Chinatown is famous for its food, and every New Yorker and every tourist has to visit the neighborhood. Chinatown has a history of over 150 years, and has long faced threats of stagnation and emigration. Today, it has become too expensive for the very residents that built it. However, despite the emigration from Chinatown, the enclave still remains a cultural center and representation of Chinese culture today, a community for Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans.
Chinese immigration in the United States began in 1868, when the two countries formally established diplomatic relations. In the midst of the frenzied California Gold Rush, hundreds of immigrants flocked to the West Coast in pursuit of riches. At the same time, the Transcontinental Railroad was also being built: the nearly 2,000-mile service required thousands of workers to construct it. Whoever was unable to take part in the mining of gold became constructors of the railroad, and by this way, thousands of Chinese immigrants settled in New York. The first Chinese settler in New York is believed to be a man by the name of Ah Ken, who built a successful smoke shop on Park Row, around which modern-day Chinatown grew. A shrewd businessman, other residents of New York City would characterize him with “moral deformity” and ruthlessness, a base characterization of Oriental immigrants that would continue for generations to come (Beck; “Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District”).
Despite such combative, xenophobic behavior, Chinese migrants flocked to New York, in search of more work and prosperity.
Soon, Mott Street and Canal Street in downtown Manhattan became populated with Chinese businesses, serving the thousands of men that had settled in the area. With rising population, fruit markets, Buddhist shrines, and other businesses would emerge. However, such successes were mitigated by continuing, unparalleled racism. Most residents of New York at this time were from Europe, and so the Chinese were truly distinguished in the city. In times of struggle, the Chinese residents grouped together, and mutual aid societies were formed. Ultimately the first quasi-governmental organization was created in 1883, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. The group handled disputed amongst businesses, and continues to do so today, as well as serving as a cultural center (“Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association”). The Chinese immigrants in the 19th century began to make their place in Manhattan (“Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District”).
Ultimately, the ceaseless anti-Oriental immigrant perspective mitigated the growth of Chinatown. Fears of non-European immigrants increased in America, and the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed in 1882. The law was purposely made to prevent the growth of Chinese (and in a larger sense, an Asian population) in America, and was only repealed in 1965, over 80 years after its introduction (“Immigration to the US, Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)”). Despite such setbacks, Chinatown gradually grew. While its population was a 12,000 in the late 19th century, by 2000 the population had grown to nearly 85,000 residents (“Chinatown Brief”; Beck). Immigrants gathered here because they were unable to settle or work anywhere else, and Chinatown provided a protective, familial community that they needed in an America that was relentlessly anti-Orient. In an article about the racism against Chinese migrants, Brandon Goyette states, “Chinatowns in the U.S. sprang up in large part because of anti-Chinese racism, and because of legal barriers that prevented assimilation…During the exclusion era, it was difficult for Chinese immigrants to find a place to live outside of Chinatown” (Goyette). The Chinese were loathed for their different culture and practices, but were still prevented from assimilating into American culture. Chinatown grew as a protective enclave that eventually housed an entire ethnic group within the city, an accomplishment for an immigrant group faced with governmental and social restrictions.
In the past century, just as Chinatown grew, so did New York City. In recent years, gentrification plans have led to luxury buildings and rezoning, leading to higher costs for the small-business owners in Chinatown. Such plans were intended to improve Chinatown, but have resulted in the enclave become too expensive for the very residents that created it (Li). Rising real estate prices have forced Chinese residents to move to more inexpensive areas in Brooklyn and Queens. This reality makes it continuously difficult for Chinese to stay in their mini-town. However, once again, the Chinese are resilient and continue to prosper. Although Chinatown is faced with loss of land, it continues to be a cultural center for Americans, tourists, Chinese migrants, and Chinese-immigrants.
