| Chinatowns in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 唐人街 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Chinese Street" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國城 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中国城 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Chinatown" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 華埠 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 华埠 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Chinese District" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinatowns |
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Chinatowns areenclaves ofChinese people outside ofChina. The first Chinatown in theUnited States wasSan Francisco's Chinatown in 1848, and many other Chinatowns were established in the 19th century by theChinese diaspora on theWest Coast. By 1875, Chinatowns had emerged in eastern cities such asNew York City,Boston,Pittsburgh,[4] andPhiladelphia. TheChinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese immigration to the United States, but theMagnuson Act of 1943 repealed it, and the population of Chinatowns began to rise again.
Many historic Chinatowns have lost their status as ethnic Chinese enclaves due togentrification anddemographic shifts, while others have become major tourist attractions. New York City,San Francisco, andLos Angeles have the largest Chinese populations in the United States, and theChinatowns in New York City are some of the largest Chinese enclaves outside ofAsia.
The earliest Chinatowns in the United States were founded on the West Coast during the 19th century, spurred on by theCalifornia Gold Rush. TheEmancipation Proclamation in 1863 opened up new opportunities for Chinese people in theSouthern United States. As Chinese immigrants started moving eastward, drawn by labor needs for thetranscontinental railroad, newer Chinatowns emerged by 1875 in cities such asNew York,Philadelphia, andBoston.[5] Racial and labor tensions led to incidents such as theRock Springs Massacre andHells Canyon Massacre. In 1882, US PresidentChester A. Arthur signed theChinese Exclusion Act into law, which banned Chinese immigration into the United States.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by theMagnuson Act in 1943, and Chinatown populations began to rise again.
Continuous demographic changes have drastically altered some Chinatowns. Large metropolitan areas such as New York City continue to see large-scale immigration from mainland China, while other Chinatowns are no longer the ethnic enclaves they once were.[6][7][8]
Most Chinatowns started as enclaves of ethnic Chinese people, but many of these Chinatowns have experiencedgentrification anddemographic shifts. While some Chinatowns have retained their status as ethnic Chinese enclaves, many have lost that status. The cities with the ten highest Chinese-American populations, according to the2015 American Community Survey, were as follows
ThePhoenix Chinatown started in the 1870s,[9] and lasted until the 1940s, by which time the Chinese population had scattered throughout the city.[10] Sources from a research project indicated that more than one Chinatown existed in Phoenix, with one around First Street and Madison Street,[11][12] and a second at First Street and Adams Street at the present location of theTalking Stick Resort Arena.
In the early 2000s, a two-mile (3.2 km) stretch of Dobson Road inMesa, one of Phoenix's southeastern suburbs, had developed with, as of March 2022[update], over 70 Asian-themed restaurants, grocery stores, and other businesses on Dobson Road.
Given its relative proximity to East Asia and Southeast Asia,California has the most historical and present Chinatowns of any U.S. state.[13]
A Chinatown was founded inEureka in the 1880s. It spanned a block at Fourth and E streets.[14]
Fresno has a near-downtown neighborhood officially called Chinatown. Though it had a vibrant Chinese community in the early 1900s, most of its Chinese businesses and architecture are gone.[15]
Anaheim was the first incorporated city in Orange County. It was founded in 1857 by a group of German immigrants associated with the Los Angeles Vineyard Society. Initially, the settlers hired approximately sixty Mexican and Indigenous laborers to construct a six-mile irrigation canal connecting the Santa Ana River to their new wine-making enterprise. Dissatisfied with this workforce, the German settlers later traveled to San Francisco to recruit thirty Chinese laborers.[16]
Amalie Frohling, an early Anaheim settler, wrote in her 1914 memoir that the Chinese workers were “industrious, peaceful, never drunk, and kept cleaner in body than the Indians.” Each Chinese laborer was compensated with a town lot, and these parcels later formed the spatial foundation of Anaheim’s early Chinatown.[16]
Over time, Anaheim’s Chinese population grew to become the second-largest ethnic group in the city, after the German community. Chinese immigrants planted hundreds of thousands of grapevines, excavated the sixteen-mile Cajon Canal from the Anaheim Union Reservoir (now located within Tri-City Regional Park in Placentia), constructed some of Orange County’s earliest railroads, and worked extensively in the region’s agricultural fields. Several Chinese physicians provided medical care within Anaheim’s Chinatown, while others operated vegetable businesses and laundries, contributing to the city’s early economic and social development.[16]
Despite these contributions, Anaheim’s Chinese community began to decline following the implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This decline was further accelerated by anti-Chinese violence in Orange County and racially motivated boycotts of Chinese-owned businesses. After 1910, Chinese residents gradually left the area, and by 1935, only one Chinese resident remained in Anaheim.[16]
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Cerritos is a majority Asian city located on the border ofOrange County andLos Angeles County. There are significant Chinese-owned and operated businesses along South Street that continue into the neighboring city ofArtesia.
Chino Hills is a suburban city located on the border ofLos Angeles County andSan Bernardino County. It is growing as a continuation of the Chinese community in San Gabriel Valley and is known for its high-performing schools and clean environment.
Irvine is a suburban Chinatown inOrange County that is growing as more Chinese people move into theSan Gabriel Valley. Many Chinese business establishments are situated in the El Camino Real and Walnut neighborhoods.[17][18]
Little Saigon is a district located in north-centralOrange County. The majority of the population is Vietnamese. Many of the Vietnamese are of mixed Chinese origin, especially Cantonese, as many Chinese-Vietnamese families fled Vietnam at the end of theVietnam War. Many of the older residents can still speakCantonese, and Chinese-style restaurants are also common in the area, including Cantonese barbeque butchers. This area is centered onWestminster,Garden Grove,Midway City, andFountain Valley, while also including a presence in the neighboring cities ofSanta Ana,Anaheim,Stanton, andHuntington Beach.
