Southern California Chinatowns

There are at least seven Chinatowns in Southern California (Traditional Chinese: 南加華人區, pinyin: Nán Jiā Huá Rén Qū). One lies within the Los Angeles city limits, the others sit in the San Gabriel Valley. Unlike the official Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles, these communities are not really called "Chinatown" by the Chinese community there, but generally by the name of city or street in which the businesses and residences are established, for example, Monterey Park or Rowland Heights. See also Little Taipei.

Los Angeles

The only Southern California Chinatown properly called "Chinatown" is located in the city of Los Angeles. It is the city's second Chinatown location; the first (demolished in the early 20th century) was on the site of what is now Union Station. Most ethnic Chinese in Los Angeles Area do not go to this Chinatown; they go to suburban Chinese areas (mostly in San Gabriel Valley) instead.

Rise of suburban "Chinatowns" in Southern California

There are at least five touristless suburban "Chinatowns" east of the old Chinatown, all contained within the San Gabriel Valley. While they contain prominent Chinese-language signage, these communities do not feature the Chinese-style gateways found in Chinatown. They have become renowned for their varieties of Chinese cuisine. They are unlike the Chinatown, Los Angeles or San Francisco Chinatown, the latter of which is undoubtedly still the largest in North America. Indeed, these "Chinatowns" tend to be suburban-style strip malls and shopping centers, and the amounts of them are fairly indicative of major Chinese diaspora population residing in the region. This has served as models for similar development in Chinatown, Las Vegas and Houston. Garvey Avenue in Monterey Park, Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel, and Colima Road in Rowland Heights are familiar landmarks to Chinese.

Demographic

Wealthy 49er Taiwanese from Republic of China and some Hong Kong people first came to San Gabriel Valley region around late 1970s to early 1980s, because they fear the implication of communism from China. Then the poorer Vietnamese Chinese (also called Hoa) refugees came after anti-Chinese persecution by the communist government of Vietnam. The 1990s and 2000s has experienced the acceleration of Mainland Chinese immigration into the community, corresponging to the economic rise in Peoples' Republic of China. The population include the growing number of American-born Chinese children of these post-1970s immigrants.

Commercial activity

Some Vietnamese Chinese began to fill an economic niche by opening and operating what Taiwanese and Hong Kong Chinese in general shunned, such as the retail and supermarket trades, due to several potential risk factors involved. The Vietnamese Chinese tradespeople came also to dominate other trades namely lower-end retail: Vietnamese restaurants, beauty salons, car repair, etc. in the San Gabriel Valley. This is why such businesses are dominant there and signage are in the Chinese and Vietnamese. Since 2005 or 2006 a recent phenomenon in Chinese communities in San Gabiel Volley is the rise competition of foot massage (reflexology) parlors that is mostly run by immigrants from Mainland China.

What most have in common is they are generally anchored by various chains including 99 Ranch Market, Hong Kong Supermarket, Shun Fat Supermarket, Sam Woo Restaurant, Lollicup, Tapioca Express, and Quickly. Several business from Chinatown, Los Angeles have branches in the San Gabriel area. Another of the rapidly growing business ventures is Phoenix Food Boutique chain, which offers traditional Chinese cuisine as well as unique pastries and beverages. It originally started in Chinatown, Los Angeles in 1965 but in the 1990s and 2000s it expanded to the multiple Chinese communities in Alhambra, Arcadia, Rowland Heights, and South Pasadena. Many Chinese banks operate in these areas too, where major assets overseas are held. Banks include Cathay Bank, HSBC, and Bank of East Asia. Despite successes in Southern California, Chinese businesses in the area are also are suffer from frequency of turnover, which meaning stores and restaurants are not the same and only the few original tenants remain.

Media

Talking about Chinese immigrant commerce in the region, Monterey Park served as the venue for the Larry Mantle program on the NPR radio affiliate KPCC. Monterey Park's effect on tourism in Chinatown, Los Angeles was featured on the "Life and Times" show on the Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET.

The history of Chinese is not as deeply embedded or dominant in the Los Angeles area as other urban areas such as San Francisco or Vancouver (also widely esteemed as "Hongcouver"), but San Gabriel is the main hub. In the addition, San Gabriel Valley has also emerged as the main cultural center, as it is a media center for the Chinese diaspora population as well. Many Los Angeles editions of international Chinese language newspapers are based in the region, such as the "World Journal" (Monterey Park), "International Daily News" (Monterey Park), "Sing Tao" (Alhambra), the "Epoch Times" (San Gabriel), the "China Press" (Alhambra), and the "Zhong Guo Daily" (El Monte). Those and other various publications were each geared towards a specific reader - for example the "World Journal" is aimed at '49er Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese immigrants, "Sing Tao" is more directed for Hong Kong and Chinese Vietnamese immigrants, and the "International Daily News" for the anti-Kuomintang "native" Taiwanese. These newspapers are sold outside various Asian supermarkets and newsstands throughout Southern California. In addition, KAZN and KWRM, Mandarin language radio stations, operate out of Pasadena and West Covina.

