In Chinatown, politics of old country still spark - Boston Globe

Chinese politics are very much alive in the US! I kinda feel sorry for the city of Boston on this one. At least Taiwan politics in the US stays within the community (Blue & Green, Red has gone away).

When my family visited Washington DC we got a bit lost going to the zoo and somehow ended up at the Chinese embassy. My wife asked for directions and they were very helpful. Next to it was a bunch of posters by FG (adding to our Washington experience).

More Chinatowns of the US & Canada

Cute book - Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture

Labels: China Politics, chinatown

Monterey Park Tour - $29 Dollars (discounted from $58). Looks interesting.

The New Chinatowns: San Gabriel Valley Bus Tour with Tea Tasting from GoldStar

I am not sure why they are starting from Philippe's - great Beef Dip Sandwiches, cheap coffee a only 9 cents a cup, and the lemonade for us non Coffee drinkers is great, but a little more. Philippe's is located in Chinatown in Los Angeles. It's not the original Chinatown, that got moved after they put in Union Station in the 30's.

Back to the Monterey Park tour. I am trying to think about what would be interesting on the tour, besides great places to eat. The tour does not mention any of the gang killings that have happened. Nor any of the controversy over signs being required to also be in English. And San Gabriel has a good Chinese mall. I am not sure why they are ending the tour at Wing Hop Fung. Probably because the good places to eat are packed on the weekends.

Actually it is more than Monterey Park. The original summary is not that great, here is a better one. At least is includes Alhambra (awesome ice cream at Fosselman's, to bad that is not on the tour). Alhambra originally had a lot of Italians living there.

The official tour site.

My thoughts on an improved tour:

1. Meet in Monterrey Park - I know about the parking...
2. Stop by Fosselman's for some great ice cream! They also have more Chinese friendly flavors such as Mango, Guava, Leechee, etc. But I would stay with the Fresh Peach if it's available, if not Dutch Chocolate.
   
3. Go by San Marino High School. This brings up the education angle.
4. Stop by the Chinese Mall in San Gabriel.
   
5. Stop by a Chinese Bakery, such as Diamond Bakery. Van's a Vietnamese bakery to show how there are also Vietnamese in the areas.
   
6. Go through a Chinese Market where they have the live fish and such.
7. Include at least one place where a gang shooting happened that was Asian related.
   
8. An example house of the mansionization. San Marino should have an example of this. Arcadia would be better, but a bit out of the way.

Labels: chinatown

My daughter and I went to a New Years Countdown last night. It was in the plaza on Gale in City of Industry that has a JJ Bakery Restaurant in it. There was also one I believe in the Yes plaza and another plaza. They were sponsored by STC Real Estate Brokers, I guess they own or manage the different plazas. The one I went to had a stage with some Taiwanese Pop Stars. The count down was done in Mandarin and everybody went home. They had chairs and heaters. I guess I would classify this as a New Chinatown New Years countdown. We were going out to drop some stuff off at my warehouse and we spotted to guys with signs about the New Years countdown. After dropping my wife at home (warm in bed with an electric heater), my daughter and I bundled up and went out to the count down.

What surprised me was the restaurants in the plaza did not stay open. The book store did. I would have thought it was a good business opportunity.

Labels: chinatown

Good story from the SF Chronicle.

Chinatown family life - what tourists don't see

Key Points:

• Quote - "the Chinese believe if you just put up with it, you will win. Don't cause trouble, and you will persevere."

I have gotten this lecture a few times. Keep a low profile, don't cause waves... You don't want the teacher/school administrator to hate you...

• The son is taking AP Chemistry.

• Another quote - "It is our tradition to take care of our parents," Mo says. "Someday my son will take care of me."

A listing of Chinatowns in the US:

Labels: chinatown

Supposedly their was a large Chinatown in San Luis Obispo. All that is left now is the name, as indicated in this article.

Most agree, Chinatown looks great

My listing of Chinatowns of the United States

Labels: chinatown

I have noticed in the Rowland Heights area there has been a lot of overbuilding of strip Malls. And still more have opened and the result is a lot of for lease signs.

China seems to have similar issues with over building. Chinese Luxury Mall Calamity at the PekingDuck.

The shops/malls that are succeeding are those that offer a good value. There is one Chinese restaurant in Rowland Heights that has super long waits, while others are empty.

An article that is thought provoking - Is China headed toward collapse? from Politico.

Labels: china's future, chinatown

Some observations from my neighborhood, a New Chinatown.

1. Always cut corners if your driving. There is no chance somebody will be making a right turn, when you make your left in a residential area.

2. In the residential area, always drive in the middle of the street. Same in parking lots.

3. Yellow Lights are good for at least 2-3 cars. Especially on left turns.

4. The Red Light Camera can be ignored. The one at Batson and Colima.

5. If you hear a siren, wait until the last minute possible to pull over to the right.

6. If you are on the other side of the street and hear a siren, keep on going.

7. Flashing Red Lights = just drive through it.

8. Parental driving gets crazy around schools. Avoid if possible. Stopped in the middle of the street waiting is just one example. Police love to give tickets for this. Also don't drop off your kids on the South side of Diamond Bar high school where there is a red curb, another favorite ticket zone.

