Thought Paper #7

     The San Francisco Chinatown is the oldest in North America. It has the largest Chinese community outside of Asia. It was first established in the mid 19^th century. Most of the immigrants that first came over had jobs with the Central Pacific Railroad. They soon began to establish their own town in the city. By the end of the 19^th century, racial tensions started to grow, and the United States government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This reduced the number of Chinese allowed into the country, and it therefore impacted the population of Chinatown. This would be the start of a rough patch for the newfound Chinatown. With the beginning of the 20^th century came a treacherous earthquake in 1906 that destroyed much of the neighborhood. After this disaster though, Chinatown started to revitalize. By the 1920s, more buildings were given a so-called “Asian makeover” with pagoda-like roofs and lampposts decorated with dragon motifs. Signage became a more prominent factor in the area. After WWII, racial laws were retracted, and Chinatown began to grow rapidly in the 1950’s. Chinatown became an attraction for not only Chinese immigrants, but for many tourists as well. Tourists came from around the nation to learn more about the Chinese culture. It is a community that, to this day, upholds its own traditional customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity as a whole. Signage has played a major factor in the growth in popularity of Chinatown since the 1950’s. Not only has the signage in and around Chinatown drawn many people, but there is signage in the rest of the city that contributes to the area. Technology has changed the way that some of this signage is viewed with the aspect that people now a day are drawn to a more captivating appeal. Since much of the signage in Chinatown is slightly outdated, people might look upon it as being somewhat “grungy.” However, another way to look at this so-called “outdated” signage is with an heir of respect and historical significance. It is up to the viewer to decide for him or herself what to take from the varying signage. It is still a major tourist attraction today, drawing more visitors each year than the Golden Gate Bridge.

     Although Chinatown has become a major tourist attraction, it still gives off the vibe of being an “authentic” experience. While Madeline and I were walking around the streets, browsing in little shops, and peeking our heads into several of the food joints; we felt as though we had been removed from our familiar Americanized environment. It’s strange how as a society in general we feel so “out of our element” in completely new and foreign settings. I’ll admit that I was victim to this phenomenon as well. Things looked strange and unappealing in many of the shops and food joints due to the unfamiliarity I was experiencing. Madeline and I felt it necessary to fully take part in the experience by talking to several of the storeowners and really looking thoroughly through many of the strange novelties we saw. The trip wouldn’t have been complete without trying some authentic Chinese Dim Sum though. We really felt out of place ordering our food in this little joint. We had not the slightest clue as to what anything we were ordering was. This made the experience all the more interesting though. We had fun tasting all the different kinds of Dim Sum that the restaurant owner gladly piled onto our plate.