chinatown and Lower East Side 3 1 1 1 Shift to Brooklyn Queens and Nassau County 3 1 2 Brooklyn s Sunset Park Chinatown 4 Population 4 1 Political views 4 2 Left behind children 5 Notable people 6 See also 7 ReferencesImmigration EditAfter the lifting of emigration restriction in the 1980s people began leaving the Fuzhou area Illegal immigration from Fujian province peaked at around 8 000 per month in June 1992 9 During the second half of 1992 illegal immigration into the US was about 2500 per month Migrants were mostly men but in 1992 around 20 30 of them were women and children These arrivals were mostly unskilled agricultural workers About 80 of them were from the Changle District of Fuzhou with smaller numbers from Lianjiang and Minhou counties and other places 10 Businesses EditRestaurants Edit Many Chinese restaurant owners and workers are from Fuzhou 11 Chinatown bus lines originated as a means to transport workers from New York City to various parts of the East Coast Midwest and also parts of the southeastern United States Restaurant owners usually adopted the established American Chinese cuisine which is somewhat based on Cantonese cuisine rather than serving Fujian cuisine These restaurants are usually all you can eat buffets and take out restaurants Other Edit Many Fuzhounese people also work in the Chinatown garment industry With time however the Fuzhounese population has become upwardly mobile in socioeconomic status Second generation Fuzhounese have high rates of educational attainment and often work in professional occupations like tech and finance 12 Locations EditHokchiu people in the US are almost singularly concentrated in the New York metropolitan area unlike other Chinese Americans and Asian American groups The number of Fuzhounese in New York City and nationwide is notably difficult to enumerate precisely since as many as 50 of Fuzhounese immigrants are undocumented and may be reluctant to respond to census takers 11 One estimate put the number of Fuzhou people in New York City at over 70 000 2 however Einhorn in 1994 estimated that as many as 100 000 Fujianese were living in New York at the time and that an additional 10 000 were arriving each year Data from the 2005 2009 American Community Survey suggests there are around 1 450 Fuzhou speakers in the United States although the number is likely to be far greater as most respondents simply wrote Chinese New York City Edit Manhattan s Chinatown and Lower East Side Edit During the 1980s growing numbers of Fuzhou immigrants started arriving into Manhattan s Chinatown Because Manhattan s Chinatown was mostly Cantonese speaking many could not integrate well there Instead they began to settle on East Broadway and east of The Bowery which was not fully developed as part of Chinatown but an overlapping enclave of Chinese Latinos and Jewish populations Many of the earlier Fuzhou immigrants learned to speak Cantonese to find work and to interact with most of Chinatown s residents Many of the earlier Fuzhou immigrants to New York lived in Hong Kong for some time adapting to the Hong Kong culture and learning to speak Cantonese 13 14 15 16 The Little Fuzhou enclave slowly emerged on the eastern borderline of Chinatown which was still overlapped with some Latino and Jewish populations It eventually became fully Chinese populated and fully part of Manhattan s Chinatown However Chinatown became subdivided into the older established Cantonese Chinatown in the western portion and the newer Fuzhou Chinatown in the eastern portion Some longtime Cantonese residents many of them older generations and businesses remain in Fuzhou Chinatown nbsp Little Fuzhou on East Broadway as seen from the Manhattan Bridge Hokchiu people have founded business organizations such as the Fuzhou American Chamber of Commerce and Industry 17 In 1998 businesspeople from Changle founded the Changle American Association which has become one of the most influential community organizations Shift to Brooklyn Queens and Nassau County Edit However due to the gentrification situation of Manhattan s Chinatown since the 2000s the Chinese population and businesses are declining and moving from the original Chinatown to newer Chinatowns in New York and the Fuzhou immigrants are also part of this decline as well Many of Chinese in Manhattan s Chinatown are relocating to the newer Chinese enclaves in Brooklyn Queens and Nassau County However the Fuzhous that are moving out are mostly relocating to Sunset Park which now has the largest Fuzhou community in all of New York City while the Cantonese are moving to Bensonhurst Brooklyn s newer and growing Chinese enclaves which are more primarily Cantonese populated Brooklyn s Sunset Park Chinatown Edit Like Manhattan s Chinatown in the past Brooklyn s Sunset Park Chinatown was primarily Cantonese but was much smaller and less developed unlike Manhattan s Chinatown which already had been very large and developed With the gentrification and lack of available apartment units in Manhattan s Chinatown that came in the 2000s the growing Fuzhou population shifted to Brooklyn s Sunset Park Chinatown to seek affordable housing and jobs The shift of the Fuzhou immigration to Brooklyn s Sunset Park Chinatown dramatically expanded the