9. Parking spaces in Asian Strip Malls are super small. Not sure on the reason for this.

10. If it's labeled compact, that means any size car can park there. Feel free to take 2 spaces if necessary.

Labels: chinatown

My daughter's comment last night... "smells like Taiwan". It sounded like a war zone. Oh, and fireworks are supposed to be banned in Rowland Heights where I live. The smell of black powder was so bad. My Akita used to get so scared of the noise. One night we went out to fireworks, and he almost clawed through a wooden door trying to get inside. After that I stayed home with him to comfort him. Brave in so many other ways, but loud noises he did not like.

Labels: chinatown

Mandarin begins displacing Cantonese as dialect of choice - Boston Globe.

Boston has one of the old Chinatowns, where Cantonese has been predominate because that's where the immigrants came from. Mandarin was only spoken in the government and around Beijing, but since the 1920's it's been pushed by the governments of China (Republic, KMT, and Communist) as a way to unify China and it has become widely used in China. With the hand over of Hong Kong to China, in my opinion Cantonese is becoming a household language, with Mandarin being the Chinese to learn.

With my business I have seen the same thing. I stocked some Cantonese items for a while because lots of people asked about them, but when I finally got stock they took forever to sell. So now I just sell Mandarin items.

In the US, there has been a tremendous amount of immigration from China that has increased the Mandarin speakers in the older Chinatowns.

Labels: chinatown

I was talking to an ethnic Chinese parent who had their daughter go to a Cram School for SAT during the summer, and their daughter got 780 on the English and Math each. Impressive. There are a lot of those type SAT prep centers in the Rowland Heights area.

Labels: chinatown, SAT

My wife was reading the Chinese Daily News that had an article about some new problems in the Chinese community. Some parents will send their newborns back to China to be taken care of by the grand parents, and of course they are spoiled rotten. Often around age 5 or 6 they come back here to live with the parents. One parent, the Father may be working out of state in a restaurant, and the Mother is working long hours. So the kid becomes a latch key kid and may not do that great educationally and may even get involved with gangs.

I would appreciate a link to the original story if anyone can sent it to me from the Daily News, the pictures alone are worth it.

Another challenge is parents who send their kids to school in the US, while they stay in Taiwan or China. Often the parents have no adult supervision, not even relatives, for those in High School. Dangerous combination, high school, cars, no adult supervision often means problems. Yes, the majority turn out fine. There is also a lot of anger when it's hard for the parents to get a Visa to visit their kids in the US.

Labels: chinatown

My daughter's High School has a parents Booster Club that runs a Bingo and brings in about $200K a year for the school. The challenge is most of the members are White, yet most of the school is Asian (Chinese)? Not sure the why of this.

On a positive note, my suggestion for a bit of automation was done for the Bingo for a game called Bonanza, now the numbers only need to be entered one time. When I was a caller I noticed the numbers were entered at the beginning, and then when the game was played. But I heard other Bingo's did not do this, so I looked at the manual and figured out with some programming we could also have this ability. So I suggested and finally our bingo vendor sent somebody to do this - I know how to program, but like the idea of having somebody do in 5 minutes what would take me 2 hours tgo do

Labels: chinatown

Wayne Wang Revisits The Immigrant Experience from NPR. I was on my way to pick up my daughter from Choir and listened to this.

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers opens Friday in theatres and looks really good. The Princess of Nebraska, a companion film, will be released on YouTube. His big movies hits have been The Joy Luck Club and Maid in Manhattan.

References:

• Wayne Wang on IMB.
• Wayne Wang - Wikipedia
• Wayne Wang's double exposure from the LA Times.
  

Labels: chinatown, wayne wang

I was driving to and from my daughter's High School this morning, they had a practice SAT there, and one intersection had a flashing red light. 2 out of 3 times I had problems with drivers who endangered me through their illegal actions. The last time I took a different route home.

Flashing red lights is supposed to act like a stop sign. Unfortunately some drivers just drove straight through it without stopping, which was scary.

Labels: chinatown

Pinkberry accuses area shops, others, of copying its brand from my local paper.

The challenge is anytime you open a store, especially in a heavily Chinese area you will get copycats. Note how the copycat stores are located in Alhambra, Arcadia, and a new one in San Gabriel. All heavily Chinese areas in Southern California. I am curious if Pinkberry was smart enough to do some copyrights. Disney does an amazing job using copyrights to protect their intellectual property.

Related Posts:

• PinkBerry - The Craze
• Creating New Competition

Labels: chinatown

In the new Chinatown I live in, Rowland Heights it's fascinating and a bit scary to watch what happens when a fire engine, ambulance, etc. has it's siren going.

The state law in California are you pull over to the right of the road when you hear a siren. And sometimes the emergency vehicle uses the wrong side of the road.