The present-day Chinatown inLos Angeles was founded in the late 1930s as the second Chinatown in the city. Formerly a "Little Italy," it is presently located along Hill Street, Broadway, and Spring Street nearDodger Stadium indowntown Los Angeles with restaurants, grocers, and tourist-oriented shops and plazas. A sculpture of duelinggold dragons spans Broadway and marks the entrance to Chinatown, with a statue honoring Dr.Sun Yat-sen, founder of theKuomintang, adorning the northeastern section. The enclave contains Buddhist temples, a Chinese Christian church (with services conducted inCantonese), andThien Hau Temple, a temple dedicated to theChinese goddess of the sea that caters to Chinese and Vietnamese worshipers. Chinatown is home to family and regional associations and service organizations for long-time immigrants, as well as ones founded by and for a second wave ofIndochina-bornimmigrants after theVietnam War ended.
The San Gabriel Valley in the eastern suburbs ofLos Angeles is home to the U.S.'s first suburbanChinatown (inMonterey Park, California), and now includesChinese enclaves in the San Gabriel Valley.[19][20] The Chinese population in the neighborhood began to rise starting in 1977, when developer Frederic Hsieh bought up multiple properties in an effort to create what he described would be a "mecca for Chinese".[21] It is considered a "new Chinatown".[22] There are now approximately 15 local cities and communities with Chinese plurality:Alhambra,Arcadia,Diamond Bar,East San Gabriel,Hacienda Heights,Mayflower Village,Monterey Park,North El Monte,Rosemead,Rowland Heights,San Gabriel,San Marino,South San Gabriel,Temple City,Walnut.
Ventura had a flourishing Chinese settlement in the early 1880s. The largest concentration of activity, known as China Alley, was across Main Street from theMission San Buenaventura. China Alley was parallel with Main Street and extended east off Figueroa Street between Main and Santa Clara Streets.[23] The city council has designated the China Alley Historic Area a point of interest in the downtown business district.[24]
Hanford has a historic Chinese alley for display and visitation to this day, which started off in the 1800s as a place of Chinese settlers. Two Chinese restaurants still exist in the area.China Alley was listed as one of the11 most endangered historic places in America in 2011.[25]
The Sacramento River delta town of Locke was built in 1915 as a distinct rural Chinese enclave. A thriving agricultural community in the early 20th century, it is no longer predominantly Chinese. A historic district of 50 wood-frame buildings along Main Street, Key Street and River Road was designated a historic district in 1990.[26]
Throughout the early 1840s and 1850s, China was at war with Great Britain and France in theFirst andSecond Opium Wars. The wars, along with endemic poverty in China, helped drive manyChinese immigrants to America. Many first came to San Francisco, which was then the largest city in California, which was known as "Dai Fow" (The Big City) and some came eventually toSacramento (then the second-largest city in California), which is known as "Yee Fow" (Second City). Many of these immigrants came in hopes for a better life as well as the possibility of finding gold in the foothills east of Sacramento.
Sacramento's Chinatown was located on I Street from Second to Sixth Streets. At the time, this area of I Street was considered a health hazard because it was located in alevee zone and was lower than other parts of the city. Throughout the history of Sacramento's Chinatown, there were fires, acts of discrimination, and prejudicial legislation such as theChinese Exclusion Act.[27] Ordinances on what was viable building material were set into place to try to prevent Chinese settlement. Newspapers wrote stories that portrayed the Chinese in an unfavorable light to inspire ethnic discrimination and drive the Chinese away. As the years passed, a railroad was built through parts of the Chinatown. While the east side of the country fought for higher wages and fewer working hours, many cities in the western United States wanted the Chinese out, believing that they were stealing jobs from the white working class.[when?]
In the 1880s, farm labor inSalinas was performed by many Chinese immigrants. Salinas had the second largest Chinatown in the state, slightly smaller thanSan Francisco.[28]
San Diego's Chinatown was founded in the 1870s in theStingaree neighborhood downtown. Not long after theIndustrial Workers of the World began getting a foothold among the working class in the area, the population weresuppressed by town ordinances,violent police actions and ultimately, the demolition of over 120 structures.[29] In 1987, the city council of San Diego redeveloped the area and officially designated part of the newly renamedGaslamp Quarter theAsian Pacific Thematic Historic District. The annual San Diego Chinese New Year Food and Cultural Faire is held in this district, and the San Diego Chinese Heritage Museum is located there.
The first and one of the largest, most prominent, and highly visited Chinatowns in the Americas isSan Francisco's Chinatown. Founded in 1848, Chinatown was destroyed in the1906 San Francisco earthquake and was later rebuilt and re-realized, using a Chinese-style architecture that has been criticized as garish and touristy. For many years, a center oftong wars and gang activity, Chinatown is now much safer than it was in years past. Chinatown receives millions of tourists annually, making the community, along withAlcatraz andGolden Gate Bridge, one of the prime attractions and highlights of the city ofSan Francisco, as well as the centerpiece of Chinese-American history.
Besides the main north–souththoroughfares ofGrant Avenue andStockton Street, connected by several intersecting side streets, Chinatown has many small alleys, includingRoss Alley. Contained within this alley is a mix of touristy stores, a tiny barbershop, and afortune cookie factory. Ross Alley used to havebrothels, but they no longer exist. Also within the confines of Chinatown is the Woh Hei Yuen Recreation Center and Park on Powell Street. TheTin How Temple (Queen of Heaven and Goddess of the Seven Seas) on Waverly Place, which was founded in 1852, is the oldest Chinese temple in the United States.
The San Francisco Chinatown hosts the largestChinese New Year parade in the Americas, with corporate sponsors such as theBank of America and the award-winning and widely praised dragon dance team from theSan Francisco Police Department, composed solely of Chinese-American SFPD officers (the only such team in existence in the United States). As Chinatown and many Chinese-Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area have historical or current roots in the province ofGuangdong, China (particularlyTaishan County) and in Hong Kong, these dances are mostly performed in the southern Chinese style. San Francisco's Chinatown is also the birthplace ofchop suey and many other dishes ofAmerican Chinese cuisine.
With its Chinatown as the landmark, the city of San Francisco itself has one of the largest and predominant concentrations of Chinese-American population centers, representing 20% of total population as of the2000 Census, Though Chinatown remains the cultural and symbolic anchor of the Bay Area Chinese community, increasing numbers of Chinese-Americans do not live there, instead residing in Chinese enclaves in theRichmond andSunset districts, or elsewhere in the Bay Area.
