Vancouver's Chinatown: Case Study

As the well known and revered Chinese-American historian remarked, "When the Chinese arrived in America, they brought their language along as cultural baggage as well as mores and customs that had evolved in one of the world's great civilizations" (Louie, 1). The history of the Cantonese, or Yue, language is more than 2,000 years old, making it older than Mandarin, the official language of China, which only has 700 to 800 years of history. Around the time of the Qin Dynasty, Cantonese became more established as a language with its own distinct features, the direct a result of the Hans moving from Northern to Southern China. Mountains and rivers isolated the North from the South, which continued to allow differences between Mandarin and

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

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

Contrary to the United States’ initial warm welcome to Chinese immigrants, Canada began their era of peak Chinese immigration with hostility. One large factor in why this occurred can be found in the time frame of peak Chinese immigration to Canada which was after the United States enacted their Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) which effectively prevented almost all new Chinese immigrants from entering the US for the following decade. Because of that newfound barrier, Chinese that still wanted to come to North America to take advantage of economic opportunities found themselves purchasing tickets to British Columbia, Canada. However, sentiments towards Chinese in 1880s western Canada were analogous to those present in the United States; those which led to the enactment of America’s Chinese Exclusion Act. As Chinese populations in California continued to grow, Americans found that the Chinese began making economic conditions less than ideal for white laborers which later started social uproar in the latter half of the 19th century. Because Canada is directly adjacent to the United States, Canadians witnessed the economic woes of native-born laborers along the west coast. As a result, they became increasingly wary of Chinese currently in or the increasing number now entering Canada. Between January 1881 and October 1884, approximately 17,00 Chinese entered Canada. A Canadian fear of succumbing to the same economic

In spite of the harsh discrimination and mistreatment, Chinese immigrants established an everlasting signature in the development of Canada. During the early 19th century, war and rebellion in China forced many peasants and workers to seek their livelihoods elsewhere. Along with an increasing volume of job opportunities in Canada, there were many motivational factors which influenced thousands of Chinese people to immigrate to the new, developing nation of Canada. Nevertheless, alike other non-Caucasian immigrants, the measure of racism and discrimination that the Chinese were forced to endure left many mentally, physically, and spiritually scarred. Despite the countless acts of racism and segregation, the Chinese continued to work hard

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

Gentrification or displacement is not something that I thought about that often. It was a vague and distant thing that I heard about on the news sometimes. But it isn’t a vague and distant thing; it’s a real process happening all over the world that has real consequences. The OneDC tour of the Shaw neighborhood that my class and I went on made me realize that more clearly. In the media, gentrification is overwhelmingly depicted as a positive thing, very rarely is the displacement of the preexisting residents discussed. They don’t really talk about how the population that continuously gets the short end of the stick when it comes to gentrification is low-income black people. And it just isn’t right to push out long-term residents for the sake

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

The name of the mural is “It was made to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Chinatown in Philadelphia. This mural is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1858 denoted the beginning of progressing Chinese movement to the districts of British North America that would later shape the present-day Canada. In the east were the settlements of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and additionally the "United Province of Canada," including Quebec and Ontario (The Early Chinese Canadians, 2015). On the Pacific coast was the settlement of Vancouver Island. At the time, none of these provinces had migration confinements. An immense region under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company lay between these eastern and western settlements (The Early Chinese Canadians, 2015). First Nations individuals were the fundamental inhabitants around this region, and also in British Columbia (The Early Chinese Canadians, 2015).

Canada is a multicultural and multiethnic country where people from diverse parts of the world have chosen to live. Chinses Canadian is the third largest immigrants group to come to Canada, after immigrants from Great Britain and Europe. It is estimated there are nearly 1.5 million Chinese Canadians in Canada.1 In the early years, Chinese came to Canada because of the gold rush and working opportunities for railroads construction. Later, the Chinese were not as welcomed upon their arrival in Canada, as the Canadian Government enacted with Immigrations Acts to restrict the number of Chinese immigrants.

Ethnic Identity Ethnic identity is when an individual views themselves belonging to a specific ethnic group. It is a very complex concept because it can have different interpretations to certain groups. Some ethnic groups believe you must be their race to belong to their group and to others you just need to be acquainted with their heritage and history. In Trying to Find Chinatown and Story of My Body, ethnic identity is displayed in several ways and is a major theme across both stories.

Chinatowns always are the popular place for the visitors because there have many tasty Chinese food and many different Chinese stores which sell the unique Chinese stuffs. Also, Chinatowns are a very important places for the new Chinese immigrants because there are many Chinese American who can help them in this new country. For many new Chinese immigrants, they can find cheap apartment to rent in Chinatown. Also, they can find many Chinese restaurants and supermarkets to buy the food they used to eat, and there are many organizations to help them settle down in the United stated and find them a job. In general, Chinatowns are very important to the new Chinese immigrants, and they like to live in Chinatowns too. However, there are some Chinese

Creativity and art is becoming such a rising normality in our everyday culture. A new mural with a political statement is popping up every other week. A person visiting the local pizza joint downtown can look up on the wall and see a piece of art with a price tag next to it. A local artist painted it and where else to get public attention than Brooklyn Pizza, in the heart of buzzing downtown. The art scene is growing quickly, and thanks to the creative means, so is the opportunity for aspiring artists. Whether it be a political, personal, local, environmental, or just showing U of A pride, local murals and art are popping up and displaying the creativity of fellow Tucsonans. Art in Tucson, and all over the world, sets a name for the city, brings the people together and defines a culture. “There’s such a hub of cultural exchange here, with Native Americans, Mexican Americans. There really is a lot going on in the arts" (Busler). Local and community art galleries have been around, and are on the rise; Murals, too, are creating business interest, and create an outlet for creativity. Art shows and auctions get more artists out into the world, as well as their inspirational pieces. This art scene is only going to grow, and opportunity along with it. Culture is the puzzle piece in this scene. “Cultural diversity is a social good and the wellspring of free expression. Cultural equity means full inclusion, participation, and power-sharing in all of our communities and institutions"

There is a large diversity of people in Hong Kong because it continuously expands in economy and market. This of course, is a big advantage to our industry because although Precious Gems and Stones came in second to the Electronic equipment industries with a high dollar value of $82.4 billion and each export percentage share of 15.7% in terms of global shipments during 2014, the Precious Gems and Stones industry was the fastest growing among the top 10 export categories. It went up 161.1% for the 5-year period which started in 2010. It was also propelled by international sales of unwrought gold and unset diamonds. (worldstopexport.com)