The project on Chinatown was an interesting one. It definitely had a significant impact on my perspective of Chinatown. Coming into this project, Chinatown was simply a comforting place for me to grab traditional food, but through this project, I have come to learn that Chinatown is much more than that and that  it is slowly fading away; at least what I considered to be Chinatown. Had it not been for this project, I would have stayed ignorant about the deeper meanings that Chinatown has and also what it truly means for the people living in it.

Coming into this project, I knew that there were several smaller sects of Chinatown in Flushing and in Sunset Park. These were places that contributed a significant part of my childhood because of its comforting environment. Visiting Chinatown, Flushing or Sunset Park felt more like a visit to China or Taiwan than it did to going to another neighborhood. These places are practically my second home because of how tight of a community it is. There were several cases where restaurant/store owners would know our family personally because of how frequently we came back to these places. I knew that these “Chinatowns” were cultural centers that preserved what was brought over from Asia. From food, to festivals to even language. I find it amazing that Chinatown was able to preserve many of its traditions despite the growing pressures from Americans and other ethnic influences.

The history of Chinatown is quite an interesting one. However, it didn’t start in New York. The origins of Chinatown goes back to the mid-1800’s when Chinese immigrants migrated to America in hopes of striking big with the gold rush. A large number of immigrants went to California and overtime, these immigrants migrated eastward in hopes of better opportunities. Some of these immigrants only came to America for a short time to profit a little bit of pocket change and then headed back to China. Others went into businesses in these gold hot spots such as textile workers, restaurant owners, and tobacco rolling. Unfortunately for the Chinese, they were heavily discriminated against by others because of the amount of jobs that they were taking. This discrimination is one of the biggest reasons for why Chinatown was formed. Chinese immigrants were more accepting of their own kin because of the fact that no one else was. Chinatown served as a sort of haven for Chinese people to live in. Even though there was not a lot of living space for the immigrants, Chinatown continued to thrive. This however, was quickly shut down when the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, calling for the barring of naturalization for many Chinese immigrants, including the ones already in the United States. Because of this act, there was a huge hatred brewing in America for the Chinese and it persisted well into the early parts of the 1900’s. The act was lifted around World War 2 and this finally let the Chinese populace continue to grow. The Chinatown that we know of in New York, developed when a massive amount of Chinese immigrants bought out some land near Little Italy and flipped it to cater to the businesses they were trying to open. Some opened laundromats, some opened restaurants and other opened markets. There are other varieties, but the more general stores were the ones listed above. I have always wondered why most laundromat store owners and textile store owners were Chinese. A conclusion that I have reached through this project is that they were just the market-need at the time and the Chinese immigrant workers filled the niche. There is no particular reason for why they opened it other than just trying to make some money to survive in the brutal, harsh world they moved into. One of the biggest learning moments in this project for me was realizing the hardships and burden that the Chinese immigrants had to go through when first settling into Chinatown here in New York. I had always thought that the Chinese immigrants lived together in a neighborhood like that because they felt more comfortable doing so. I could not be more wrong about that. They had no choice as they were facing discrimination almost to the point of segregation. It was the only place where they can settle. The reason that there is a Flushing and Sunset Park “Chinatown” is because of overcrowding in the Chinatown in Lower Manhattan. The fact that two smaller Chinatown’s emerged from the original one just goes to show that there were a lot of Chinese immigrants in New York, but not enough room to house them all in one place.

Many of the stores in the early 2000’s were observed to be family owned businesses and were passed down from generation to generation. What I observed through this project, was that there was a shift in the market geared towards Westernization of Chinese traditions and culture. Even in my field visits, I had observed that many traditional stores were slowly closing down as corporate buildings, lavish building complexes and trendy stores for younger people took over the neighborhood by storm. In my first visit, most of the stores that I saw were traditional stores that had been in Chinatown for decades, but as I walked to the edges of Chinatown, most of the stores looked relatively new and had more of a Western atmosphere feel to it. Through this project, I have come to the conclusion that a major part of this shift in the target market was influenced by the Cultural Revolution in China. Post-Cultural Revolution, immigrants were still flowing into the United States in the thousands. The damage caused by the Cultural Revolution led to a new era for Chinese people everywhere. There seemed to be an invisible, but strong disconnect between the younger generation and the generations preceding it. The interest in traditional culture was slowly dropping in number as younger generations wanted to be more involved in Western cultures. Since the appealing of the Exclusion Act of 1882, relations with the Chinese immigrants have gradually rekindled meaning the integration of Chinese culture into American culture. However, this is still an issue that remains today as Chinese people are not fully integrated into American society. Chinese people still face issues in the food industry, movie industry and much more. In the case of food industry, Chinese food has only been viewed as dumplings and noodles, but a large portion of Chinese food is still unappealing to the vast majority. In the movie industry, many Chinese actors and Chinese based-stories are white-washed. Another issue that has been more recent is the resurgence of hate for the Chinese because of the recent presidential campaign. Trump’s campaign consisted of making America great again, which included bringing back jobs to America and a lot of bashing on China. Because of this campaign, there seemed to be a revival in disapproval of Chinese-Americans and Chinese immigrants living among us. A lot of these issues frustrate me when I read about it in articles or on the newspapers. This project helped guide me in the direction to the root of the problem. This sort of apartheid present in America stems back all the way to when Chinese immigrants first arrived in the mid-1800’s. Just like any other issue that has roots stretching back centuries, it will be an issue that will take some time to resolve.

To conclude, Chinatown has a long history of struggle and it there are still remnants of that struggle here today, just not as visible as it was back then. Chinatown’s struggle should be a story that everyone knows about because only then, can we truly appreciate what Chinatown has to offer.

Sources Used to Guide Reflection

  • “New York Chinatown History.” New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2017
  • Cuozzo, Steve. “Chinatown Slowly Losing Its Charm – and Its Restaurants.” New York Post. New York Post, 09 Feb. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017
  • Chu, Peter. “‘The Best Coffee in Flushing’ Shuts Down.” Showcasing the Best of the Community and Ethnic Media. Voices of NY, 1 Mar. 2017. Web. 07 Apr. 2017
  • China’s Millionaire Migration. Youtube. SBS Dateline, 7 June 2016. Web. 1 May 2017