While conducting research for this paper, I was in Chinatown for longer than I had ever been. I had gone in the past a few times to enjoy famous dumplings in the heart of Chinatown, but never during the day, and I had never quite interacted with Chinese residents to this extent. Most of the business owners I encountered were older– only a few workers were under 50. The language barrier was also difficult to overcome: at least 57% of Chinese residents today speak with limited English proficiency (“Chinatown Brief”). Walking through Chinatown is fascinating, you barely feel like you are in metropolitan Manhattan, and it is quite refreshing. The streets are lined with fruit markets, temples, restaurants, salons- any service that would be needed. Most populated was Columbus Park, even at 5 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, the park was filled with teenagers, seniors, and young couples alike.
Most residents that I spoke to — or tried to speak to — spoke in Chinese and so it was difficult to communicate with my English. I spoke to a doorman of a business building, who was polite and extremely cordial, even though we couldn’t communicate well with each other. I was able to get that he lived in Queens and couldn’t afford to stay here because it was “too expensive.” By Columbus Park, I spoke to a funeral home director who expressed concerns that Chinatown was becoming “obsolete.” Still, my favorite encounter was with one of the receptionists at the Society of Buddhist Studies, right across the Museum of Chinese in New York. She had lived here since the late 1950s, moving to the United States after she married in China. While Chinatown had changed a lot, she said, it was also still the same. Our conversation was also limited by her work and our language barrier, but she was so kind to me during our conversation, and offered to show me some pictures from when the temple was first formed. The temple was so beautiful, filled with ornate decorations and a giant, gold Buddha surrounded by candles: I was so enamored and so I stayed there for some time observing all of its details.
Despite these encounters, I was having difficulty navigating Chinatown and finding residents that I could fully interact with, until I met Yukki, who was working at a dim sum shop. She was about my age, and was from Queens. She told me about the housing issues in Chinatown, claiming, “Most residents don’t live here because the housing prices are so expensive, most people live in Queens or Brooklyn.” She believed that in the twenty-first century, Manhattan’s Chinatown had become a place for tourists looking to experience another culture. Most shops were geared towards a Western audience, with kitschy items. Nonetheless, the neighborhood retained its community.
“The people here know each other well,” she says, “they’ve known each for years on end. Here’s a mix of cultures- there’s probably every part of Asia here, in the same store you’ll find multiple ethnicities, there’s no animosity and a lot of helping-each-other.”
So, while Chinatown had once been an area for Chinese immigrants to live while New York City residents had expelled them, it has clearly become a cultural center, one where anyone can come to experience a bit of Chinese culture. Prevented from assimilating, the Chinese have retained their culture and have offered it to city dwellers around them.
Chinatown has become a haven for other Asian populations, even leading to a change in the demographic of Chinese immigrants. There are residents from different provinces of China, from Fujian and Guangdong, to the cities of Hong Kong and Beijing, so that there are a variety of dialects of Chinese at play here. There are also Malaysians and Vietnamese immigrants, all establishing themselves in America, in a district that has been fairly hospital to them (“From Fujian to New York: Understanding the New Chinese Immigration”).
Although many former-Chinatown residents have moved and created enclaves elsewhere, Manhattan’s Chinatown still remains a gathering point today. Chinatown has numerous shrines and temples, language centers, and community centers that keep attracting Chinese to it. Yukki’s temple group works around Chinatown, and she came here as a young child to take Chinese classes, she says, “because my parents wanted me to be fluent in their language, and they couldn’t afford to take care of me, I came here often.” My friend Karina also used to live in Chinatown, until she moved to Long Island. However, she would come to Chinatown every weekend to spend time with her grandparents, to learn Chinese, and take ballet classes at one of the community centers. Chinese youth, and second-generation immigrants are not dissociating from their culture; Chinatown remains an integral part of retaining their culture and forming a new community of Chinese in New York City.
