No one can tell when Chinatown in new york began to take shape. People only know that at the beginning of this century, it was almost all a man's world. At that time, the American government promulgated the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited families of immigrants from China from entering the United States. Gambling, smoking and gang fighting are almost the impressions of Americans about Chinatown in those days. Doyers Street in Chinatown is a narrow alley. Gangs in Chinatown often have fierce conflicts here, and later this street was called "Blood Corner". It was not until 1933 that the gang fights in Chinatown in New York tended to subside.
Chinatown is not only the destination of the Chinese nation overseas, but also the reserve and growth point of Chinese culture overseas.
In the second semester of Brock College, there was an extra auditor in our class. This is a China girl who grew up in Manhattan's Chinatown. After graduating from our university with a bachelor's degree in journalism, she worked as a reporter for CNN. She often whispers to the professor, so I guess she and the professor have known each other before.
During the break, we chatted. After we talked about other things, she suddenly asked me, "What do you think of Chinatown? What do you think of Chinatown? ) "I also learned the habits of Americans and said directly," It's a mess! (It's dirty) "Her expression shows that she is a little unhappy. I thought to myself at that time that Shenzhen was much cleaner than Chinatown in New York.
To be a reporter in new york, you must go to these Chinatowns. I have been a reporter for a while and have a new understanding of Chinatown. Chinatown is really dirty. However, Chinatown plays an irreplaceable role in preserving China culture. China people have no religion, and China culture is based on Chinese and Chinese characters. How can China culture be handed down from generation to generation? The solution to this problem is Chinatown. Although the educational level of Chinatown residents is not high, they insist on speaking and watching Chinese and let their children speak Chinese at home. It can be said that Chinatown is not only the foothold of the Chinese nation overseas, but also the reserve and growth point of Chinese culture overseas.
The residents of Chinatown are mainly Chinese, and Chinese business activities are also concentrated here. Living in Chinatown is just like living in other towns in China, such as Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province and Hongkong. The common language is mainly Mandarin, but there are also local dialects. Chinese food is the staple food, and many streets have Chinese newsstands. You can listen to Chinese radio while driving and watch Chinese TV at night. In America, only Chinatown has such conditions and atmosphere.
Many foreign students from China have successfully integrated into the mainstream after graduation. They work in American companies and generally live in American communities. A Tsinghua graduate told me that she came to the United States to study after graduating from college, and now she dreams in English. This is especially true for the second generation of international students, who are unwilling to speak Chinese at all. Many parents coerce their children to go to Chinatown Chinese School on weekends, but the effect is not obvious. Therefore, it is difficult for Chinese families living in American communities to inherit China culture.
Chinatown is the Chinese translation of English Chinatown. People in China, new york sometimes call it Chinatown and sometimes China Street. This is a residential and commercial area in China. At present, there are three recognized Chinatowns in new york. They are Chinatown in Manhattan, Flushing in Queens and Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn.
The first Chinatown in new york is Manhattan Chinatown, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was built in the middle of19th century. Its characteristic is that almost all the residents in this area come from China. At the same time, China people are also engaged in business activities here, mainly opening shops, restaurants and gift shops. Residents mainly come from Guangdong and Hong Kong, and the main language is Cantonese. According to some old immigrants, before1980s, people who didn't speak Cantonese were considered as "Tang people couldn't speak Tang dialect", and eating, shopping and looking for a job were ignored. Cantonese people are short and have dark skin. I was once mistaken for a foreigner because I didn't look like a Cantonese.
I remember when I first reported to school, the staff in the department asked me, "Are you Japanese?" I replied, "No. I'm from China. (No, I'm from China) "I asked her why she thought I was Japanese, and the girl said," You don't look like someone from China City ". Later, a fellow villager said that she had encountered a similar situation. At first, her American colleagues in the laboratory always told her a sentence or two about Cantonese she learned in Chinatown, but she couldn't understand it.
This happened to me when I was working in Shenzhen. Guangdong people asked me where I came from, and I said I was a Hakka. They immediately looked suspicious and didn't believe I was from Guangdong. Once, I asked them why. They replied, "There are no tall and white Hakkas like you!" I have to say, "I am a new Hakka."
When I was studying in Brock, I found a dozen books about Chinatown in the school library, many of which were written by American researchers. As can be seen from these books, new york's Chinatown was relatively closed in the past, which once aroused the curiosity of Americans. I've read a book or two, too. The book mainly talks about the customs of Cantonese people, which even I find strange.
The second Chinatown is in Flushing, Queens. The traffic in this area is very convenient. Terminal 7 of the subway, with one end in Flushing and the other end in midtown Manhattan, is the main passage between the two districts. Main Street is the main road in Flushing, full of restaurants and shops in China, and the streets are all from China. China residents mainly come from Chinese mainland and Taiwan Province provinces, and the common language is Mandarin.
According to people who came early, there were only two or three Chinese shops in Flushing 20 years ago, and the rest were Korean territory, but now almost all of them are "occupied" by Chinese. Walking on the streets of Myanmar, almost all people you see are from China, and whites and blacks have become ethnic minorities. Gu, the current president of the China Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Flushing, told me that he had heard Americans complain that they could not buy American food in Flushing.
