An opium den was an establishment in which opium was sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th century, most notably China , Southeast Asia , North America , and France . Throughout the West , opium dens were frequented by and associated with the Chinese because the establishments were usually run by Chinese mobsters, who supplied the opium and prepared it for visiting non-Chinese smokers. Most opium dens kept a supply of opium paraphernalia such as the pipes and lamps that were necessary to smoke the drug. Patrons would recline to hold the long opium pipes over oil lamps that would heat the drug until it vaporized, allowing the smoker to inhale the vapors. Opium dens in China were frequented by all levels of society, and their opulence or simplicity reflected the financial means of the patrons. In urban areas of the United States , particularly on the West Coast , there were opium dens that mirrored the best to be found in China, with luxurious trappings and female attendants. For the working class , there were many low-end dens with sparse furnishings.
75-467: Opium Den may refer to: Opium den , an establishment, common in the 19th century, where opium was sold and smoked Opium Den (band) , a 1990s American gothic rock band The Opium Den , a 1947 Italian crime film Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Opium Den . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
150-464: A tapioca starch factory that once stood in the area. In Manila , Philippines , the area is called Mínlúnluò Qū 岷倫洛區 , literally meaning the "Mín and Luò Rivers confluence district" but is actually a transliteration of the local term Binondo and an allusion to its proximity to the Pasig River . In Philippine Spanish , the term used for Chinatown districts is parián , the etymology of which
225-510: A book by the Rev. Hatfield, who applied the term to the Chinese part of the main settlement on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena . The island was a regular way-station on the voyage to Europe and North America from Indian Ocean ports, including Singapore. One of the earliest American usages dates to 1855, when San Francisco newspaper The Daily Alta California described a "pitched battle on
300-528: A city setting. Trading centers populated predominantly by Chinese men and their native spouses have long existed throughout Southeast Asia . Emigration to other parts of the world from China accelerated in the 1860s with the signing of the Treaty of Peking (1860), which opened China's borders to free movement. Early emigrants came primarily from the coastal provinces of Guangdong (Canton, Kwangtung) and Fujian (Fukien, Hokkien) in southeastern China – where
375-436: A common Chinese surname or belonging to a common clan, spoken Chinese dialect , specific village, region or country of origin, and so on. Many have their own facilities. Some examples include San Francisco's prominent Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (中華總會館 Zhōnghuá Zǒng Huìguǎn ), aka Chinese Six Companies and Los Angeles' Southern California Teochew Association. The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
450-524: A living. In his latter days, it was said that he continued to smoke, despite finding religion. He did eventually manage to give up opium smoking, though only days before he died around 1890, aged 64. He is now buried in Bow Cemetery. Chinatown Chinatown ( Chinese : 唐人街 ) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China , most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout
525-631: A particular city as a gift from the Republic of China and People's Republic of China , or local governments (such as Chinatown, San Francisco) and business organizations. The long-neglected Chinatown in Havana , Cuba , received materials for its paifang from the People's Republic of China as part of the Chinatown's gradual renaissance. Construction of these red arches is often financed by local financial contributions from
600-475: A strip of Chinese restaurants by the late 1970s, when it was celebrated with decorative arches. However, with a recent huge influx of students from mainland China, it is now the center of a much larger area of noodle shops, travel agents, restaurants, and groceries. The Australian gold rushes also saw the development of a Chinatown in Sydney , at first around The Rocks , near the docks, but it has moved twice, first in
675-454: Is Khu người Hoa (Chinese district) or phố Tàu (Chinese street). Vietnamese language is prevalent in Chinatowns of Paris, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Montreal as ethnic Chinese from Vietnam have set up shop in them. In Japanese, the term "chūkagai" (中華街, literally "Chinese Street") is the translation used for Yokohama and Nagasaki Chinatown . In Indonesia , chinatown
