Ways The East Coast Chinatown Is Different From The West Coast Chinatown In This Country
Several big metropolitan areas in the United States have smaller ethnic enclaves where generations of immigrants moved into to those areas of the cities and made it their own. This is true for most ethnic groups like the Italians, the Polish and the Chinese as just a few of the examples. San Francisco has the largest Chinatowns in the country with Manhattan being another large one. It is fun to go to these 2 cities and go to the Chinatown neighborhoods to see the wonderful things of the Asian culture like the food like Dim Sum restaurants or unique stores that sell items such as Chinese board games and Oriental dolls. This article will look into 2 Chinatowns and the ways they are different from one another and how they are the same as well.
Chinatown in San Francisco began in the 1840′s with the first Chinese immigrants coming to the United States. Chinatown is situated in downtown San Francisco and is a district that is 1 mile by 1.35 miles big. This Chinatown has a large tourism business with more people visiting there than the Golden Gate Bridge. The Chinatown area that had been established was completely ruined in the 1906 earthquake. Following this, the city decided to rebuild Chinatown with the concept of having it be a place where visitors would like to go and they built many of the places and buildings that can still be seen today.
There are two major parts of Chinatown with the 1st one being Grant Avenue that has the Dragon gate and the other is Stockton Street which is less touristy. Grant Street was the area designated more for tourism with attractions like a war memorial to Chinese war veterans and restaurants and shops that cater to tourist visitors. Stockton Street is less seen by tourists and is really authentic, much like Hong Kong with the produce and fish markets and restaurants and shops. This is the preferable area to visit for authentic Chinese food and goods. Another great spot in Chinatown is Portsmouth Square that is an open area that provides space for people practicing tai chi and men playing Chinese chess.
Chinatown in San Francisco is definitely a more favorable one to visit than the one in NYC. The one in Manhattan is probably the 2nd biggest Chinatown in America outside of Asia. It started in 1858 with a Cantonese businessman named Ah ken immigrated there and began a cigar business on Park Row. By the year 1900, there were 7,000 Chinese residents but only 200 of them were women because of the strict laws for women entering the country at the time. The Manhattan Chinatown now has almost 100,000 residents living there and making a living there.
In the past, many parts of New York’s Chinatown were some of the highest crime areas in the city with some Chinese gangs forming and creating fear in the area. This has really eliminated most of the tourism.
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