Skip to main content

Chinatown Q&A: Things You Probably Never Thought to Ask

Here are some questions that are a bit too short to deserve their own posts, but are interesting information nonetheless. 

Q: When did Chinatown become known as Chinatown? 

A: According to PBS's "Chinatown Guide", the first Chinese in the area settled either on the street next to Portsmouth Square, or in the immediate block around it. The area was first known as "Little Canton", and it wasn't until 1853 that the local press named the area "Chinatown". 


Q: What books should I read if I want to know more about San Francisco Chinatown? 

A: In no particular order:

San Francisco's Chinatown by Judy Yung and the Chinese Historical Society of America, full of vintage photographs, this book documented the life in Chinatown never seen before. 

The Children of Chinatown: Growing Up Chinese American in San Francisco, 1850-1920 by Wendy Rouse, discusses the seldomly touched subject: children in Chinatown, who really feel the prejudices against them and probably does not understand why. 

The White Devil's Daughters by Julia Flynn Siler, a rare look into how one of the earliest shelters for trafficked women came to be in Chinatown, and how Donaldina "Dolly" Cameron left a legacy as "mother" for 3000 rescued Chinese girls. 

Hatchet Man by Richard Dillon, documented the Tong Wars in Chinatown prior to 1906. 

Ghosts of Gold Mountain by Gordon H Chang How Chinese workers built the Intercontinental railroad for America, then were pushed out by xenophobia and left to fade from memory. 

Chinese Laundries: Tickets to Survival on Gold Mountain by John Jung, how Chinese laundries in both US and Canada were a response to lack of opportunities, then when they finally enjoyed some success they were discriminated against, and some of the children watching their parents toil, barely understanding... 

Tables From The Rubble: How The Restaurants That Arose After the Great Quake of 1906 Still Feed San Francisco Today by Denise E. Clifton, includes a chapter on Sam Wo, the oldest restaurant in Chinatown. 

The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America by Beth Lew-Williams, discusses the xenophobia in the 1870s against the Chinese

Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans by Jean Pfaelzer, same subject, different author


Comments

Post a Comment

About the author

Kasey is a professional tour guide and amateur historian who specialized in Chinatown History and Tours. You will often find him guiding groups sampling delicious food and learning interesting historical tidbits about Chinatown most weekends.

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Gate and its Surprising History

You can't come to SF Chinatown and leave out Dragon Gate, aka the Chinatown Gate, at the corner of Bush and Grant. But do you know its history?  Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon Gate, San Francisco Dragon Gate (aka Chinatown Gate, aka Dragon's Gate) was designed by Clayton Lee and others in 1967 in response to a mayoral competition, and his was the winning entry. Originally two gates were proposed, but the other gate leading to Barbary Coast was dropped due to lack of funds, and cost overrun.  The gate itself was designed after a Chinese "pailou 牌樓" or "paifang 牌坊", which were the "gates" that marked separate fang 坊, or "ward" within a city. However, later it evolved into a purely decorative element. As with tradition, the gate faces South, and is composed of a large gate with two smaller side gates.  The gate has a lot of its materials donated by Taiwan (Republic of China) including artisanal tiles, roofing, and the two guardian lions. Despite...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chop Suey Still Available: New Woey Loy Goey Restaurant

Chop suey is reputed to have been invented in Chinatown. The story goes that in the 1850's, Chinatown is barely established, but word was already out that Chinese food is cheap and delicious. So, late at night, 2 miners fresh off the gold fields, wandered into this Chinese restaurant, even as the owner and cook is about to close up. Already half drunk, they want food, and they want it now! To avoid confrontation, the cook went into the kitchen, found whatever scraps of vegetables left, tossed them all into the wok, whipped up some sauce, added whatever scraps of meat he had, added an egg, and served it on a plate and gave it to the miners.  The miners loved it, to the surprise of the owner, as they wanted the name of the dish as they want to order it again when they come back.  The owner, flabbergasted, simply told them 雜碎 tzap-suey which literally means "mixed scraps". The miners heard that as "chop suey", and a legend was born.  Keep in mind this is a story, a...
Post a Comment
Read more