Chinese Immigrants Create Refuge in Chinatown: New York's Ethnic-Based Community - Essay Sample

Introduction

Chinese immigrants tend to live together, clinging to their culture, traditions, and native language. They establish compatriot communities known as Chinatown (Xu 2). All immigrants from China seek refuge, freedom, and comfort in such areas where they live with their families and Chinese neighbours. Chinatown in New York emerged due to the legal, cultural, and structural modifications. Chinese in New York established ethnic-based China town with minimal intimate interaction with the rest of the society. Chinese culture is based on Confucianism, competition is prohibited and everyone is required to leave in harmony, which is the reason why they large population of Chinese migrants have managed to live in Chinatowns over the decades (Li 583). Harmony remains to be the most cherished value of Chinese culture.

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Furthermore, the immigration Act of 1965 enabled numerous Chinese to move to the United States and join with some of their relatives that had already migrated. Chinatowns evolved after the re-emergence of the garment industry and the emergence of Flushing New York (Li 36). The Chinese have established businesses, religious places among other places within the town that are typically based on Chinese culture. The Asian culture thrives in downtown flushing in New York commonly referred to as the Chinese Manhattan by those people who reside or work in the town.

New York's Chinatown is a bustling transportation, finance and business centre. I decided to take a walk in the downtown flushing to have a glimpse of what goes in the busy town. Chinatowns always have that distinctive smell that differentiates them from the other towns in the United States. The smell of cabbage leaves, overripe papaya, shitake mushrooms, tofu, fish, ginger, durian husks and rice greeted me as I approached the Chinatown. As I walked down the street I met lots of people moving in all directions. Although it was late at night businesses were fully functioning and people were busy walking in and out of stores and supermarkets with their shopping. The flashing lights on the streets reflected on the signs on the building walls that were purely written in Chinese and I barely understood any of the writings. However, the more I walked down the street the more I fell in love with the scenery. Hawkers were busy shouting prices of their products and I could not wait to taste of the cherries right in front of me. I had to purchase the Che li being sold by the hawker that approached me with a bag full of cherries, selling them at only two dollars. The cherries I purchased were only the beginning of my adventure in Manhattan. Chinese food and restaurants made me like the place. the meals were tasty and affordable. I could not wait to explore the city the following day and have a better view of the town. I decided to visit Hong Kong supermarket to understand how the cultural space operates and what it means to the people who visit the place.

Hong Kong Supermarket

Hong Kong supermarket is an Asian grocery located along Hester Street in New York that mostly deals in selling of dry import products. The supermarket sells a wide range of Chinese goods ranging from snacks to beauty products, cookware, butcher counters, spices, and seafood, among others.

The first visit to Hong Kong Supermarket was superb timing since it was on a Saturday afternoon when the market was full of shoppers. The first site at the entrance made me believe that the supermarket was not busy; however, as I walked through the supermarket, I met a crowd of shoppers pulling their grocery carts. While in the supermarket, I realized that most of the grocery stores were filled up with processed food right from the entrance, which makes the supermarket distinctive from the standard American Supermarkets. Signs in the supermarket are presented in Chinese, but there is a translator who helps non-Chinese to navigate the supermarket. On the left side of the supermarket were cashiers who were busy serving customers and did not seem to have the time for greetings or any conversation. Chinese pop music could be heard from the background, although the noise in the supermarket seemed to be more intense. I noticed that shoppers split up while doing their shopping, and they kept shouting to their partners. Children were also shouting while prices were being announced in the seafood section resulting in what seemed like a roar. Although there were refrigerators displayed on both sides of the supermarket apart from the cashier's section, the inside of the supermarket was very warm compared to the outside. Besides, although the supermarket's hygiene is not perfect, the level of its cleanliness is higher compared to other Asian supermarkets I have visited in Manhattan.