Originally formed in the 1860s, the Chinatown ofOakland – centering upon 8th Street and Webster Street – shares a long history as its counterpart in the city of San Francisco as Oakland's community remains one of the focal points of Chinese American heritage in the San Francisco Bay Area. Oakland's Chinatown relies less on tourism than the Chinatown in San Francisco, although the local government has promoted it as such as it is considered one of the top sources of sales tax revenue for the city. The Chinatown does not have an ornamental entrance arch (paifang) but the streets of the community are adorned with bilingual road signs in English and Chinese.
Today, while it remains a Cantonese-speaking enclave, it is not exclusively Chinese anymore, but more of a pan-Asian neighborhood which reflects Oakland's diversity of Asian communities, including Chinese,Vietnamese,Korean,Filipinos,Japanese,Cambodian,Laotian,Mien,Thai, and others. In addition to the standard Chinese New Year festivities, the Oakland Chinatown Streetfest (held by the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce) is held yearly in August and features Chinese lion dances, parades, music, cooking demonstrations and contests, a food festival, and various activities.
Daly City as well as theSan Francisco Peninsula is home to a hefty Chinese population.Daly City is about 35% Chinese, andSouth San Francisco andMillbrae southward both have Chinese populations above 15%.
Napa had a Chinatown that was established in the mid-1800s, located on First Street. It had 300 residents. Many of its residents provided manual labor in the area.[30]
San Jose was home to five Chinatowns that existed until the 1930s.[31] The initial Chinatowns in San Jose were frequently burned down by arson.[32] Another Chinatown was excavated during an urban renewal project to build the Fairmont Hotel and Silicon Valley Financial Center on Market and San Fernando Streets.[33] This Chinatown was also known as the "Plaza Street Chinatown", which grew rapidly from the 1860s to the 1870s and was home to "several hundred Chinese". The area was subject to racial tensions, as white residents often complained to the city council that it was "bothersome". By 1870, the area was burned to the ground and many Chinese were evicted from the area as the anti-Chinese public sentiment grew.[34]
Later in history, John Heinlen, a farmer and businessman, planned a six block Chinatown with brick structures with water and pipes in the area of Sixth Street and Cleveland Street in 1887, to the dismay of the non-Chinese public. The area was then known as "Heinlenville" and contained a variety of merchants, barbers, traditional doctors, and Chinese herbal medicine, and the Ng Shing Gung temple. The area was surrounded by Little Italy and co-existed harmoniously, but then dwindled in the 1920s as the younger generations sought careers outside the area and with a lack of new Chinese coming in due to theChinese Exclusion Act. The area eventually lost almost all of its Chinese population.[35] Some artifacts from this Chinatown are now located inKelley Park. At the time, an existingJapantown nearby was evacuated due to the war, but was repopulated after the internment of the Japanese-Americans.
The city of Cupertino has a substantial Chinese and Taiwanese community; many of whom work forApple, Inc. and other area technology based industries. Other nearby cities such asFremont,Sunnyvale, andSanta Clara have large Chinese populations.
San Luis Obispo had a Chinatown beginning in the 1870s.
Santa Barbara had a small (about 250 people) but flourishing Chinatown from at least 1868, when Chinese workers arrived from the San Francisco Bay Area to help construct the San Marcos Pass Stagecoach Road between Santa Barbara andSanta Ynez Valley. Chinatown in Santa Barbara was located mostly on E Canon Perdido Street in downtown Santa Barbara.[36]
There was a Chinatown inSanta Rosa, present in the early 1900s, and was removed afterward. It was located on Second and Third Streets, near Santa Rosa Avenue, in downtown Santa Rosa. The district had around 200 residents.[37][38]
Stockton, California is home to a small Chinatown on Chung Wah Lane, East Market Street and East Washington Street. It briefly became the largest Chinatown in California in the aftermath of the1906 San Francisco earthquake as many displaced Chinese residents fled to Stockton.[39]
On Lock Sam, the city's oldest restaurant was founded in 1898. The community was once quite large but, after development in the 1950s and 1960s and the construction of the Crosstown freeway, businesses moved, buildings were demolished, new buildings were built, and the community changed forever. There is still a Chinese New Year Parade merged with the Vietnamese New Year celebrations.[40][41]
Chinatown inDenver,Colorado, was a neighborhood on Wazee Street in what is now the "LoDo section of the city...."[42] The first recorded Chinese person was of a man fromsouthern China named "John" dated June 29, 1869, as documented by theColorado Tribune.[43] It was also referred to as "Hop Alley", but was torn apart by riots in the 1880s.[44][45]
After theSeptember 11 attacks led to a loss of garment and service jobs inManhattan's Chinatown, many Chinese Americans relocated toMontville andNorwich inConnecticut to work in the newly openedMohegan Sun casino, creating an unofficial suburban Chinatown. The influx of new residents led to some tensions with the existing population.[46][47]
Chinatown inWashington, D.C. is a small, historical neighborhood east of downtown consisting of about 20 ethnicChinese and other Asian restaurants and small businesses alongH and I Streets between 5th and 8th Streets,Northwest. It is known for its annualChinese New Year festival and parade and the Friendship Arch, aChinese gate built over H Street at7th Street. Other nearby prominent landmarks include theCapital One Arena, a sports and entertainment arena, and theOld Patent Office Building, which houses two of theSmithsonian museums (theNational Portrait Gallery and theSmithsonian American Art Museum). The neighborhood is served by theGallery Place-Chinatown station of theWashington Metro.[48]
Atlanta has remnants of historic Chinese district, and a large Chinese and other Asian, especially Korean, population resides inAlpharetta andJohns Creek. Atlanta also has a Chinatown located in a shopping mall.[49]
The official historical and current Chinatown ofHonolulu,Hawaii is located near North Hotel Street and Maunakea Street and contains traditional Chinese businesses. Unlike Chinatowns in thecontinental United States which were largely established by immigrants fromTaishan, Honolulu's Chinatown was started in the 1890s by early settlers fromZhongshan,Guangdong Province. They migrated to Hawaii for work on the islands'sugarcane plantations and rice fields, and many became successful merchants and relocated to the city of Honolulu. As with many other Chinatowns in the United States, it was noted for its unsanitary conditions throughout the 19th century, including an outbreak ofbubonic plague in 1899.[50] For a period after the 1940s, it degenerated into a red-light district.[51]
Today, it is a diverse neighborhood with many East Asian andPacific Islander businesses. Recent investment and planning has dramatically transformed the once decaying and unsafe neighborhood into an upscale Asian-inspired arts and business district, blending the traditional Chinese bazaars and family owned stores. Ethnic Chinese people from Vietnam make up much of the population. Businesses include markets, bakeries, aChinese porcelain shop, and shops specializing in ginseng herbal remedies. There are often bazaars and street peddlers in the Kekaulike Market located on Kekaulike Street. A variety of restaurants serving Hong Kong-style dim sum and Vietnamesebeef noodle soup are common.
