Chinatown (New York City)
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Chinatown is a neighborhood in the Manhattan borough of New York and with approximately 90,000 to 100,000 Chinese residents (665,734 residents) one of the largest Chinese communities in North America.
history
As Chinese immigration increased, it was severely restricted from 1882 to 1924. The Chinese , who were welcomed as coolies for railroad construction, were not allowed to take their wives with them. The whole of Chinatown was thus a predominantly bachelors' district that was isolated from the rest of city life. This resulted in a strong preservation of the Chinese cultural heritage, which is still evident in the cityscape today. In Chinatown, less than 55% of the residents speak English and the streetscape is dominated by Chinese characters and shops. That this trend is continuing can be seen in the expanding Chinatown district, as large parts of the former Jewish or Italian district are now in Chinese hands. In order to preserve the Italian heritage, the Italians and the Chinese have agreed on a fixed limit beyond which Chinese characters may no longer be affixed to the facades. Today, Little Italy can only be found on Mulberry Street and Grand Street .
The center of Chinatown stretches along Canal Street , but Mott Street is also a street that is strongly influenced by Chinese shops and bars and is well worth seeing. The equipment and furnishings of the shops are not geared to tourism, but to the needs of the people living in the district. But tourists who are looking for counterfeit watches, perfume or other counterfeits of branded goods will also find their dealers here, some with the imprint “Made in Chinatown”.
Due to the high percentage of New York's Chinese ethnic group in World War II and the containment of the Tongs (Chinese secret organizations), acceptance increased, and many New Yorkers now go to Chinatown to dine cheaply there. With the announcement that Hong Kong would be returned to the People's Republic of China in 1997, immigration increased again drastically, this time also from the rather wealthy Hong Kong Chinese. Today there is a Chinatown in Queens and one in Brooklyn .
The fate of the immigrants can be traced in the Museum of Chinese in America .
In the movie
The film In the Year of the Dragon (1985) takes place in Chinatown and describes the fight against the Chinese mafia.
Web links
Coordinates: 40 ° 43 ′ N , 74 ° 0 ′ W