New York Magazine published a profile of up-and-coming residents of Chinatown, who were involved in making sure that Chinatown remained a cultural, communal hub amidst the processes of gentrification. The profile featured interviews from the Chinatown establishment, those who oversaw the business association and represented the enclave in city council, business owners, and young Chinese who were working in Chinatown. All of these forces, and many more, are working to make sure Chinatown remains, instead of disappearing like the former enclaves of Little Italy, Irish Five Points, and the Jewish Lower East Side. One force was Christopher Kui, who works for the affordable-housing-oriented Asian Americans for Equality, who said, “Unlike Little Italy, we have a vibrant small-business community. As we move toward the globalization of the world, I think New York Chinatown could be the international capital of the Chinese and Asian-American immigrant experience” (Tabor). The city-within-a city is combatting the forces against it, but even its residents are conflicted. Some want to see Chinatown change, to yield itself to the changing circumstances in the city, while others want it to remain stagnant, because its allure lies in its ability to retain culture and Chinese immigrants. However, most Chinese are optimistic that Chinatown will remain in the city, with or without change. Chinatown “feeds everyone,” and evidently unites everyone as well (Tabor).
In Ang Lee’s Wedding Banquet (1993), we see the struggle that young Chinese immigrants face with reconciling their culture with Western culture around them. While the movie does not specifically take place in Chinatown, Wai-Tung conducts business in Chinatown, and his parents interact there. Wai-Tung is also part of the gentrification process because he owns apartment buildings that he plans to reconstruct. One of his tenants is Wei-Wei, a penniless artist who emigrated from mainland China. Wai-Tung cannot be Chinese while also being a successful immigrant, which is quite disappointing. He cannot reveal his homosexuality to his parents and often shows contempt for their traditionalist ways. He must redecorate his apartment with Chinese relics when preparing for his parents return. He is the Westernized immigrant, hoping to assimilate into American culture instead of adhering to his own. Wei-Wei is the opposite, understanding and showing a devotion to Chinese customs, seen clearly when she observes the Chinese calligraphy and remarks on its significance, or when she is disappointingly married in City Hall without her family or a Chinese celebration (Lee).
The ultimate reconciliation occurs in the film when Wai-Tung’s father secretly accepts his partner Simon. This signifies the modernization of Chinese culture, and that traditional Chinese views can be adapted to culture in America. While I disagreed with a lot of the movie’s portrayals, I found this message to be especially heartwarming, and applicable to other ethnic immigrant experiences in the city. Although Wai-Tung is quite adamant about remaining Americanized, especially in his marriage to Wei-Wei, the unity of Simon, Wei-Wei, and him show that the new generation of Chinese-Americans can continue the legacy of Chinese culture in a completely different, distanced city (Lee).
In conclusion, my experience with Chinatown and Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet shows that Chinese culture is perhaps the most resilient culture in America. Chinese immigrants, once faced with astounding racism, made a place for themselves to escape hostility, and now thrive. Their strength shows through Chinatown, a place that celebrates this history and maintains the culture that the Chinese have retained in America. Chinatown is big, bustling, and even overwhelming, a dizzying experience that shows how successful Chinese immigrants have been in America. In spite of changes and forces working against the enclave, Chinatown will remain a center for tourists like me to experience Chinese culture and food. Most importantly, it will be a place for Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans to continue as a community, a neighborhood that the Chinese can call their own.
Works Cited
Beck, Louis. “New York’s China Town.” Harvard Mirador Viewer. N.p., 1898. Web. 9 May 2017.
“Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District.” National Park Service n. pag. Web. Asian American Pacific Heritage Month.
“Chinatown Brief.” 2003. Web.
“Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association.” N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2017.
“From Fujian to New York: Understanding the New Chinese Immigration.” N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2017.
Goyette, Braden. “How Racism Created America’s Chinatowns.” Huffington Post 11 Nov. 2014. Huff Post. Web. 9 May 2017.
“Immigration to the US, Chinese Exclusion Act (1882).” Harvard University Library Open Collections Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2017.
Lee, Ang. The Wedding Banquet. N.p., 1993. Film.
Li, Bethany. “Chinatown Then and Now.” : n. pag. Print.
Tabor, Nick. “How Has Chinatown Stayed Chinatown?” Daily Intelligencer. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2017.