Chinese revolutionarySun Yat-sen received his Western education in Hawaii, and his history is tied to Honolulu's Chinatown. The area once served as his base of operations for a series of crusades against the rulingQing Dynasty in China that culminated in theRevolution of 1911. There is a monument to Sun in Honolulu's Chinatown, and the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park is named in his honor.[52]
The historical Chinatown of Boise, Idaho existed from around the 1870s to the 1960s. It was located along Idaho Street, and east from 8th Street along Front Street and Grove Street.[53]
The Chinatown inChicago is a traditional urban ethnic enclave, occupying a large portion of theArmour Square region on the city's near south side. The intersection of Wentworth Avenue atCermak Road is the neighborhood's historic epicenter. Chinatown has historically been dominated by Chinese-American commercial interests, though in recent years, large-scale construction of residential developments, particularly east of Canal Streets and the area adjacent to Ping Tom Park south of West 18th Street, have exponentially increased the number of residents in the area. While it is a cultural tourist attraction for visitors, Chinatown also attracts emigrants from China as a gateway neighborhood. The annual Chinese New Year and ChineseDouble Ten Day Parade are both held in Chinatown.
New Orleans was once home to one of the largest Chinatowns in theSouthern United States. The first significant migration of Chinese toLouisiana took place duringReconstruction after theAmerican Civil War, between 1867 and 1871, whenlocal planters brought in hundreds ofCantonese contract laborers from Cuba, California, and directly from China as a low-costreplacement for slave labor.[54] By the mid-1870s, nearly all of these laborers had abandoned the plantations and migrated to the cities of the South, especiallyNew Orleans, in search of higher pay and better working conditions. They were followed by Chinese merchants from California and other states, who supplied the laborers, imported tea and other luxury goods to thePort of Orleans, and exported cotton and dried shrimp to China.[55]
By the 1880s, these merchants had developed a small Chinatown on the 1100 block ofTulane Avenue, between Elk Place and South Rampart Street, near the modern Tulane stop on the North Rampart Streetcar line. Though much smaller than the Chinatowns of the West Coast or the industrial cities of the north, New Orleans Chinatown was the site of several dry goods groceries, import and export companies,apothecaries, restaurants, laundries, and the meeting halls of several Chinese associations.[56] Chinatown continued to exist for six decades, until its destruction in a redevelopment project by theWorks Progress Administration in 1937, during theGreat Depression. Several office towers stand on the site of the former Tulane Avenue Chinatown. A few Chinese businesses attempted to build a second Chinatown on the 500-block of Bourbon Street, but this smaller Chinatown also died out over the next thirty years. Today, only the former meeting hall of theOn Leong Merchants Association still remains on 530 Bourbon Street.[57]
A Chinatown inPortland, Maine once existed aroundMonument Square and alongCongress Street. The first Chinese person arrived in 1858, with the Chinatown forming around 1916 and lasting until around 1953. Portland's Chinatown existed modestly, with most Chinese being isolated due to discrimination and theChinese Exclusion Act in 1882. By 1895, there were enough Chinese people that a Chinese community began to form, though mostly with men whose wives were prohibited from migration by the newly created law. The community celebrated their firstChinese New Year that year. By 1920, around 30 Chinese laundries existed in the city. In 1903, a union formed to fix prices for laundromats and consisted of around 100 people who owned the laundries. By around the 1950s, the Chinese community had shrunk to the point that Chinatown almost ceased to exist. By 1997, the last laundry was demolished, wiping out the last remaining vestige of Chinatown.[58] Most Chinese men who lived in Chinatown attended aChinese American church, with some going toChina as missionaries.[59]
Baltimore,Maryland, has had two districts called "Chinatown", home to a few hundred people of Chinese descent. In the 1880s, an initial Chinese population attracted by the transcontinental railroad established a community on the 200 block of Marion Street.[60] Later, a second Chinatown arose on the 300 block ofPark Avenue, which was dominated by laundries and restaurants. The Chinese population never exceeded its peak of 400 in 1941. During segregation, Chinese children were classified as "white" and went to the white schools. Though Chinatown was mostly spared from the riots of the 1960s, most of the Chinese residents moved to the suburbs.[61] As of 2009, the area still shows signs of blight and does not have a Chinese arch.[62]
Rockville,Potomac, andNorth Potomac are home to some of the largest Chinese communities in Maryland. At the2000 census, 14.5% of North Potomac's residents were of Chinese ancestry, making it the area with the highest percentage of Chinese ancestry outside ofCalifornia andHawaii.[citation needed] North Potomac and Potomac, which are largely residential and consist of suburban subdivisions, have the highest concentration of Asian population in Maryland. Rockville, the county seat of Montgomery County, has become the center for Chinese and Taiwanese businesses along Rockville Pike and Wisconsin Avenue. Rockville is considered to be a "Little Taipei" due to the area's high concentration of Taiwanese immigrants.[citation needed]
Rockville's Chinatown runs alongRockville Pike from Helpine Road to East Jefferson Street, along E Jefferson Street and then along North Washington Street. It is considered a satellite of theWashington, D.C., Chinatown,[63] and it grew in the aftermath of theriots of 1968, when many Chinese people moved to the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia.[64] As of 2006, close to 30,000 people of Chinese descent lived in Montgomery County, most of whom were drawn to the good schools, and it was home to at least three Chinese newspapers.[65] It is known for its authentic Chinese food.[66]
TheChinese New Year parade is held in the Rockville Town Square.[67]
The sole established Chinatown ofNew England is inBoston,[citation needed] on Beach Street and Washington Street nearSouth Station betweenDowntown Crossing andTufts Medical Center. There are manyChinese,Japanese,Cambodian, andVietnamese restaurants and markets in one of the largest Chinatowns in the United States.