Monterey Park

, in what would become the new "Chinatown" in Greater Los Angeles. The earliest Chinese supermarket in the area was Diho Supermorket which own by immigrant from Taiwan. It sold to another owner and is now defunct.

In the 1980s, second-generation Chinese Americans tended to move out of the old Chinatown and into the San Gabriel Valley suburbs, joining the new immigrants from Taiwan and Mainland China. While there has been immigration directly to the old urban Chinatown, Monterey Park remains the top choice for Chinese immigrants. The city is now regarded as a starting point for new Chinese immigrants. It was dubbed the "first suburban Chinatown" by the Los Angeles Times. Developers continually built more shopping centers, storefronts, and homes throughout the 1980s and resumed in the 1990s, but by the 2000s, the construction boom in the city was slowed greatly. By this time, businesses operating in Downtown Chinatown began setting up shop in Monterey Park.

Incidentally, in the mid-1980s, many Taiwanese Americans also began to move out of Monterey Park due to perceived overcrowding and high property values but newer arrival of Mainland Chinese and ethnic Chinese from Vietnam remained. Despite this movement, the city remains well-known for its great competing number of the Cantonese seafood restaurants, Hong Kong coffee shops, and various regional Mainland Chinese cuisines. Today, immigrants from Mainland China form the largest group in the city.

The first satellite Chinatown of Monterey Park is composed of Atlantic Boulevard, Garvey Avenue, and Garfield Avenue. At same time several of Chinese strip malls on south Atlantic Blvd are now no longer as very active as is case in 1980s, now most retail space are unleashed and vacant or not as vibrant.

A list of Chinese malls in the area:
* Atlantic Square
* Deerfield Plaza
* Diho Plaza
* Garfield Garvey Plaza - will be razed for modern commercial complex.
*Lincoln Plaza Hotel
* Mar Center
* Mar Plaza
*Monterey Park Mall - used to be very popular in the 1980s with a movie theater and restaurants (now mostly abandoned and unleashed), now possibly to be remodeled and replaced by national retail chains
* Taipei Plaza

Alhambra

During the late 1980s, after a moratorium against the building of new shopping centers took effect in Monterey Park, many Chinese immigrant developers turned north to Alhambra. Its vibrant satellite ad hoc "Chinatown" includes many Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants and other businesses that occupy a mixture of old storefronts and later-built strip malls along Valley Boulevard. There are many local and international Hong Kong and Taiwan banks operate here, such as the Bank of East Asia, Wing Lung Bank, and so on. A Vons market on Valley Boulevard was closed in 2006 due to lease expiration and will later replaced by a new Chinese supermarket. The strip mall already has some businesses owned and operated by ethnic Chinese from Vietnam.

In year 1992 the city of alhambra and its southern neighbor Monterey Park jointy held the first annual Chinese new year parade and street festival. There was Several conflicts and controversies with Monterey park, so in the next few year the city of Alhambra has held the easterly neighbor San Gabriel. The parade and festival have Corporate sponsors, several Chinese-dominant cities in San Gabiel Valley also sponsor the parade. This parade is broadcasted on LA Chinese-language radio and on TV.

A list of Chinese malls in the area:
* 168 Market
* Pacific Square
* Valley Center

an Gabriel and Rosemead

San Gabriel contains numerous Asian shopping centers and strip malls, also on Valley Boulevard and other businesses along San Gabriel Boulevard. in 1980s Ethnic Chinese refugee set up shop in old ramshackle storefronts northeast corner in Valley blvd and Del Mar Ave. While new pan-Chinese developments in Monterey Park nearly came to a halt in the 1990s, a mixture of newer and compartive sophisticated and spartan shopping centers and small strip mall were being constructed in San Gabriel at a rapid pace. As a result The long sprawling thoroughfare consists of two- to three-story mini-malls as well as some large Asian supermarkets in the region. Among the oldest shopping centers is San Gabriel Square (anchored by 99 Ranch Market), which has become the centerpiece for a new Chinatown. The awe-inspiring shopping center - the centerpiece for new "Chinatown" of sorts - was partly a result of the Proposition 13 from California, which lowered the property tax statewide and then had the effect on the losing of potential city revenue, and hence the development of this massive mall was approved. Another grand shopping center opened in 2004 and is anchored by Hilton Hotel, and the popular Japanese noodle restaurant chain Ajisen Ramen opened its U.S. location there. San Gabriel Superstore also is landmark strip mall, with indoor bazaars, restaurants and shops. San Gabriel is diverse with eateries offering Vietnamese pho, Mainland Chinese noodle and dumplings, Taiwanese drinks, and Hong Kong cafe specialties.