Chinese enclave so prominently that it is now overwhelmingly Fuzhou populated and has far surpassed the size of the Fuzhou enclave in Manhattan s Chinatown In addition the Brooklyn Sunset Park Chinatown has overall surpassed the size of Manhattan s Chinatown Unlike in Brooklyn s Sunset Park Chinatown where the Fuzhou population has managed to dominate the whole enclave and still quickly growing the Fuzhou enclave in Manhattan s Chinatown only managed to occupy the eastern portion while the western portion of Manhattan s Chinatown still remains primarily Cantonese Population EditPolitical views Edit Compared to previous Chinese immigrants Fuzhou Americans tend to have a more favorable view of the People s Republic of China 18 citation needed While the majority of the Fuzhou population in the US came directly from Fuzhou some Fuzhou Americans have also descended from Matsu Fukien Province R O C and the Hokchiu Foochowese diaspora in Southeast Asia particularly Malaysia and Singapore Left behind children Edit Some Fuzhounese people give birth to children in the US then send their young children back to their hometowns because they are unable to raise them and work at the same time 19 Because of jus soli laws these children automatically gain American citizenship These children are called left behind Americans and are usually cared for by grandparents 20 They are reunited with their parents in the US once they have reached the age to attend grade school Notable people EditJeffrey Yi Lin Forrest 1959 professor of mathematics systems science economics and finance at Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Slippery Rock campus Lin Chen founder of Summit Import Corporation one of the largest importers of Asian food on the East Coast 15 Tung Yen Lin 林同棪 1912 2003 structural engineer who pioneered the use of prestressed concrete Lin Yaohua 1910 2000 leading Chinese sociologist and anthropologist Maya Lin October 5 1959 designer and artist known for her work in sculpture and land art designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wang Shizhen 王世真 1916 2016 Chinese nuclear medicine physician and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences CAS known as the father of Chinese nuclear medicine Victims of the Chen family homicides Wang Wenxing 王文興 1939 Taiwanese writer Hsien Wu 吳憲 1893 1959 Chinese protein scientist Zhang Yuzhe 1902 1986 astronomer widely regarded as the father of modern Chinese astronomy See also Edit nbsp New York City portal nbsp New Jersey portal nbsp Philadelphia portalLittle Fuzhou 小福州 Fuzhou Town 福州埠 Brooklyn 布鲁克林 Chinese emigration Golden Venture ship that smuggled 286 undocumented immigrants from China mostly Fuzhou people from Fujian province that ran aground on the beach at Fort Tilden in Rockaway Beach in Queens in 1993 Asian Americans in New York City Bangladeshis in New York City Chinese people in New York City Demographics of New York City Filipinos in the New York metropolitan area Indians in the New York City metropolitan region Japanese in New York City Koreans in New York City Russians in New York City Taiwanese people in New York City The Leavers novel by Lisa Ko about undocumented immigrants from FuzhouReferences Edit 2005 2009 American Community Survey a b Fuzhounese in the New York Metro Area PDF Unreachednewyork com Retrieved 2016 12 01 a b Voices of NY Fujianese Immigrants Fuel Growth Changes 30 June 2013 Archived from the original on 30 June 2013 Retrieved 24 August 2020 Left behind American children in China Offbeat China Retrieved 2016 12 01 a b Radden Patrick 2008 04 09 China s Great Migration Little America Slate com Retrieved 2016 12 01 Vivian Yee Jeffrey E Singer 2013 12 29 The Death of a Family and an American Dream The New York Times Retrieved 2016 12 01 Chin Ko lin 1998 Smuggled Chinese Clandestine Immigration to the United States From Fujian to New York Understanding the New Chinese Immigration 1 dead link Zhao Xiaojian The New Chinese America Class Economy and Social Hierarchy p 2010 a b Kenneth J Guest From Mott Street to East Broadway Fuzhounese Immigrants and the Revitalization of New York s Chinatown PDF Baruch cuny edu Retrieved 2016 12 01 Nierenberg Amelia 24 December 2019 Chinese Restaurants Are Closing That s a Good Thing the Owners Say New York Times Retrieved April 3 2021 Guest Kenneth J August 2003 God in Chinatown Religion and Survival in New York s Evolving Immigrant Community ISBN 9780814731543 Zhao Xiaojian The New Chinese America Class Economy and Social Hierarchy Rutgers University Press p 114 a b Lai H Mark Becoming Chinese American A History of Communities and Institutions Liang 1 Zai Ye Wenzhen 2001 From Fujian to New York Understanding the New Chinese Immigration The Johns Hopkins University Press Zhao Xiaojian The New Chinese America Class Economy and Social Hierarchy Rutgers University Press p 115 Becoming Chinese American Children in Need Little Americans in Fuzhou Childreninneedclub com Retrieved 2016 12 01 Susan Sachs 2001 07 22 FUJIAN U S A A special report Within Chinatown a Slice of Another China The New York Times Retrieved 2016 12 01 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fuzhounese Americans amp oldid 1179196977, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