In the pre-Chinatown era, the area was settled in succession byIrish,Jewish,Italian, andSyrian immigrants. Syrians were later succeeded by Chinese immigrants, and Chinatown was established in 1890. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Boston's Chinatown was located in theCombat Zone, which served as Boston'sred light district. Currently, Boston's Chinatown is experiencinggentrification.High-rise luxury residential towers are built in the neighborhood, which was previously overwhelmingly three-, four-, and five-story small apartment buildings intermixed with retail and light-industrial spaces.[68][69]
Detroit's Chinatown was originally located at Third Avenue, Porter Street and Bagley Street, now the permanent site of theMGM Grand Detroit casino.[70] In the 1960s, urban renewal efforts, as well as the opportunity for the Chinese business community to purchase property, led to a relocation centered at Cass Avenue and Peterboro.[71] However, Detroit's urban decline and escalating street violence, in particular the killing of restaurateur Tommie Lee, led to the new location's demise, with the last remaining Chinese food restaurant in Chinatown finally shutting its doors in the early 2000s. Although there is still a road marker indicating "Chinatown" and a mural commemorating the struggle for justice in theVincent Chin case, only one Chinese American establishment still operates within the borders of Chinatown. The Association of Chinese Americans Detroit Outreach Center,[72] a small community center, serves a handful of new Chinese immigrants who still reside in theCass Corridor. Much of theMetro Detroit Chinese community live in theTroy area; other Asians such as Koreans also are in great number there. As of 2023, revitalization efforts have been under way for a revival of Detroit's Chinatown.[73]
A Chinatown existed inDowntown St. Louis from 1869 until its demolition forBusch Memorial Stadium in 1966.[74][citation not found] Also called Hop Alley, it was bounded by Seventh, Tenth, Walnut and Chestnut streets.[75] The first Chinese immigrant to St. Louis was Alla Lee, born inNingbo nearShanghai, who arrived in the city in 1857. Lee remained the only Chinese immigrant until 1869, when a group of about 250 immigrants (mostly men) arrived seekingfactory work.[76] In January 1870, another group of Chinese immigrants came to the city, including some women.[77] By 1900, the immigrant population of St. Louis's Chinatown had settled at between 300 and 400.[78] Chinatown established itself as the home toChinese hand laundries, which in turn represented more than half of the city's laundry facilities.[79] Other businesses includedgroceries,restaurants,tea shops,barber shops, andopium dens.[80] Between 1958 and the mid-1960s, Chinatown wascondemned and demolished forurban renewal and to make space for Busch Memorial Stadium.[75]
The history of the Chinese in Montana closely ties with the building of theNorthern Pacific Railroad in the 1860s in many cities and towns, including Butte, Big Timber, and other places. Today, one of the few reminders of Chinese society in Montana is theChinese New Year parade that is held at theMai Wah Museum in Butte.[81]
A Chinatown existed inBig Timber from the 1880s until the 1930s, when the last Chinese residents left to go to larger Chinese settlements in California or back to China. It was located on the block bounded by Anderson, First, Mcleod, and Front streets.[82][83][84][85]
Due to themining boom inButte, many Chinese workers moved in and set up businesses that led to the creation of a Chinatown in the late nineteenth century. There was anti-Chinese sentiment in the 1870s and onwards due to racism on the part of the white settlers, exacerbated by economic depression, and in 1895, the chamber of commerce and labor unions started a boycott of Chinese owned businesses. The business owners fought back by suing the unions and winning. The decline of Butte's Chinatown started in 1895 and continued until only 92 Chinese people remained by 1940 in the entire city. After that, the influence the Chinese had on the area was largely gone as they moved out one by one.[86] The history of the Chinese in Butte and throughout the mountain states is documented in theMai Wah Museum.
Cedar Creek (Superior, MT) was home to a Chinese population, according to artifacts unearthed in a 2007 excavation.[87]
Helena, Montana was at one time home to a Chinatown at Reeder's Alley.[88][better source needed] It had completely vanished by the 1970s. Due to some efforts to preserve the historical aspects of the buildings, the area was spared from complete demolition, and is fixed up as part of the museum.[89] According to the 1880 US Census, Helena's Chinatown had a Chinese population of 1,765, of which 359 of them were living in the metropolitan area. At that time, this Chinatown was the largest in the state of Montana.[90]
The Chinese community inOmaha was originally established in the 1860s by theUnion Pacific Railroad and other western industrial concerns as the railroad swept west starting in Omaha. In 1870,Harper's Weekly claimed 250 Chinese laborers passed through Omaha to build a railroad in Texas.[91] The city's first noted burial of a Chinese person occurred atProspect Hill Cemetery in July 1874, and an Omaha newspaper noted the local Chinese population was 12 men and one woman. In 1890, Omaha had 91 Chinese residents, and the city directory listed at least 21 Chinese-owned laundries in 1895. After theOmaha World-Herald reported that 438 men, women, and children were brought to Omaha from China to help with the Chinese village at theTrans-Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, the US Census found 93 Chinese people lived in Omaha in 1900.[92] In 1916, the newspaper reported 150 Chinese residents in Omaha, when the local On Leong Tong opened.[93]
The city ofCarson City, Nevada was once home to a Chinese community of 789 residents. The Chinatown was located near theState Capitol buildings on Third Street between 1855 until 1908, when Chinatown burned to the ground. In 1880, one in five people living in Carson City was Chinese, but by 1950 the Chinese population was close to zero.[94] Other cities in Nevada, such asVirginia City andReno, also had well-established Chinatowns.[95] Reno's Chinatown was burned down in 1878 by the Reno Workingmans Party.[96]
Las Vegas is currently home to the largest Asian population in the state of Nevada.Chinatown begins at Spring Mountain Road and Procyon Street and extends west for two miles to Rainbow Boulevard. There is also a growing presence of Asian restaurants and markets along South Rainbow Boulevard.[citation needed]
The city ofWinnemucca, Nevada was centered around the Joss House on Baud Street.[97] The Joss House was demolished on March 8, 1955, by order of the Winnemucca City Council.[98]
Belleville was the location of the first Chinatown on the East Coast of the United States.[99]
Bradley Beach is notable for the location where many Chinese from Manhattan's New York City would go to see the ocean .[100]
Newark's Chinatown was a neighborhood centered along Market Street founded around 1875 and remaining on some scale for nearly 100 years. The center of the neighborhood was directly east of theGovernment Center neighborhood. The first Chinese businesses appeared in Newark in the second half of the 19th century and in the early part of the 20th century. By the 1920s, the small area had a Chinese population of over 3,000.[101]
In 1910, a small lane with housing and shopping was built called Mulberry Arcade, connecting Mulberry Street and Columbia Street between Lafayette and Green Streets. In the 1920s, recurring federalopium raids[102] disrupted the community, causing many to move to more peaceful places. Despite an attempt to revive the neighborhood decades later, the Mulberry Arcade (the center of Chinatown) was removed in the 1950s.