750-528: Is also used in Cantonese nowadays. The literal word-for-word translation of Chinatown — Zhōngguó Chéng ( 中國城 ) is also used, but more frequently by visiting Chinese nationals rather than immigrants of Chinese descent who live in various Chinatowns. Chinatowns in Southeast Asia have unique Chinese names used by the local Chinese, as there are large populations of people who are Overseas Chinese , living within
825-788: Is among the largest umbrella groups of benevolent associations in the North America, which branches in several Chinatowns. Politically, the CCBA has traditionally been aligned with the Kuomintang and the Republic of China . The London Chinatown Chinese Association is active in Chinatown, London . Chinatown, Paris has an institution in the Association des Résidents en France d'origine indochinoise and it servicing overseas Chinese immigrants in Paris who were born in
SECTION 10
#1733093262877900-652: Is famous for his portrayal and caricature of nineteenth-century London. So it is significant that he has immortalised this opium den in east London, identifying it as part of the fabric-weave of Victorian London. The establishment "run by the Chinaman" described in The Mystery of Edwin Drood , was based on a real opium den. It was run by Ah Sing, or John Johnston as he was known to his clients, an immigrant from Amoy in China. Rare photographs of
975-513: Is home to the largest Chinese-American population of any metropolitan area within the United States and the largest Chinese population outside of China, enumerating an estimated 893,697 in 2017, and including at least 12 Chinatowns, including nine in New York City proper alone. Steady immigration from mainland China , both legal and illegal, has fueled Chinese-American population growth in
1050-628: Is uncertain. In the rest of the Spanish Empire , the Spanish-language term is usually barrio chino ( Chinese neighborhood ; plural: barrios chinos ), used in Spain and Latin America . (However, barrio chino or its Catalan cognate barri xinès do not always refer to a Chinese neighborhood: these are also common terms for a disreputable district with drugs and prostitution, and often no connection to
1125-470: The 13th arrondissement of Paris . By the late 1970s, refugees and exiles from the Vietnam War played a significant part in the redevelopment of Chinatowns in developed Western countries. As a result, many existing Chinatowns have become pan-Asian business districts and residential neighborhoods. By contrast, most Chinatowns in the past had been largely inhabited by Chinese from southeastern China. In 2001,
1200-582: The Chinese quarter of Singapore , which by 1844 was already being called "China Town" or "Chinatown" by the British colonial government. This may have been a word-for-word translation into English of the Malay name for that quarter, which in those days was probably "Kampong China" or possibly "Kota China" or "Kampong Tionghua/Chunghwa/Zhonghua". The first appearance of a Chinatown outside Singapore may have been in 1852, in
1275-549: The Melbourne Chinatown , making it the oldest continuously occupied Chinatown in a western city (since the San Francisco one was destroyed and rebuilt). Gradually expanding, it reached a peak in the early 20th century, with Chinese business, mainly furniture workshops, occupying a block wide swath of the city, overlapping into the adjacent 'Little Lon ' red light district. With restricted immigration it shrunk again, becoming
1350-630: The Rock Springs Massacre . Many of these frontier Chinatowns became extinct as American racism surged and the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. In Australia, the Victorian gold rush , which began in 1851, attracted Chinese prospectors from the Guangdong area. A community began to form in the eastern end of Little Bourke Street , Melbourne by the mid-1850s; the area is still the center of
1425-513: The San Gabriel Valley , which are not necessarily considered "Chinatowns" in the sense that they do not necessarily contain the Chinese architectures or Chinese language signs as signatures of an officially sanctioned area that was designated either in law or signage stating so, differentiate areas that are called "Chinatowns" versus locations that have "significant" populations of people of Chinese descent. For example, San Jose, California in
1500-667: The 1849 Gold Rush . Economic opportunity drove the building of further Chinatowns in the United States. The initial Chinatowns were built in the Western United States in states such as California , Oregon , Washington , Idaho , Utah , Colorado and Arizona . As the transcontinental railroad was built, more Chinatowns started to appear in railroad towns such as St. Louis , Chicago , Cincinnati , Pittsburgh and Butte, Montana . Chinatowns then subsequently emerged in many East Coast cities , including New York City , Boston , Philadelphia , Providence and Baltimore . With
