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| Chinatown Gate |
The Chinese immigrants first started to arrive in Chicago in the early 1870s. The Chinese first settled in California but after the construction of the railroad they started to migrate to Chicago, New York, and Boston. The population started to grow steadily and reached to about 2,353 in 1920 from 172 in 1880 (Chinese, n.d.). Due to the U.S. immigration policies and anti-Chinese attitude the immigrants from China were not welcomed in the U.S. There was a Chinese Exclusion Law in 1882, which made a lot of Chinese leave the country and there was much imbalance in the demography as there were merely 6% female of the total Chinese population in Chicago (Chinese, n.d.). The Chinese immigrants had a very rough time coming into a new country. Despite all the difficulties the Chinese in Chicago built a community in Chinatown and established some organizations for their support. After World War II the Chinese exclusion act ended and a lot more Chinese immigrants started to arrive in the U.S.
When Chicago's Chinatown was first established it was centered around South Clark St and Van Buren St but it 1912 they were forced to relocate to West Cermak Road and South Wentworth Ave. Residential and business were relocated to the new place. In the 1920s Chinatown continued to grow south along South Wentworth Ave and South Princeton Ave. The Dan Ryan Expressway, one of Illinois' busiest roads, was built east of South Wentworth Ave in the 1960s. In the 1990s Chinatown grew north of South Archer Ave, developing into Chinatown square, residential housing, and ping Tom Memorial Park. By 2011 Chinatown's population was over 27,000 and in 2012 Chinatown celebrated its Centennial Anniversary (Chinese, n.d).
Like all other ethnic groups the Chinese also established some organizations to support their community. Despite all the obstacles they faced the Chinese built a vibrant community. In 1906 the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association was formed which became the largest organizational force in the Chinese community (Chinese, n.d.). The Quasi government provided social services, maintained the rights and kept order in the community. There were powerful labor organizations like Mon Sang Association which maintained the rights of the labors. Besides these there were some family organizations which helped the people.
The main type of commercial business in Chinatown is Chinese restaurants. The restaurant has flourished due to the increasing population and gained about 25% since the last decade. These restaurants offer a variety of Chinese foods and attracts all types of people. The Chinese enjoy their traditional food but it is an attractive place for the tourists as well as they get a taste of the Chinese culture from the restaurants and the foods. The notable restaurants are MingHin Cuisine located in South Archer Avenue which is famous for the Dim Sum(Chinese dish), Lao Sze Chuan also located in South Archer Ave is well known for being the restaurant with the spiciest menu in Chicago. Last year FBI raided these Chinese restaurants and they were closed down for some time but they reopened very soon. Recently the owner of Lao Sze Chuan chef Tony Hu was in the news for his new recipe Special Dry Chili Chicken. This new dish has become very famous in the neighborhood as it is really delicious. Chi Cafe, Lao Beijing, Moon Palace, Ken Kee etc. are the other notable restaurants.
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| MingHing Cuisine http://storage.tastesavant.com.s3.amazonaws.com/restaurants/Minghin%20Cuisine/Interior%201.png |
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| Lao Sze Chuan http://endoedibles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/004-Lao-Sze-Chuan-6.jpg |
Besides the restaurants there are some other notable places in Chinatown. Pui Tak Center located on 2261 South Wentworth Ave is the center of the commercial district of Chinatown. The building was once the host to the On Leong Merchant Association. It served as a courtroom, as an elementary school, a recreation center and now a social service agency. It serves as the neighborhood's unofficial city hall, offering a variety of services English language classes and other programs for the recently arrived immigrants. I visited the Pui Tak Center and we were shown around the place by a guide but she should not speak English so she was not much of a help, she should probably take the English course they are offering. The building has a weird entrance because the main door does not open and we had to go in through a side door. The building was not something very special but what they offer to the people of the community is very important.
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| Pui Tak Center |
The Chinese American Museum of Chicago located on 238 West 23rd Street also known as the Chinatown Museum is another of the notable places in Chinatown. It was formerly a Chinese store and warehouse built in 1986. The museum was founded in 2005 and documents a lot of historical and cultural artifacts of the Chinese. In 2008 a devastating fire almost destroyed the priceless artifacts but it was all restored in 2010. We saw a video of the Chinese new year and the different customs they celebrate during this time. The museum consisted a lot of different ancient artifacts from China. They even have a brick from the Great Wall, there was a dragon which they from their new year's celebration. The histories of Chinese immigration was also there, we got to learn about the Chinese culture from the different ancient artifacts.
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| Chinese American Museum, Chicago |
Ping Tom Memorial Park located on 300 West 19th Street is another noteworthy place of Chinatown. Situated next to the south branch of the Chicago River on the north end of Chinatown the 12-acre park, with its Chinese inspired design is a popular place for the residents. People practice yoga, tai chai and qigong, different sports and athletics in the park. The park plays as the host to the annual Dragon Boat Race Festival where authentic Chinese-style rowing boats, compete and celebrate this ancient Chinese tradition. The park is one of the best places in Chinatown and it is definitely a place to visit. It is a place of natural beauty where people can go to relax after a hectic week of work. I picked a very bad day to go there as it was too cold and I could not totally enjoy going around the park and getting to see all of its beauty. The view from the park is amazing, the whole city can be seen from the park and it is a magnificent view. All the buildings and monuments of the park are the works of very fine architecture but they also represent a Chinese touch. It is definitely a place every tourist should visit if they visit Chinatown.
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| Ping Tom Memorial Park http://www.terraengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/Ping-Tom-Boathouse-ACEC-IL-Award-960x540.jpg |
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The other notable places include The Nine Dragon Wall located on 22nd Street(Cermak Rd.), Wentworth Avenue located on 2200-2500 South Wentworth Avenue, Chinatown Square etc.
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| The Nine Dragon Wall |
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| Wentworth Avenue |
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| Chinatown Square |
I think Chinatown is integrated with Chicago society because there are non-asian people living in the neighborhood but not completely integrated. I saw a lot of non-asian in the neighborhood. They may be socially segregated due to the different cultures but they celebrate the special occasions of USA and the people of Chicago also celebrate Chinese events like the Chinese New Year. The Chinese are no longer an isolated group in Chicago and there is no discrimination like before so they are getting acquainted with the cultures of the American. Just sharing holidays and cultures don't make the people integrated but they are not discriminated like before. So in my opinion Chinatown is pretty much integrated with Chicago society but there is still a lot of things to be done to make it completely integrated. Also there are opportunities for economic relations as there are some small businesses growing in Chinatown. So I think Chinatown is integrated with Chicago society.
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