Princeton, New Jersey, home toPrinceton University, is roughly 15–25% Asian, with many Asian and Chinese restaurants and businesses around the area.
TheNew York metropolitan area contains thelargest ethnic Chinese population outside ofAsia, comprising an estimated 893,697 uniracial individuals as of 2017,[103] including at least 9 Chinatowns – six[104] (or nine, including the emerging Chinatowns inCorona andWhitestone,Queens,[105] andEast Harlem, Manhattan) inNew York City proper, and one each inNassau County,Long Island;Edison,New Jersey;[105] andParsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, not to mention fledgling ethnic Chinese enclaves emerging throughout the New York City metropolitan area.
The firstChinese immigrants came toLower Manhattan around 1870, looking for the "golden" opportunities America had to offer.[106] By 1880, the enclave aroundFive Points was estimated to have from 200 to as many as 1,100 members.[106] However, theChinese Exclusion Act, which went into effect in 1882, caused an abrupt decline in the number of Chinese who immigrated to New York and the rest of the United States.[106] Later, in 1943, the Chinese were given a small quota, and the community's population gradually increased until 1968, when the quota was lifted and the Chinese American population skyrocketed.[106] In the past few years, theCantonese dialect that has dominated Chinatown for decades has been rapidly swept aside byMandarin Chinese, the national language of China and thelingua franca of most of the latestChinese immigrants.[107]
TheManhattan Chinatown (simplified Chinese: 纽约华埠; traditional Chinese: 紐約華埠; pinyin: Niŭyuē Huá Bù), home to the largest enclave ofChinese people in theWestern Hemisphere,[2][108][109][110][111] is located in theborough ofManhattan in New York City. Within Manhattan's expanding Chinatown lies aLittle Fuzhou onEast Broadway and surrounding streets, occupied predominantly by immigrants from theFujian Province of mainland China. Areas surrounding the "Little Fuzhou" consist mostly of Cantonese immigrants from Guangdong Province, the earlier Chinese settlers, and in some areas moderately ofCantonese immigrants.
In the past few years, however, the Cantonese dialect that has dominated Chinatown for decades is being rapidly swept aside byMandarin, the national language of China and thelingua franca of most of the latestChinese immigrants.[112] The energy and population of Manhattan's Chinatown are fueled by relentless, massiveimmigration from mainland China, both legal and illegal in origin, propagated in large part by New York's high density, extensive mass transit system, and huge economic marketplace.
The early settlers of Manhattan's Chinatown were mostly Cantonese speakers fromTaishan andHong Kong of theGuangdong province of China, and also fromShanghai.[113] They formed most of the Chinese population of the area surrounded byMott andCanal Streets.[113] The later settlers, fromFuzhou,Fujian, form the Chinese population of the area bounded byEast Broadway.[113] Chinatown's modern borders are roughlyGrand Street on the north,Broadway on the west,Chrystie Street on the east, and East Broadway to the south.[113]
After9/11, approximately 23% of these residents relocated to the surrounding communities of theMohegan Sun casinos, mainly inNorwich, Connecticut, creating a new Chinatown there.
TheFlushing Chinatown, in theFlushing area of the borough ofQueens in New York City, is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself. Main Street and the area to its west, particularly along Roosevelt Avenue, have become the primary nexus of Flushing Chinatown, and one of the busiestpedestrian intersections in the world. However, Chinatown continues to expand southeastward along Kissena Boulevard and northward beyondNorthern Boulevard. In the 1970s, a Chinese community established a foothold in the neighborhood of Flushing, whose demographic constituency had been predominantly non-Hispanic white and Japanese.Taiwanese people began the surge of immigration, followed by other groups of Chinese. By 1990, Asians constituted 41% of the population of the core area of Flushing, with Chinese in turn representing 41% of the Asian population.[114] The Flushing Chinatown has also become the epicenter oforganized prostitution in the United States.[115] Flushing is undergoing rapidgentrification by Chinese transnational entities.[116] As of 2023,illegal Chinese immigration toNew York City, and especially to Queens and its Flushing Chinatown, has accelerated.[117]
Ethnic Chinese constitute an increasingly dominant proportion of the Asian population as well as of the overall population in Flushing and its Chinatown.Mandarin Chinese (includingNortheastern Mandarin),Fuzhou dialect,Min NanFujianese,Wu Chinese,Beijing dialect,Wenzhounese,Shanghainese,Cantonese,Taiwanese, and English are all prevalent in Flushing Chinatown. The popular styles ofChinese cuisine are ubiquitously accessible in Flushing,[118] includingHakka,Taiwanese,Shanghainese,Hunanese,Sichuanese,Cantonese,Fujianese,Xinjiang,Zhejiang, andKorean Chinese cuisine. Even the relatively obscureDongbei style of cuisine indigenous toNortheast China is now available in Flushing,[119] as well asMongolian cuisine andUyghur cuisine.[120] The growth of the business activity at the core ofDowntown Flushing, dominated by the Flushing Chinatown, has continued despite the COVID-19 pandemic.[121]
Elmhurst, another neighborhood in the borough of Queens, also has a large and growing Chinese community.[122][123] Previously a small area with Chinese shops on Broadway between 81st Street and Cornish Avenue, this newly evolved second Chinatown in Queens has now expanded to 45th Avenue and Whitney Avenue. Newer Chinatowns are also emerging inCorona andWhitestone, Queens.
