Canada Chinatowns in Canada generally exist in the large cities.
Calgary,
Edmonton,
Montreal,
Ottawa, Regina,
Toronto,
Vancouver,
Victoria,
Windsor, and
Winnipeg have Chinatowns. Chinatowns have existed in some smaller towns throughout the history of Canada. Prior to 1900, almost all Chinese were located in
British Columbia, in towns such as
Nanaimo,
New Westminster,
Mission,
Lillooet,
Barkerville, and
Penticton. Some British Columbia towns that were majority Chinese for years, such as
Stanley,
Rock Creek, and
Richfield were not known as Chinatowns. From 1923 to 1967, immigration from China was suspended due to exclusion laws. In 1997, the handover of Hong Kong to China caused many from there to flee to Canada due to uncertainties. According to an article from the Globe and Mail, Canada had 25 Chinatowns total across the entire country between the 1930s to 1940s, some of which had become extinct.
Vancouver Vancouver's Chinatown is the largest in Canada. Dating back to the late 19th century, the main focus of the older Chinatown is Pender Street and Main Street in downtown Vancouver, which is also, along with
Victoria's Chinatown, one of the oldest surviving Chinatowns in North America. Vancouver has been the setting for a variety of modern Chinese Canadian culture and literature. Vancouver's Chinatown contains numerous galleries, shops, restaurants, and markets, in addition to the
Chinese Cultural Centre and the
Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden and park; the garden is the first and one of the largest
Ming era-style
Chinese gardens outside
China. Although only one neighborhood is designated as Chinatown in modern
Greater Vancouver, the high proportion of Chinese people living in the region (the highest in North America) has created many commercial and residential areas that while Chinese-dominated are not called "Chinatown". In Greater Vancouver that term refers
only to the historic Chinatown in the city core. There is an abundance of Chinese- and Asian-themed malls in the region, with the highest concentration in the
Golden Village district of
Richmond.
United States Chinatowns in the
United States of America have existed since the 1840s on the
West Coast and the 1870s on the
East Coast. The Chinese were one of the first Asian groups to arrive in large numbers. Circumstances caused by the
Korean and
Vietnam wars, the
1965 Immigration Act, in addition to the desire for skilled workers caused more immigration from China and the rest of Asia. As of the early 21st century the Chinese are the largest of the Asian immigrant groups; and have been so for most of the history of the United States. As other immigrants of other countries arrive,
Chinatown, the oldest of the Asian ethnic enclaves has become a pattern for other Asian enclaves such as
Japantown,
Koreatown, and
Little India. The
Flushing Chinatown in
New York City is now home to the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, while the Chinatown in
San Francisco is the oldest in the United States.
New York City building in
Chinatown, Manhattan and
Roosevelt Avenue in
Flushing, home to the world's largest Chinatown
Chinatown The
New York metropolitan area contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of
Asia, comprising an estimated 893,697 uniracial individuals as of 2017, including at least 12 Chinatowns - six (or nine, including the emerging Chinatowns in
Corona and
Whitestone,
Queens, and
East Harlem, Manhattan) in
New York City proper, and one each in
Nassau County,
Long Island;
Edison,
New Jersey; The first
Chinese immigrants came to
Lower Manhattan around 1870, looking for the "golden" opportunities America had to offer. By 1880, the enclave around
Five Points was estimated to have from 200 to as many as 1,100 members. While the
Flushing Chinatown in
Queens has become one of the largest Chinatowns in the world and one of the world's busiest
pedestrian intersections, it has also become the epicenter of
organized prostitution in the United States. Flushing is undergoing rapid
gentrification by Chinese transnational entities. The growth of the business activity at the core of
Downtown Flushing, dominated by the Flushing Chinatown, has continued despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
San Francisco with a
California Street cable car A Pacific port city,
San Francisco has the oldest and longest continuous running Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere. It originated circa 1848 and served as a gateway for incoming immigrants who arrived during the
California gold rush and the construction of the North American
transcontinental railroads. Chinatown was later reconceptualized as a tourist attraction in 1910. San Francisco's Chinatown was almost completely destroyed by the
1906 earthquake and fire, but some of its inhabitants did not relocate elsewhere. Looming large were proposals by real estate speculators and politicians to expand the Financial District's influence into the area, by displacing the Chinese community to the southern part of the city. In response, many of Chinatown's residents and landlords defiantly stayed behind to stake their neighborhood's claim, sleeping out in the open and in makeshift tents. Numerous businesses and housing based in brick buildings survived with moderate damage and continued functioning, if only in a limited capacity. In just two years after the earthquake, the landmark Sing Fat and Sing Chong buildings were completed as a statement of the Chinese community's resolve to remain in the area. As a result of this action, Chinatown remains the longest, continuously occupied Chinese community outside of Asia.
Latin America Chinatowns in Latin America (, singular
barrio chino / , singular
bairro chinês) developed with the rise of
Chinese immigration in the 19th century to various countries in
Latin America as contract laborers (i.e.,
indentured servants) in
agricultural and
fishing industries. Most came from
Guangdong Province. Since the 1970s, the new arrivals have typically hailed from
Hong Kong,
Macau, and
Taiwan. Latin American Chinatowns may include the descendants of original migrants — often of mixed Chinese and
Latino parentage — and more recent immigrants from
East Asia. Most
Asian Latin Americans are of
Cantonese and
Hakka origin. Estimates widely vary on the number of Chinese descendants in Latin America. The oldest Chinatown in Latin America is in
Mexico City, dating back to at least the early 17th century. Two notable Chinatowns exist in
Lima,
Peru. In
Brazil, the
Liberdade neighborhood in
São Paulo has, along with a large Japanese community, an important Chinese community. There is a project for a Chinatown in the
Mercado neighborhood, close to the
Municipal Market and the commercial
Rua 25 de Março. ==References==