1575-566: The 1870s and 1880s, the most popular opium dens (or "opium joints" as they were known in the parlance of the day) were located on Mott and Pell Streets in Chinatown. At the time, all the city's opium dens were run by Chinese, except for one on 23rd Street that was run by an American woman and her two daughters. Kane remarked that New York's opium dens were one place "where all nationalities seem indiscriminately mixed". As in San Francisco, New Yorkers of all races would come to Chinatown to patronize its opium dens. New York City's last known opium den
SECTION 20
#17330932628771650-422: The 1870s attracted many non-Chinese residents to San Francisco's dens, prompting the city fathers to enact the nation's first anti-drug law, an 1875 ordinance banning opium dens . In the early 20th century, huge bonfires, fueled by confiscated opium and opium paraphernalia, were used to destroy opium and create a public venue to discuss opium use. Opium-eradication campaigns drove opium smoking underground, but it
1725-656: The 1890s to the east side of the Haymarket area, near the new markets, then in the 1920s concentrating on the west side. Nowadays, Sydney's Chinatown is centered on Dixon Street. Other Chinatowns in European capitals, including Paris and London , were established at the turn of the 20th century. The first Chinatown in London was located in the Limehouse area of the East End of London at
1800-509: The 1890s, "Chinatown" appeared mainly in connection with California. At first, Australian and New Zealand journalists also regarded Chinatowns as Californian phenomena. However, they began using the term to denote local Chinese communities as early as 1861 in Australia and 1873 in New Zealand. In most other countries, the custom of calling local Chinese communities "Chinatowns" is not older than
1875-685: The Chinatown community. Some of these structures span an entire intersection, and some are smaller in height and width. Some paifang can be made of wood , masonry or steel and may incorporate an elaborate or simple design. A major component of many Chinatowns is the family benevolent association, which provides some degree of aid to immigrants. These associations generally provide social support, religious services, death benefits (members' names in Chinese are generally enshrined on tablets and posted on walls), meals, and recreational activities for ethnic Chinese, especially for older Chinese migrants. Membership in these associations can be based on members sharing
1950-470: The Chinatown in Philadelphia has a sizeable non-Chinese population residing within the community. A recent study also suggests that the demographic change is also driven by gentrification of what were previously Chinatown neighborhoods. The influx of luxury housing is speeding up the gentrification of such neighborhoods. The trend for emergence of these types of natural enclaves is on the decline (with
2025-609: The Chinese communities were much smaller in Britain. The Chinese immigrants to London often arrived in the East London ports by boat, such as the Blue Funnel Line . Most of them were seamen, and many would have settled in only a few select streets. When jobs on the docks and on boats dried up, many Chinese turned to other businesses, such as the restaurants or laundries. In the 1860s, "Dark England" with its opium dens in London's East End
2100-522: The Chinese community. Burke and Ward exaggerated the Chinese community's true size and made much mention of gambling, opium dens, and "unholy things" in the shadows. A character from Charles Dickens ' last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) sets the scene: "O my poor head! I makes my pipes of old penny ink-bottles, ye see, deary – this is one – and I fits-in a mouthpiece, this way, and I takes my mixter out of this thimble with this little horn spoon; and so I fills, deary. Ah, my poor nerves!" Dickens
2175-472: The Chinese opium scene in East London do exist. A photograph held at the Science Museum in London shows two Chinese women outside Ah Sing's opium den. Ah Sing was a smoker himself, and it was claimed that only he had the "true secret of mixing opium ... with an eye to business". His secret evidently brought him much success, as his den was frequented by the local Chinese sailors on a break from working on
2250-595: The Chinese quarter of Jakarta, Indonesia , dates to 1740. Chinese presence in India dates back to the 5th century CE, with the first recorded Chinese settler in Calcutta named Young Atchew around 1780. Chinatowns first appeared in the Indian cities of Kolkata , Mumbai , and Chennai . The Chinatown centered on Yaowarat Road in Bangkok , Thailand , was founded at the same time as
2325-548: The Chinese.). In Portuguese, Chinatown is often referred to as Bairro chinês ( the Chinese Neighbourhood ; plural: bairros chineses ). In Francophone regions (such as France and Quebec ), Chinatown is often referred to as le quartier chinois ( the Chinese Neighbourhood ; plural: les quartiers chinois ). The most prominent Francophone Chinatowns are located in Paris and Montreal . The Vietnamese term for Chinatown
Opium Den - Misplaced Pages Continue