By 1988, 90% of the storefronts on Eighth Avenue in theSunset Park, in southernBrooklyn, had been abandoned. Chinese immigrants then moved into this area, not only new arrivals from China, but also members of Manhattan's Chinatown seeking refuge from high rents, who fled to the cheap property costs and rents of Sunset Park and formed what has been called "theBrooklyn Chinatown",[125] which now extends for 20 blocks along Eighth Avenue, from 42nd to 62nd Streets. This relatively new but rapidly growing Chinatown located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn was originally settled by Cantonese immigrants like Manhattan's Chinatown in the past.
However, in the recent decade, an influx of Fuzhou immigrants has been pouring into Brooklyn's Chinatown and supplanting the Cantonese at a significantly higher rate than in Manhattan's Chinatown, and Brooklyn Chinatown is now home to mostly Fuzhou immigrants. In the past, during the 1980s and 1990s, the majority of newly arriving Fuzhou immigrants were settling within Manhattan's Chinatown, and the first Little Fuzhou community emerged in New York City within Manhattan's Chinatown; by the 2000s, however, the epicenter of the massive Fuzhou influx had shifted to Brooklyn Chinatown, which is now home to the fastest growing and perhaps largest Fuzhou population in New York City. Unlike the Little Fuzhou in the Manhattan Chinatown, which remains surrounded by areas which continue to house significant populations of Cantonese, all of Brooklyn's Chinatown is swiftly consolidating into New York City's new Little Fuzhou. However, a growing community ofWenzhounese immigrants from China'sZhejiang Province is now also arriving in Brooklyn's Chinatown.[126]
Also in contrast to Manhattan's Chinatown, which still retains the large Cantonese community established decades ago, Brooklyn's Chinatown is very quickly losing its Cantonese community identity.[127] Within Brooklyn, newer satellite Chinatowns are emerging aroundAvenue U andBensonhurst, as well as inBay Ridge,Borough Park,Coney Island,Dyker Heights,Gravesend, andMarine Park.[124] While theforeign-born Chinese population in New York City jumped 35 percent between 2000 and 2013, to 353,000 from about 262,000, the foreign-born Chinese population in Brooklyn increased 49 percent during the same period, to 128,000 from 86,000, according toThe New York Times.[124]
The Chinatown inCleveland is an ethnic neighborhood established in the late nineteenth century. A majority of Chinese Ohioans lived in northeastern Ohio, where they worked in factories or established their own businesses to provide their fellow Chinese Americans with traditional Chinese products. For most of the second half of the nineteenth century, Cleveland, which had the largest Chinese-American population in Ohio, had fewer than one hundred Chinese residents. They settled along Ontario Street, where they established Chinatown. For most of its history, Cleveland's Chinatown consisted of only one city block and contained several Chinese restaurants, laundries, and specialty stores. Initially, most Chinese in Cleveland lived in Chinatown to surround themselves with people of similar cultural beliefs and also to escape the animosity of Cleveland's other residents. ByWorld War II, the city's Chinese population had increased to almost nine hundred. With the communist takeover of China in the late 1940s, an increase in Chinese immigration occurred to the United States, including to Ohio. Most of these new migrants came fromHong Kong orTaiwan.Over time, especially by the 1960s, many Chinese Clevelanders began to move into new neighborhoods, as Cleveland's other residents became more tolerant of the Chinese.
Oklahoma City once had ahistoric Chinatown in its downtown area, located at the current location of theCox Convention Center.
Oklahoma City now has anAsia District, comprising Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and other groups.
Old Town Chinatown is the official Chinatown of theNorthwest section ofPortland,Oregon. TheWillamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from theLloyd District and theKerns andBuckman neighborhoods. It includes the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District and the Portland New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District, which are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
In the Northwest section, NW Broadway forms the western boundary, separating the neighborhood from thePearl District, and West Burnside Street forms the southern boundary, separating it fromDowntown Portland. In the Southwest section, the neighborhood extends from SW 3rd Avenue east to the Willamette River and from SW Stark Street north to West Burnside Street, with the exception of areas south of SW Pine Street and west of SW 2nd Avenue, and south of SW Oak Street and west of SW 1st Avenue, which are parts of Downtown.
DowntownSalem had a Chinatown during the mid-to-late-1800s, which vanished in the 1920s. Ships fromHong Kong started arriving in Portland in 1868, and some Chinese immigrants settled in Salem in the next two decades. Salem's Chinatown spanned Commercial, Ferry and Trade streets, and had markets, laundromats, and medicine shops. The local Chinese population reached a peak of 367 in 1890, although it decreased to 72 residents in 1920.[128]
There is a Chinatown centered on 10th and Race Streets inPhiladelphia. Over the years, several blocks were lost to thePennsylvania Convention Center, and theVine Street Expressway. For the past few years, city officials have restricted redevelopment in Chinatown, particularly as a result of efforts by a coalition of grassroots groups (pan-ethnic, labor groups) working together to preserve Chinatown. Today the lost blocks have been regained by the expansion of Chinatown to Arch Street and north of Vine Street. Asian restaurants, funeral homes, and grocery stores are common sights. Philadelphia's Chinatown residents are mostly ofChinese,Vietnamese,Thai, andCambodian descent.Korean,Japanese, andFilipinos are also residents. Chinatown contains a mixture of businesses and organizations owned by the pan-Chinese diaspora, as mainland Chinese, Vietnamese Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, andMalaysian Chinese residing in the Philadelphia area call Chinatown home.
Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania was home to a "small, but busy" Chinatown, located at the intersection ofGrant Street andBoulevard of the Allies, where only two Chinese restaurants remain. TheOn Leong Society was located there.[129] By the 1950s, the Chinese community had exited the neighborhood, leaving this Chinatown extinct today.
