As everyone knows, Chinese people are all around the world, and they do not like living with local people, so there is a place for them to do everything, such as work, live, and entertainment, its name is Chinatown. There are many Chinatown in this world; Chinatown may be located in London, UK, Chinatown may be located in Australia, also Chinatown may be located in New York. Whereas, today I want to write about the Chinatown of San Francisco, because there are many historic things I can illustrate. The Chinatown of San Francisco has much historical significance. “The Chinese who immigrants in San Francisco, who came firstly from the city of Zhongshan and Thasishan regions of Guangdong province of mainland China, they did not want to live in a poor place, and they wanted their family had better and wealthier life”( Tour Docent). There were many of old immigrants who came from Guangdong, China; some of them who came here to dig gold, some of them who came here to build a railway, and they settled their home as soon as they first arrived in San Francisco. Now the Chinatown of San Francisco is a famous tourist attraction, and it appears to be routine for foreign travelers to visit Chinatown when they prepare to have a trip in San Francisco. It is now more and more famous than ever before, even the Chinatown is as famous as Golden Gate Bridge. There is enough information that boosts numerous valuable records of old Chinese immigrants, they are worthy of admiration and respect
The Chinese immigrants also contributed to us a whole new culture of which we had not been familiar with before. They brought their religious beliefs, prompting a Chinese Temple to be built in 1863 in Oroville, which provided a place of worship for Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism (Bancroft). They also brought their traditions, like the celebrations that they’d have for certain holidays like the Lunar New Year. These celebrations entailed festivals, parades, partying and all of the Chinese community coming together in the streets. Another one of the traditions they held dear to their culture was theatre, and so they continued these performances and even built their own Chinese theatre in 1852 (Bancroft). They
The motivations for the Chinese to come to the United States are similar to most immigrants. These motivations are what most people call "The American Dream." These could be looking for a better life, having a better job, running away from political issues. However, for Chinese these American dreams were not too easy to achieve at first compared to other immigrants. Chinese suffered a lot more obstacles and discriminations because they are relatively small and easy to be targeted on. Even more the legal system passed a law in 1963 forbidding Chinese to testify against white men in court. This anti-Chinese action was most critical in the Pacific Coast; as a result, it caused the dispersion of Chinese that had settled in California to the
San Francisco today is not the same place it was hundreds of years ago. This is obvious in terms of the city’s modernization, but a change that is equally as important, is the huge amount of diversity in cultures. Chances are, if you were to ask a student at Skyline College if their parents were born in the United States, many of them would answer no. Every immigrant has their own story of how they ended up in San Francisco, but the most important are the stories of the very first groups. Most first generation Filipino Americans hear about the stories of how their families ended up in the United States, but never the stories of how the very first Filipinos got here. Why did the first group of Filipinos leave all that they had in the the
From Chinatown to Monterey Park, Asian Americans across the boundaries of Los Angeles are flourishing from bustling inner cities to middle class suburbia. The suburban life style was originally created by white Americans for white Americans however in today’s suburban cities and towns there seems to be a substantial group of Asians and Asian Americans thriving in these once predominately white areas(Li 1993, 318). The development of Asians and Asian Americans in the suburbs occurred through the following three ways, first is the development of Chinatown and how it became the Mecca for immigrants and the second is Asian American assimilation into American society. The last reason is the gentrification of towns such as Chinatown, and Little Tokyo.
San Francisco, as a multicultural city, undoubtedly included a large variety of groups of people from all around the world. In English 162 course, we’ve learned a lot about history and culture of the bay area. From the gold rush the outsiders came, to the diversity of the Fillmore, we can see that even people far from the other side of the earth came here for a better life. As for myself, I came from a Chinese culture country, which is surely different from the culture here in America. Besides “The Only Real Day” by Frank Chin really interests me of how the Chinese’s attitude toward this distinct culture, and how they struggled and coined their own lifestyle. Since San Francisco Chinatown is so famous and successful, it gives me an inspiration of comparing the architectures, culture and atmosphere with the Orient.
One of the largest issues with our society today is racial profiling, it can cause people to immediately dislike one another based on how they look alone. Nobody gets to choose where or how they are born, but nobody sees it that way. Many people like Ronnie are immediately negative towards other races that have either done him or his ancestors wrong in the past.Yes, Americans have wronged many races and ethnic backgrounds in the past, but we aren’t in the past anymore. Our technology has advanced such an extreme amount in the last couple of centuries, why can’t our communities? This country has treated other races and cultures wrong and therefore other ethnic backgrounds don’t even give us a chance to make up for it; but honestly, can you blame
The recruiting phase or the “courting” or “dating process” begins with the initial stages of developing the players’ relationships and to confirm the mutual independence. Colleges and universities are suggesting that they would be equipping them for the future and all the sweets they want. Similar to Friday Night Lights, Colleges and universities heavily court, two star players on the Carter team, Derric Evans and Gary Edwards. They received free trips to tour the universities. Derric Evans and Gary Edwards are jetted around to different schools in the nation. Their mediocre academic scores did not seem to be an issue with these Colleges. Both Derric and Gary are tempted with a bright future and everything from luxury campus residence to
In the 1850’s, the Gold Rush in California lead the Chinese to immigrate to California. They were welcomed with harsh treatments and little payment for jobs. Still, they stayed because of the many job opportunities that could provide them with money for their families back in China.