My second visit to Hong Kong supermarket was on a Tuesday. I wanted to explore the condition of the supermarket on a weekday, and the supermarket was less crowded compared to what I encountered on Saturday. The entire atmosphere in the supermarket was quite different and everything seemed disorganized with foodstuff scattered everywhere, which was an implication that a large crowd of shoppers just left the supermarket. I tried to interact with a few shoppers, but they seemed to struggle to understand what I was saying. They knew very little English, and some could not even respond to my queries. I met a short Chinese lady with slit eyes, and in a jacket and tight jeans shopping for groceries. When I asked her where I could find a snack, she only stared at me, puzzled. All she said was, "there is this, this and that" while pointing at shelves full of scattered snacks. Despite the disorganization of the supermarket, I felt that the day and time were convenient to interview with either of the cashiers who were not as busy as they were on Saturday and one of the shoppers.

I interviewed one lady who was shopping along with her family and was more than willing to ta have a little chat with me. When I asked her about what she liked about the supermarket, the immediate response was that there was no place like Hong Kong Supermarket where products are sold at affordable prices and the owner has embraced Chinese culture. According to Deng, the Chinese interviewee, she visited the place frequently to purchase Chinese fresh Chinese grocery. "I have been visiting this place ever since I was a child when I came shopping with my mom. Everything in Hong Kong supermarket including products, customers and cashiers are Chinese. It feels like my second home and the moment I enter and meet Chinese products, I always imagine myself in Hong Kong back in China now I am grown woman but still visit the supermarket with my daughter for my grocery shopping because it is the best place one can shop their foodstuffs".

The lady further clarified that the supermarket is bigger, less crowded and cleaner compared to other supermarkets in Flushing. Chinese have withheld their culture and there is nothing they love like a place that has incorporated their culture an Hong Kong supermarket provides them with Chinese products under one roof. When I asked her what she felt about New York and her attitude towards the city, she narrated, "the city is changing and although it seems impossible to imagine that the twin towers still standing in the city will soon be replaced by something else, it is the reality and professionals are always thinking of how to fill up the city's crater. Although I am from China, I am in New York because I have always been a New Yorker ever since I arrived when as a little boy, and

I also interviewed one of the cashiers and although he was reluctant at first, he eventually gave in and became quite cooperative and since the customers were few, the conversation was longer. The cashier narrated, my position behind this counter is what sustains me in this city. It puts food on my table and ensures my children get to school. When I asked him whether he liked working at Hong Kong supermarket he responded with a common Chinese phrase, "if he has found a place he can work and they appreciate him with a paycheck, he is a happy man." He did not disclose any information about the period he had been working as a cashier in the supermarket but he clarified that their work schedules are inconsistent whereby sometimes it goes for five hours and on some occasions ten hours. The cashier was also friendly and according to the interview, he liked working at the supermarket and the main reason why he worked hard was to raise enough money to take care of their families.

Author's Letter

The thought of conducting physical research was initially sickening but when I indulged in the task, it was way much enjoyable. My encounter with the residents of New York's residents particularly those settling in Chinatown was the best experience I have ever heard.

Interacting with the place and its people reminded me of my childhood. When I was fourteen, my parents, who were professors, always dragged me along with my sister and brother to Chinatowns. We always dreaded such places where very little English could be heard from people's conversations. Although I have not had the chance to live in Chinatown, it is where I spent my childhood. Chinatown is where I feel my roots hauling me the most. Nevertheless, no matter how long I have been away from the city, as long as I can identify places like "that used to be Tic Toc Lounge" before the emergence of the modernization I am still a New Yorker.

I chose to conduct an investigation in Hong Kong Supermarket due to its favourable location along Hester street. I wanted to have a better understanding of Chinese culture and the reason why the residents of the Chinatown visited the place. The participants were cooperative and I was able to gather enough information from the few interviews which helped me draw conclusions regarding what the cultural space meant to them and why they frequented the supermarket. I also conducted secondary research for my study and the articles provided a clear picture of the history of the culture and the emergence of Chinatowns. Therefore, I would like to thank all the participants of my interview and everyone else who helped me during my investigation. I also thank all the authors who previously conducted research on Chinese culture and their eventual settlement in Chinatowns.

Works Cited

Xu, Ying. China to Chinatown: exploring the development, use and meaning of the Chinatown in Manhattan, New York. Diss. University of Delaware, (2010).

Li, Chenyang. The Confucian ideal of harmony. Philosophy East and West (2006): 583-603.

Li, Wei. Beyond Chinatown, beyond enclave: Reconceptualizing contemporary Chinese settlements in the United States. GeoJournal, 64.1 (2005): 31-40.