Pittsburgh, withCarnegie Mellon University, has an Asian community and has remnants of the historic Chinatown exist on a strip with several restaurants and a Chinese pagoda-styled arch.
Providence, Rhode Island was once home to at least twoChinatowns, with the first on Burrill Street in the 1890s until 1901 and then around Empire Street in the late 1890s in the southern section of the city. According to another source, the Burrill Street Chinatown was burned to the ground in 1901 by a "mysterious fire" caused by a kerosene stove.[130]
The Empire Street Chinatown was considered one of the "last of the old Chinatowns" in a grouping that includedBoston,Philadelphia andBaltimore. The extension of Empire Street, proposed in 1914 (according to theProvidence Sunday Journal) and completed around 1951 doomed the Chinatown, and all of the buildings were demolished, including the former headquarters of local Chinese societies. The enclave was once located next to the Empire Theatre and the Central Baptist Church.[131]
Brown University in Providence is home to many Chinese and Chinese-American students. 6% of students are Chinese international students and the student body is overall 19% Asian American, which may or may not include Chinese foreign students and residents.[132][133]
A Chinatown once existed inDeadwood, South Dakota around the mid-1880s. The Chinese community consisted mainly of gold mine workers who were often classified as "rugged".[134][135]
The U.S. city ofHouston has two locations that have been recognized as Chinatowns. The older neighborhood is inEast Downtown Houston and the newer community is located inSouthwest Houston.
The first businesses of the East Downtown Chinatown were opened by Cantonese Chinese immigrants in the 1930s.[136] It continued to grow in subsequent decades until many of its businesses relocated to Houston's new Chinatown. There have been attempts by business leaders to reverse the decline of Chinatown in East Downtown,[137] but many new residents have sought to rebrand the area to reflect the current cultural shift.[136]
The new Houston Chinatown in Southwest Houston can trace its beginnings to several businesses that opened in 1983.[138] The new Chinatown began to expand in the 1990s when many Houston-area Asian American entrepreneurs moved their businesses from older neighborhoods in a search for less expensive properties and lower crime rates. Houston's new Chinatown is about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Downtown Houston. It is over 6 square miles (16 km2),[139][140] making it among the largest automobile-centric Chinatowns in the United States.[141] Some local officials have tried to change the name of the new Chinatown to "Asia Town" due to many different ethnic groups having a presence there.[142][143]
The D-FW China Town shopping center is located inRichardson because of the large Asian population.[144] Chinese immigration began in Richardson in 1975. Since then the Chinese community has expanded to the north.[145] In the mid-1980s the majority of ethnic Chinese K-12 students in the DFW area resided in Richardson.[146]
As of 2012[update],North Texas has over 60 Chinese cultural organizations, most them headquartered in Richardson and Plano.[146] The Dallas Chinese Community Center (DCCC;Chinese:达拉斯华人活动中心;pinyin:Dálāsī Huárén Huódòngzhōngxīn) is in the D-FW Chinatown. As of 2011 the Chinese restaurants catering to ethnic Chinese in DFW are mainly in Richardson andPlano.[145]
Historically,Salt Lake City,Utah had a Chinatown beginning in the 1860s that was located in a section called "Plum Alley" on Second South Street. The Chinese residents predominantly worked in the mining camps and on the transcontinental railroad. The enclave lasted until 1952. The area had a network of laundromats, restaurants and oriental specialty shops. There is a newer Chinatown-themed plaza inSouth Salt Lake.
Seattle's current Chinese neighborhood came into being around 1910 when much of the former Chinatown along Washington Street was condemned for street construction. The Chinese population began rebuilding along King Street, south of Seattle'sNihonmachi. Chinese investors pooled their resources to build several substantial buildings to house businesses, organizations and residences, such as theEast Kong Yick Building.
In the 1950s Seattle officials designated Chinatown as part of theInternational District (ID) due to the diverse Asian population that, by then, includedChinese,Japanese,Filipinos, andKoreans. By the late 1970s,Vietnamese immigrants also formed aLittle Saigon next to Chinatown, within the ID.
There has been some controversy over the name "International District". Some local Chinese Americans reject the term, preferring the historic designation "Chinatown" for the area as a source of pride. Others, especially American born generations of Asians, accept the ID designation as more appropriate due to their embrace of a more "pan-Asian" identity. Subsequently, the city redesignated the area the Chinatown-International District.[citation needed]
A fair-sized Chinatown developed inSpokane after the railroad came through in 1883. It consisted of a network of alleys between Front Avenue (today's Spokane Falls Boulevard) and Main Avenue that stretched east from Howard Avenue to Bernard Street about four blocks. The Chinese population gradually thinned out, although the area saw an influx of Japanese Americans fleeingincarceration duringWorld War II.[147] All the remains of Chinatown were demolished for parking for Spokane'sExpo '74.[148]
Tacoma, Washington, had a Chinatown inDowntown Tacoma near Railroad Street.[149] In November 1885, disgruntled whitesdrove out the Chinese population. One historical account says 600 Chinese were dragged out to the street and forced to the train station;[150] another says many who were driven out fled toPortland, Oregon, orCanada.[149] Two days later, the whites burned Tacoma's Chinatown to the ground.[151]
The Chinese Reconciliation Park commemorates the 1885 expulsion.[152][153][154]
Walla Walla, Washington, was once home to a small Chinatown.[155]
The state of Wyoming had three Chinatowns between 1880 and 1927. In 1927, all three Chinatowns had vanished due to theChinese Exclusion Act.[156]
Almy had the smallest of the three Chinatowns in Wyoming. This community was located seven miles north of Evanston's Chinatown.[156]Evanston's was the most diverse of the three Chinatowns in Wyoming.[156] TheRock Springs Chinatown was the largest of the three Chinatowns in Wyoming. This community was also located seven miles north of Evanston's Chinatown.[156] It was the site of the infamousRock Springs Massacre, in which many Chinese died.
As its name suggests, Chinatown is where the largest population of Chinese people live in the Western Hemisphere.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)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&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.
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.
