Chinatown with No China
Asian Fortune, News Feature, Lauren Orlina, Posted: Apr 02, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Amidst the bustling shops, restaurants, and bars near Gallery Place and the Verizon Center, stands the majestic “Friendship Archway,” the largest gateway in the world to what may be the smallest Chinatown in the United States. Reminiscent of the architecture from the Ming and Qing dynasties, this 60-foot structure of red roofs and ornately painted characters and dragons, welcomes visitors to the mere two blocks of all that is left of D.C.’s historic Chinatown neighborhood.
Chinatown has had more than just a facelift. In 2006, it underwent a $200 million renovation as brand name shops, chain restaurants, and high rise condominiums have turned this area into a trendy, cosmopolitan district.
For years the neighborhood was known by locals and tourists for its popular and flavorful authentic Chinese cuisine and the annual Chinese Lunar New Year’s celebration that draws hundreds of visitors each year. Today it has become a thriving restaurant, shopping and bar scene -– a place where you can enjoy a movie at Regal Cinemas, bowl in style at the posh Lucky Strike bowling alley and restaurant bar, shop at Urban Outfitters, sip on a Starbucks latte, or even go out for tapas.
More and more, this area has become a popular D.C. hot spot for shopping, eating, entertainment and nightlife spurred by the development of the Verizon Center (formerly the MCI Center) in 1997, which led to other upscale developments of chain restaurants like Clyde’s and Legal Seafoods and high end shops like Ann Taylor and Benetton. Even Hooters has made its way here.
The Verizon Center is the center of the recent activity in Chinatown, bringing in thousands of yearly visitors for basketball games, concerts, and community events. All facilities are easily accessible. The Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station has brought a new wave of daily visitors to the area.
Gentrification, the process of bringing a lower income area back to middle class standards for public use, has been successful for D.C. as a whole. The recently renovated area and developments around the Verizon Center have become a prime example of a mixed-use neighborhood. Yet is it at the expense of an old one and its character?
Business Booming?
Business is booming -– but not for Chinatown locals. In fact, Chinese and Asian-owned restaurants and shops in Chinatown are being driven of business due to increased rental costs, the appreciation of real estate, and competing business from the new chains. As real estate costs have skyrocketed, property owners are more inclined to sell their properties rather than maintain a dilapidated building, or lease it to a Chinese-owned restaurant or store.
Businesses that have left include grocery stores, Da Hua Market and Mei Wah Lung, and popular restaurants such as Lei Garden, Becky’s Café, and China Doll. There are only about 20 Chinese and Asian-American owned businesses that exist in Chinatown today.
The remaining Asian-owned convenient stores now have to compete with CVS. And though there have been no new Chinese restaurants, one may opt to go to one of the newer, higher-end establishments in the newer, more crowded and sophisticated part of town.
Though growth was welcomed by the community at first, more locals are realizing what’s at stake -– the cultural heritage, unique authenticity, and neighborhood character of the old Chinatown.
Pastor Charles Koo with the Chinatown Community Church said, “Chinatown doesn’t have much of a Chinese flavor anymore. The impact (of development) is both good and adverse. It has brought new life to the area and a new movement in Chinatown with the diversity of facilities. The tough part is one, Chinatown is losing its identity within D.C., two, the loss of our cultural heritage, three, increased traffic and four, development is at the expense of indigenous businesses.”
He said the new businesses don’t do much for locals personally. “The holders of real estate are quite happy, but the renters are not.”
Koo says the area is home to many low-income people, particularly seniors from the Wah Luck House, an affordable housing facility for about 200 Chinese-American senior residents. “They do not have a grocery store anymore as it closed down, so they have to go outside of Chinatown to buy their groceries and many of them don’t have sufficient means of transportation.”
This has become a huge inconvenience for the local seniors.
“There’s a human aspect that we are not able to capture although economically, Chinatown is sprucing up, said Koo. “Few Asian residents are left and we have experienced an influx of non-Asians into Chinatown.”
Jeanny Ho, chair of the Chinatown Chamber, said, “the Verizon Center brought the area to a different level. It has tremendously improved.”
However, because of the language barrier, local Chinese-American residents cannot get jobs any easier. There is still a small percentage of benefits locals experience from the Verizon Center development. More benefits are for the property owner who can sell their properties for up to $6 million, she said, adding, “And who would blame them for that?”
Though larger, more well-known restaurants such as Tony Cheng’s have benefited from the added tourism, the smaller restaurants have not. In order to compete, some restaurants have to lower their prices for lunches, some as low as $4 a meal.
Tony Feng, a store owner for herbs, vitamins, and gifts, pays $6,000 a month in rent–double the amount he was paying three years ago, but he barely has seen any growth in his business due to the new developments and influx of tourists. In fact, he says fewer locals have come to his shop and mainly services tourists or first-time immigrants who do not live in the area.