So what happens here? People stop in the middle of the road, and if on the other side just keep on going. And after the emergency vehicle passes, they don't keep much of a distance.

I am surprised the local sheriffs don't just wait near the ambulance or fire station for them to get a call. The tickets would be so easy...

Labels: chinatown

When in Chinatown, do what the Vietnamese do - What the article misses is many of the Vietnamese in Chinatown are ethnic Chinese. It's changing Chinatown in Los Angeles, but Chinatown in Los Angeles is always changing.

Labels: chinatown

Why are there so many dentists in Rowland Heights where Childbook.com is located?

I just noticed and every strip mall seems to have a dentist office in Rowland Heights. I can think of 10 off the top of my head and per google there is 30+. I am not sure on the reason. My guess is an education emphasis among ethnic Chinese and Koreans (which a large number live in Rowland Heights).


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ChildBook's Listing of Chinatowns: Chinatowns of the United States

Associated Product:

				Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture
				Our Price: $22.95 Sale Price: $19.95 You Save $3.00!
				This is a book for kids, families, and teachers who’d like to get more out of their visit to Chinatown than an “I escaped Alcatraz” t-shirt or oversized pencil. It’s a guide to what makes Chinese culture, well, “Chinese.” It covers almost everything, from how to order in a restaurant, and what not to do with chopsticks, to how to write characters in Chinese and how to make potstickers. It tells about herbal medicine shops, temples, and tearooms.

Labels: chinatown

San Luis Obisco had a Chinatown. The city is just north of Santa Barbara and has the other Cal Poly where they make half the Rose Float (I went to Cal Poly). The population of California at one time was 10% Chinese. Another story about the tunnels of the Chinatown in Fresno - An urban legend has resurfaced This time in the LA Times. Third article I have read about Fresno's Chinatown. What this added was that Chinatowns were seen as a mysterous place that all sorts of strange things happened. My take from that is it's easier to hate people when they are seen as different.

References:
Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture onsale!

Labels: chinatown, Chinese History

Tunnels of Fresno's Chinatown continued and they are now offering tours! Fresno is a city in Northern California that has become a suburb of Silicon Valley, but is/was a farm town. This page has an old picture of a building in Fresno's Chinatown. Here is the web site for Fresno's Chinatown. An older post on Chinatowns with a link to an older article on Fresno's Chinatown (I thought did a better job). What is disappointing is most articles and pages don't mention this: Five hundred Chinese American men were forced by terrorists to leave their jobs in nurseries and vineyards around Fresno. Much less why did it happen, and how did the Chinatown rebuild. And the official site for the Fresno's Chinatown sanitizes the history. When you think of Chinese in America it's either as miners, laundry, or on the railroad, but there was a large population in agriculture.

Relevant Books:
The Chinese in America by Iris Chang that I need to put on my site soon...
Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture

Labels: chinatown, Chinese History

The Chinatown express article by the Economist mentions how the cheap Bus Service found in many Chinatowns is getting competition from non-Chinese companies, such as Grey Hound. In LA for example, it's possible to get a low cost bus ride to Las Vegas or San Jose using the "Chinatown Express". There is one from NY to Boston for $10.

Related book Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture

Labels: chinatown

Chinese Associations, often called Tongs go back in the US till the Gold Rush. In a recent article in the LA Times on a high amount of Fundraising in NY Chinatown for Hillary Clinton among Fujianese immigrants, the term Chinese Associations came up. The article in summary said a large amount of Fujianese immigrants of low income (dishwashers making $500/week giving $1000 donation) gave money to the Hilliary Clinton Presidential campaign. The reasons giving in 20 interviews ranged from the ability to have a picture taken with Senator Clinton and send it back to relatives to they were asked by as a favor (by a Chinese Association) and they would lose face if they did not. On a policy side on an NPR interview with the LA Times writer, the writer mentioned that Senator Clinton has spoken of the need to reunite families divided due to immigration issues and is seen as immigrant friendly in her policies.

The province of Fujian traditionally has produced a large amount of immigrants. The local dialect is what is called Taiwanese in Taiwan. I was surprised when a person from the Philphines and my in-laws were talking to each other, and what language would you guess - yes, Taiwanese/Fukienese . Why the difference in spelling between Fukienese and Fujianese - Pinyin. Like Peking and Beijing.

The immigrants to the US have been both legal and illegal. The going price was $50,000 (14 years ago it was $20,000) and it takes 3-5 years paying back the cost. This is often done by working in Chinese restaurants as waiters, waitresses, and cooks. Women also find work as nannies. Figuring out the size of this population is challenging, but the total estimate for illegal immigrants is 7 to 20 Million. And if you estimate 5% is Chinese, thats a large number. Especially when the Legal population for ethnic Chinese in the US is 2.7 Million per the 2000 Census. Snakeheads are the smugglers and Tongs/Chinese Gangs used this as a major source of revenue. More profitable than drugs and less of a risk of prison time. Here is a recent article on a person in a tong.

Labels: chinatown, Chinese Associations, Chinese Culture