The legacy of San Francisco's Chinatown

For decades generations of Chinese immigrants have called San Francisco's Chinatown home, and thousands of new immigrants still come here every year hoping to find something better in America.

Chinese people are the best educated foreign-born group in the United States and many immigrants arriving here today see America more as a starting point than the finish line.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• immigration
• bbc
• sanfrancisco
• california
• chinatown
• culture

[eLLriDe420]

I remember my trip to china town. A homeless man said something to me I wont ever forget. He walks up to me completmenting my shirt I had on, then proceeded to tell me that the neon signs store front windows ejected signals into our brain and the government controls us with them. He then began to argue with me and I had to hold my uncle back as he tried to punch the man. As we walked away he shouted to me '' Dont be nobodys puppet kid''

[Hmmfomtgal]

I LUV chinatown!!! <3

[lukebccb]

Whereas the "clean suburban" settings of the Chinese of Cupertino, Millbrae, et al. reflect the URBANIZED "westernized" backgrounds of those Chinese occupants.

Now you know.

[lukebccb]

The "affluent" Chinese in Cupertino, Millbrae, etc. coming from "westernized" societies altogether bypassed the old ghetto San Francisco Chinatown and went directly to the Chinasuburbs.

The economic/social/cultural divisions apply to Chinese living in New York City and other locations.

The old inner-city ghetto Chinatowns of San Francisco and New York City are seen as "dirty and overcrowded" reflects the background of the occupants: peasant background.

(cont.)

[lukebccb]

These persons of peasant background heavily tend to reside in Chinatown because they have low skills and thus are forced to reside in relatively cheap Chinatown.

On the otherhand, in the new "Chinatowns" of Cupertino, Mountain View, Millbrae, San Mateo, etc. the Chinese have a much more "westernized" appearance and that's due to those persons residing in those towns tended to either be american-born Chinese or are more affluent, better educated Chinese from Hong Kong or Taiwan.

(cont.)

[lukebccb]

This may not be a popular post but it's the true: the vast, vast majority of persons that you'll see working and residing in Chinatown came from a peasant background. They have a leaner "gaunter" facial appearance. White folks would used to call it "the chinky look". They have these appearances because as peasants in China they're poverty led to a poor lifetime diet which results in them having this "leaner" "gaunter" facial feature.

(cont.)