Week 3: Chinatowns
Hey guys! Welcome back!
I returned to DC Saturday night and have been working on comparing the two Chinatowns in both New York and Washington DC. One noticeable difference between the two is the sense of community. I observed that there was a larger majority of people of Chinese ethnicity in New York compared to DC. I would describe DC Chinatown as more of a tourist destination compared to Manhattan Chinatown, where walking in the streets actually feels like being in a Chinatown. This feeling of fitting in as someone from a Chinese background was more pronounced in Manhattan Chinatown. In DC Chinatown, there is a mixture of cultures, including but not limited to Chinese restaurants and shops. However, walking in the crowded streets of Manhattan Chinatown, there was a lively neighborhood and community that truly lived up to its name, Chinatown.
As promised in last week’s blog, here are some pictures taken of Manhattan Chinatown, although it was raining then. It felt like walking on a street in China because of the cultural similarities, and Chinese was predominantly spoken; it was almost as if English was the second language.
After returning to DC on Monday, Mia and I took a tour of DC Chinatown. We made notes of important buildings such as the most noticeable Friendship Archway. The Wah Luck House was also on our list, and we noticed that it might be the only Chinese residential unit in Chinatown. There was also Da Hsin Trading Inc, one of the few remaining Chinese businesses. Mia also pointed out two pillars in Chinatown on each side of the streets, which we thought may mark the borders or entrance of Chinatown. Initially, I always thought that the Chinese-styled street lamps marked the borders of Chinatown, but Mia said that the bounds weren’t very clear to her either.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to this week. I’ll see you all in my next post!