This is “Chinatown with no China,” he said. “It’s too Americanized now.”
Change in Character
In its heyday, Chinatown was a thriving business community and family-oriented neighborhood. Previously home to German immigrants, Chinese immigrants came to the area in the 1930s after being displaced from the original Chinatown at Pennsylvania Avenue which was moved due to the development of Federal Triangle.
“Over the years, the neighborhood has become smaller and smaller,” said Ho. “Chinatown used to be defined as nine blocks according to the D.C. comprehensive plan in 1984, but now it is just two. It used to stretch all the way to the Convention Center from 4th to 9th Streets and from F Street to Massachusetts Avenue.”
The neighborhood deteriorated after the 1968 riots as Chinese residents left for the suburbs. In the 1990s Chinese apartment buildings were demolished during the construction of the then-called MCI Center, displacing residents, many of whom were able to move into the Wah Luck House.
Today there are about 900 residents in Chinatown. About a third of these residents are low-income immigrant families with children and another third are senior citizens.
A former local resident shared how she lived in Chinatown for 30 years taking care of her mother, but she moved to the Maryland suburbs to buy a house. She said, “Development has improved the area. Change is needed.” She sees parking as a main problem and taxes are high, but likes that the area has seen reduced crime.
Residential developments at the Verizon Center and Gallery Place have brought new residents to the area, changing the face of what was a predominantly Chinese American neighborhood.
Today new businesses are required by law to display their names in the storefronts in Chinese characters to maintain the culture and feel of Chinatown.
One local resident called the artificial guise of American-owned shops with Chinese banners and characters at the storefronts “ridiculous.” He said Chinese-owned restaurants are closing because people don’t come any more and there are also less Chinese people are living in the area.
Like other local residents he feels, “there’s nothing we can do to stop it (development).”
United Front
Though it may be harder to find remnants of old Chinatown amidst the new developments, there are community groups in the area that are working hard to preserve its character, culture and traditions and their network is strong.
The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), an umbrella organization representing 30 Chinese American organizations throughout the D.C. metro area, is a key player in ensuring that interests of Chinatown residents and businesses are being met.
The organization works closely with local and federal government officials and members of other community based organizations to provide services and educational programs to the Chinese American community.
Other influential organizations are Chinatown Steering Committee, Chinatown Community Cultural Center, and the Chinatown Community Church, which sponsors the Chinatown Service Center.
The Chinatown Service Center provides social services such as immigration and income tax matters, affordable housing, family and individual counseling.
Community leaders and city advocates such as Ho are instrumental to the livelihood and the continuity of Chinatown. Ho has been involved in Asian American and Chinatown Community Services for about 20 years and received the D.C. Mayor’s Community Service Award in 2006.
She said that because the cultural makeup of the area has changed, the Chamber defines Chinatown as the area rather than the people who live there. “We are an advocate for Chinatown as a whole and advocate to the D.C. government to maintain the area,” she said.
The Chamber has a membership of about a hundred, though not all are Chinatown or Chinese-owned businesses. Ho said that non-Asians in and outside of Chinatown have been very helpful and supportive. The Chamber assists the local community in finding affordable housing as well as assistance with tax, legal and insurance services.
With CCBA and other community groups, Ho advocates the D.C. government to do more, such as making the Lunar New Year a day of commemoration in the District, acquiring more affordable housing, creating partnerships with community organizations, and assisting with community group funding and translation services.
She also advocated for the Asian Liaison Unit for the police station in Chinatown, which now has Asian American officers who speak a handful of Asian languages.
Together with the other community groups in the area, she has been working to make a difference beyond Chinatown and for APAs as a whole such as helping to raise $47,000 for American Red Cross during the tsunami and participating in several charity events throughout the year.
Yeni Wong, former Chair of the CCBA and a local property owner, said, “At this point, I think we should celebrate what happened here before. She plans to build a Chinatown Museum in her new project. She also said, “With the City’s help, we should look into finding a new area for Chinese newcomers to grow and establish themselves.”
Pastor Charles Koo said, “Chinatown has support from non-Asians and non-residents. There are quite a few non-Asians who are very vocal for the community.”
“The Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs is a huge plus in D.C.’s government and in (helping) Chinatown. Though it is doing a good job, there is still more that can be done,” he said.
New Year, Same Tradition
To the left side of the “Friendship Archway” one can see a banner for CVS with Chinese characters–a distinct contrast between the old and the new Chinatown. More changes lay ahead that will continue to change the social fabric of this once quaint Chinese American neighborhood. Yet traditions live strong.
“This year’s lunar parade is in its 39th year,” said Ho. The day before the parade she and other community leaders go from restaurant to restaurant wishing owners and their patrons a “Happy New Year.” Though the future is uncertain for the nation’s smallest Chinatown, this is a testament that while growth and urban development is inevitable, Chinatown’s culture is deeply rooted in its place, its history sealed, and its traditions long-lasting.
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