During the 1870’s to 1930’s, large numbers of Chinese immigrants came to the United States in search of a successful life for themselves and generations to come. Although some immigrants found it possible to Americanize, the extent to which the vast majority of Chinese immigrants in California preserved the cultural traditions of their homeland was much greater than that of assimilation. This outcome was due to the fact that they were logically more inclined to place themselves within ethnic enclaves after coming to a land of unfamiliarity, but they were also pressured and outcast as aliens under several legal acts and extremely discriminating prejudice from original Americans.
Chinatown is an ethnic neighborhood in the metropolitan area of Los Angeles, California. The grand opening of Chinatown took place on June 25, 1938 in Central Plaza, which would later become well-known for its dynamic Chinese American community. However, the original Chinatown, now referred to as “Old Chinatown”, developed around 1870. With the migration and settlement of Chinese in Los Angeles throughout the late 19th century, a recognizable neighborhood (“Chinatown”) was established on Calle de Los Negros between El Pueblo Plaza and Old Arcadia Street. As the Chinese workers dominated in their fields, their neighborhood grew significantly. Old Chinatown spread farther and achieved a population of more than 3000 people. It was not only a residential
What is San Francisco, California known for? Well, anyone would say that it is known for its architecture, the cable cars, the steep rolling hills, and even landmarks such as Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary and the Golden Gate Bridge. Did you know that San Francisco is also one of the most expensive cities to live in? Maybe you didn’t know that as you’re looking up at all of the beautiful murals and architecture, you might be stepping over used needles and/or human feces. Residents of San Francisco face more issues than we can even wrap our heads around. This avalanche of need is what causes organizations that help alleviate the stress and pain of the lower and middle classes of San Francisco so important.
When thousands of Chinese migrated to California after the gold rush the presence caused concern and debate from other Californians. This discussion, popularly called the “Chinese Question,” featured in many of the contemporary accounts of the time. In the American Memory Project’s “California: As I Saw It” online collection, which preserves books written in California from 1849-1900, this topic is debated, especially in conjunction with the Chinese Exclusion Act. The nine authors selected offer varying analyses on Chinese discrimination and this culminating act. Some give racist explanations, but the majority point towards the perceived economic competition between
In the essay Chinatown: A Contested Urban Space, by Mary Ting Yi Lui, Chinatowns collectively occupy a special place in the collective imagination of American ethnic history and the nation’s contemporary multicultural identity, as evidenced by their serving as the settings for various motion pictures. From coast to coast, Chinatowns remain major tourist draws, and continued immigration from the Chinese diaspora ensures that Chinatown will retain their social and cultural significance for many years to come. Chinese Americans are the oldest and largest Asian ethnic group in the United States, consisting of fourth and fifth-generation Americans of Chinese descent and recent immigrants of languages spoken and points of origin. Chinese immigration
Racism, the belief that one culture is superior to another by rite of birth or genetics, is at the heart of most cultural skirmishes. It is seen in all of the cultural interchanges covered in the two books Chinese San Francisco by Yong Chen, and The World They Made Together by Mechal Sobel. We see racism in two categories: conscious and unconscious. Together the books cover the history of multiple groups of people entering California. They talk about and the cultural interchanges that occurred as the Spanish continued their quest for domination in the new world by bringing settlers to create ranchos, then what happened as the Anglos moved in from eastern America to settle towns as the Chinese travelled across the pacific to find new economic
In the mid 19th century, America was viewed as a hotspot for freedom and wealth. When the noise of the gold rush flooded the world, immigrants started to see America more appetizing than ever. The Chinese saw America as a place to have a fresh start and as a place of refuge because of it’s generosity, so they immigrated to the west in great numbers. There was a large Chinese population in Virginia and all along the Pacific coast. Writers Mark Twain and Maxine Hong Kingston both wrote in great detail about the Chinese Immigrants. They went into detail about the immigrants and how they came over and why. Although Twain and Kingston both wrote about the immigrants in a positive light, Twain was sympathetic of the immigrants and Kingston focused more on their image and her ancestors.