Boston Chinatown Banquet - It's Not Just Food

What most people think of Chinatown, they immediately think of food. Is Chinatown simply a place for food and services? Is it more? This piece explores these questions, the contributions of restaurants to Chinatown, how "taste" has shifted with the population's changing demographics and discusses the lives of restaurant workers, many of whom are new immigrants.

Storytellers: Angelo Ancheta, Neil Chin, Richard Chin, Stephanie Fan, Peter Kiang, Arthur Krim, Larry Leung, Paul Lee, Larry Rosenblum, Reggie Wong

Video footage: Mike Blockstein, Anita Chang, Victor Fong, Eun-Joung Lee, Peter Pang, Johnny Yong

Interviews: Mike Blockstein, Victor Fong, Jackson Hau, Eun-Joung Lee, Peter Pang, Kim Szeto, Andrew Tong, Kathy Tran, Carol Wong, Kim Wong, Johnny Yong

Images courtesy of: The Bostonian Society, Chinese Historical Society of New England, National Archives and Records Administration,
Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files, Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, Tufts University Archives, Jeffrey Wong

Producer: Mike Blockstein

Editor: David Lawrence

A Chinatown Banquet is a series of short educational films about Boston Chinatown, sparking learning and dialogue across generations, disciplines and geography. The Banquet offers an unprecedented glimpse into the history, culture, and character of the neighborhood. This multimedia project highlights the Asian American experience and Chinese culture in Boston and was created as an educational tool by youth in the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC or AsianCDC) Young Leaders Network (YLN) which has grown to become A-VOYCE (Asian Voices of Organized Youth for Community Empowerment). These "courses," offering a rich view of the forces that shaped and continue to influence Chinatown, consist of audio and video interviews with community members and others who offer insight into specific issues, interspersed with contemporary and historic footage, images and information, music and ambient sounds. As a part of the Chinatown Heritage Project, the Banquet is a compendium of Chinatown's history, political struggles, culture and physical environment and living conditions.

http://www.chinatownbanquet.org/index2.html
http://www.asiancdc.org/heritage/home.html
http://www.asiancdc.org/

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Boston
• Chinatown
• Asian
• American
• Chinese
• Culture
• Education
• Community
• Development
• Corporation
• ACDC

[jevilscientist]

Love your videos,please post more!!!

[jevilscientist]

I live in so Florida...Lived in Boston nearly 44 years.I use to love going to Chinatown.At one time I sold cleaning supplies.Mat a lot of wonderful true genuine people in Chinatown. I use to go twice a week because I loved it so much. Use to get haircuts at Lily's Beauty Salon. Use to sell to the Hung Fat Market. I loved the bakeries. I use to bet Chinese New Year calenders from Radio Peking(Beijing). I am Caucasian,Love the Chinese culture.

[ix3Kelly]

china pearl has been there for a very long time?

[eaglesrl3]

thanks so much.. I'm going to use this on a school project... don't worry I;ll have abibliography