How many Chinatowns have you been to?
Off the top of my head: London, Toronto, Honolulu, SF, Seattle, Buenos Aires, and Manila.
So, roughly speaking, all of them generally have the same. The red wing tipped gates, red hanging lanterns… individually they have Chinese influences, but no place in China has ever really quite looked like that. Also, China has always been such a large and composite place, how do you even pick one spot as the inspiration?
The Chinatown look you’re familiar with doesn’t come from China. It comes from two American architects who had never been to China tasked with designing something based on what they thought it looked like. It’s pretty likely you’d find more authentic architecture at the Epcot Center for most places.
But the reasons why? Chinese-American families and business owners in San Francisco trying to avoid forced relocation had to give in to exoticism and orientalism for their survival.
Not unlike the immigrant professionals who came in the 70s and 80s and were expected only to excel in certain boxes like medicine… and definitely not to rock the boat politically or socially…
…or all the Asian actors forced into narrow typecast roles like Mr. Chow, Long Duk Dong, or Fook Yu.
…or anyone who knows the follow up question to where are you really from will be based on a caricature of a much more complex place.
But hey, survival also means you get to pass the baton and at least leave things a little better than you found it, whether that’s an industry, a neighborhood, or a social norm.