The new "Chinatown" strip has now expanded into the graffiti-marked city of Rosemead, albeit on a smaller scale and predominantly Vietnamese, already with the U.S. branch of the Richmond, British Columbia-based Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant. March 2005 marked the opening of the Rosemead Supermarket, which replaced a defunct Ralph's Market, to cater to the Vietnamese Chinese tastes.

The new San Gabriel "Chinatown" served as the setting for the thriller novel "The Jasmine Trade", authored by Los Angeles Times reporter Denise Hamilton.

A list of Chinese malls in the area:
*Chen Chen Plaza - Valley Blvd and Abbot Ave
*Diamond Square - Garveu Ave and San Gabriel Blvd
* Empire Commercial Center
*Hilton Plaza
*Life Plaza
*Manor Plaza
*Prospect Plazar
*San Gabriel Square
*San Gabriel Superstore
*Sunny Plaza
*Swiss Plaza

Arcadia and Temple City

A newer Taiwanese commercial district is located south of Huntington Drive, on Baldwin Avenue in upscale Arcadia. The Din Tai Fung restaurant, which has its offices based in the Chung Hsiao district of Taipei, Taiwan, is particularly popular in Arcadia. More and more Chinese businesses are opening in Arcadia as well, essentially reducing the cultural influence that Monterey Park had in the early 1980s.

In recent decades many Taiwanese families have established businesses along Las Tunas Drive in Temple City. A large portion of these businesses are wedding shops, selling products such as bridal gowns and photography, nicknamed "Bridal Row." The stores are largely storefont operations along a classic 1950s- or 1960s-era suburban downtown, with most parking in the rear.

Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights

Chinese businesses are much more spread out in Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights than in its relative compacted counterparts in West San Gabriel. This require a bit of driving in order to go from plaza to plaza.

Rowland Heights' Chinese retail corridor is on Colima Road and Nogales Avenue and is intermixed with a Korean community. Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese, with number of ethnic Chinese from South Korea, immigrant businesses, namely the eateries, banks, and offices, are gradually occupying the various strip malls across the Puente Hills Malls in Haciendar Height and Industry.

Hong Kong Plaza contains numerous restaurants. In addition, the highly popular Diamond Plaza, formerly anchored by 99 Ranch Market, is located north of Colima Road corridor on Fullerton Road (near the 60 freerway), and remains popular spot for younger Taiwanese people, with varied restaurants (offering Cantonese dim sum and seafood, Mainland Chinese noodle and dumplings, Thai, and Vietnamese food) and boutiques. Diamond Plaza is also a center for Chinese American nightlife, including bookstores, cafes, and bubble tea shops. Business in this area is especially conducted through Mandarin Chinese.

Nearby in Hacienda Heights, Hsi Lai Temple - a Buddhist temple - was built in 1988, though the proposed development was opposed by local whites. By the time the temple's construction had been finished, white people began to leave the community and as a result are no longer dominant. Unlike the Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights has just a small scattering of Chinese businesses on Azusa Ave and Colima, including a strip mall with a 99 Ranch Market. There are a small easterly collection of Chinese markets and restaurants on and around the Hacienda Boulvard, some own by Taiwanese and other by Chinese from South Korea. Rowland Heights remains the Chinese commercial/cultural center in East San gabriel. Besides Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights, areas with high percent of Chinese reside in Walnut, California, Diamond Bar, California, and Chino Hills, California.

Many Chinese companies - many exporter/importers warehouses - operate in City of Industry, California. Additionally The Pacific Palms Resort im Industry, although a bit farther away from Hacienda height and rowland heights and in a mostly poor Mexican barrio, is increasingly also serve to Chinese-speaking tourist and businesspeople, with in-room television offering many satellite channel from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

A list of Chinese malls in the area:
* Hong Kong Plaza（香港廣場）
* Diamond Plaza（鑽石廣場）
* Hacienda Center
* Mandarin Plaza
* Pacific Plaza（太平洋廣場）
* Yes Plaza（夜市廣場）

Irvine

An upper-middle class city with a rising population of Asians, with many immigrants hailing from Taiwan. It is one of the few cities to have two 99 Ranch Markets. Pao Fa Temple is also locate there.

*Culver Center

Artesia and Cerritos

Outside San Gabriel these communities have several businesses cater to the large percent of the immigrants from Republic of China on Taiwan, not Chinese from Vietnam or Hong Kong. Chinese businesses in commercial plazas are on South Street in Cerritos and on Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia very close to the Koran and Indian community. The usual Chinese restaurant and grocery are accommodate the community with 99 Ranch Market and Diho (last remaining store in California).

References

* Timothy P. Fong, "The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park" (Temple University Press) ISBN 1-56639-262-4