In recent years, the Chinese business in Flushing is particularly active, among which Wenzhou people's supermarkets are the most eye-catching. In just a few years, about eight or nine large supermarkets have been built. The boss and the staff inside are mainly from Wenzhou. Supermarkets have become the main factor to attract Chinese people from the surrounding areas of new york to shop in Flushing. At the weekend, people from China came to buy food.
The eighth street in Brooklyn is called the third Chinatown. Its geographical feature is that China people engage in business activities on Eighth Avenue and live on both sides of Eighth Avenue and near Sunset Park. Now, China shops on Eighth Avenue are next to each other. Its China residents mainly come from Guangdong and Fuzhou.
This Chinatown started in a grocery store. In A.D. 1970, a Cantonese opened the first China grocery store here, and later other China people followed suit. Because local housing prices and rents are relatively cheap, more and more Cantonese people move out of Manhattan's Chinatown and settle in this new community.
In the last decade of last century, Fuzhou immigrants increased day by day. At first, Fuzhou people mainly did business on East Broadway in the First Chinatown, but the original Cantonese people were forced to move out. Later, this Guangdong Street gradually became a well-known Fuzhou Street. However, a street is far from meeting the needs of more and more Fuzhou people, so Fuzhou people have to find another way.
The eighth avenue in Brooklyn is very suitable for their needs. It has the following advantages: first, the rent is cheap, and the house price is not expensive, which is much lower than the first Chinatown. The second is convenient transportation. There is a subway connection between the first Chinatown and the third Chinatown. Don't change trains. This is very convenient for Fuzhou people who set up shop in the first Chinatown and live in the third Chinatown.
Some people say that new york has a fourth Chinatown and a fifth Chinatown. This refers to Amherst and Fresh Ranch in Queens. Indeed, in these communities, there are many China residents, who not only walk everywhere, but also often come across China shops. But I think there are more than half of Chinese residents in Chinatown, and these two places have not yet reached this standard.
The disadvantage of Chinatown is that it is dirty and messy. The first is dirty. Streets and alleys are full of rubbish and phlegm. Much dirtier than the American community. Although the streets are dirty, all the families in China are bright and clean. This incident puzzled some American scholars. Why do people in China do well in personal hygiene, but not in public places?
What followed was chaos. The streets in Chinatown look messy. Businessmen along the street leave their goods outside the door. I have been to the first Chinatown roadside many times to buy fresh and cooked meat paws. But China people who sell brown seeds run when they see the police. Later I met him and asked, "What are you running for?" He replied: "I have been arrested dozens of times. The police won't let me sell things on the roadside. " He finally said: "The United States is free of everything, but it is not free at this point!" Some vegetable markets in China are a bit like small markets in rural Chinese mainland.
Vegetables are piled on the roadside, and pedestrians squat to choose vegetables. It is also common for people to cross the road, whether it is a red light or a green light. Finally, poverty. Poor refers to poor order and poor morality. If you don't follow the rules, you always want to take advantage of it. Cheating often happens. Both the client and the victim are from China. Fake things are everywhere. The knockoffs in Chinatown are very famous in America. New york City Police Department has raided many times, but it can't be cured. In the First Chinatown, China women often ask me quietly if I want to fake brand-name bags and cam-.
However, Chinatown is also a treasure trove of feng shui. The shops in Chinatown are always bustling and the roads are always shoulder to shoulder. There is always a queue at the post office in Chinatown, and there is no door outside Chinatown. The high utilization rate of houses in Chinatown is really rare. Sometimes office buildings are separated, and a small place is crowded with many "big-name" companies, and a small house number is covered with different brands.
China companies in new york are generally relatively small, with many one-man companies. Couples' shops are popular, with three or five people common and seven or eight. If there are dozens of people in the company, it will be considerable. Companies with hundreds of people are rare. Many people think that this is China people's own fault. China people are unwilling to cooperate and cannot share power with others. Everyone wants to be the boss, and they have to fight alone in the end.
Educated China people are no exception. There are more than 400 China doctors' clinics in new york, most of which are self-employed or mom-and-pop shops. More than a decade ago, someone tried to run a China hospital, but it was full of difficulties. There are more than 300 law firms in China, and there are few partnership law firms. There are more than 200 accounting firms in China, and individuals and families are still the majority. Many years ago, some people tried to form a large Chinese accounting firm with China accountants, but few people responded.
However, there are exceptions. For example, the Wei accounting firm I interviewed is the largest Chinese accounting firm in the eastern United States. All 35 employees and 8 accountants in the study. Its partners are Wei Shizhou and Wei Liren from Taiwan Province Province. They plan to expand the firm to 100 employees before 20 10, and become the largest Asian accounting firm in the United States. Therefore, the joint operation of father and son may conform to the characteristics of China people.
In the interview, I feel that you can't do it alone. If Chinese want to be bigger and stronger, they must unite to compete with other ethnic groups and win in the competition. No matter what form, whether it is the combination of father and son, husband and wife joining hands, or the master taking the apprentice, cooperation is the only choice.
Not long ago, I found a new situation in an interview with China Employment Agency. Some Americans, especially Jews, began to pay attention to Chinese learning. They employ China nannies who can speak Mandarin to take care of their children. Some American high schools and universities have also begun to offer Chinese courses. Americans have realized the importance of Chinese, and China people should see this more. Chinese is the most precious legacy left by our ancestors and must not be destroyed in our hands.