Culture

Worship

The residents of Chinatown follow a variety of religions. While many are Daoist, Buddhist, or Confucian in line with their ancestors that immigrated to Chinatown following those religions, a large number of them now follow Christianity. There are temples around Chinatown to cater to traditional Chinese faiths as well as churches.

Family

Familial ties are very important in Chinese culture. They are listed as three of the five important relationships in Confucianism. Many families in Chinatown follow traditional gender roles. Men are expected to be providers for the family and women are expected to take care of the home and children. However, these roles are more loosely followed than how they used to be. Also, elders are highly respected for their wisdom. Children are expected to be highly respectful and obedient to their parents and elders. This is reflected in traditions such as having the youngest member of a group pouring drinks for the entire group with both hands on the bottle. Also, elders’ approval is often sought before getting married to anyone.

Education

Education is taken very seriously among the people of Chinatown. It is often seen among Chinese people as a way out of poverty. Chinese students often go to Chinese school and test prep in addition to public school. At Chinese school, they learn how to read and write in the Chinese language as well as various parts of Chinese culture.