2400-500: The European colonial powers seized and ruled the port towns in the 16th century, Chinese supported European traders and colonists, and created autonomous settlements. Several Asian Chinatowns, although not yet called by that name, have a long history. Those in Nagasaki , Kobe , and Yokohama , Japan, Binondo in Manila, Hoi An and Bao Vinh in central Vietnam all existed in 1600. Glodok ,
2475-493: The Malay 'Kreta Ayer' in reference to the water carts that used to ply the area. The Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , (where 2 million ethnic Chinese comprise 30% of the population of Greater Kuala Lumpur ) while officially known as Petaling Street (Malay: Jalan Petaling ), is referred to by Malaysian Chinese by its Cantonese name ci cong gaai ( 茨廠街 , pinyin: Cíchǎng Jiē ), literally "tapioca factory street", after
2550-622: The New York metropolitan area. New York's status as an alpha global city, its extensive mass transit system, and the New York metropolitan area's enormous economic marketplace are among the many reasons it remains a major international immigration hub. The Manhattan Chinatown contains the largest concentration of ethnic Chinese in the Western hemisphere , and the Flushing Chinatown in Queens has become
2625-496: The Pharmacy Act recognised dangerous drugs and limited their sale to registered chemists and pharmacists, but until the end of the nineteenth century few doctors and scientists warned about the dangers of drug addiction. When the small number of opium dens gradually declined in London, following crackdowns from the authorities, individuals like Ah Sing were forced to move from their properties, and had to find alternative ways of making
2700-594: The Treaties of Tianjin which included a clause allowing Britain and France to recruit Chinese to the British Colonies, North America, South America, and Australia as cheap labour. However, Britain did not recruit as many workers as North America, where the Chinese were employed on the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad , and where many Chinese immigrated in search of fortune during the gold rush, thus
2775-464: The United States . As conditions in China have improved in recent decades, many Chinatowns have lost their initial mission, which was to provide a transitional place into a new culture. As net migration has slowed into them, the smaller Chinatowns have slowly decayed, often to the point of becoming purely historical and no longer serving as ethnic enclaves . In the Spanish Philippines , where
2850-476: The United States has 63,434 people (2010 U.S. Census) of Chinese descent, and yet "does not have a Chinatown ". Some "official" Chinatowns have Chinese populations much lower than that. Many tourist-destination metropolitan Chinatowns can be distinguished by large red arch entrance structures known in Mandarin Chinese as Paifang (sometimes accompanied by imperial guardian lion statues on either side of
2925-630: The United States. However, a fair amount of opium was consumed in the opium dens to be found in the Chinatowns of Victoria and Vancouver . The latter city's "Shanghai Alley" was known for its rustic opium dens. As in the United States, non-Chinese often frequented the Chinese-run opium dens in Canadian Chinatowns. Opium smoking in France was introduced for the most part by French expatriates returning home from stints in their Indochinese colonies . By
3000-556: The city itself, in 1782. Many Chinese immigrants arrived in Liverpool in the late 1850s in the employ of the Blue Funnel Shipping Line , a cargo transport company established by Alfred Holt . The commercial shipping line created strong trade links between the cities of Shanghai , Hong Kong , and Liverpool, mainly in the importation of silk, cotton, and tea . They settled near the docks in south Liverpool, this area
3075-701: The city. Many Chinese found jobs working for large companies seeking a source of labor, most famously as part of the Central Pacific on the Transcontinental Railroad . Since it started in Omaha , that city had a notable Chinatown for almost a century. Other cities in North America where Chinatowns were founded in the mid-nineteenth century include almost every major settlement along the West Coast from San Diego to Victoria . Other early immigrants worked as mine workers or independent prospectors hoping to strike it rich during
Opium Den - Misplaced Pages Continue
3150-607: The early 1850s during the California and Victoria gold rushes, respectively. A more modern example, in Montville, Connecticut , was caused by the displacement of Chinese workers in New York's Manhattan Chinatown following the September 11th attacks in 2001. Oxford Dictionaries defines "Chinatown" as "... a district of any non-Asian town, especially a city or seaport , in which
3225-516: The early 20th century, there were numerous opium dens in France's port cities, particularly Toulon , Marseille and Hyères . Victorian London's reputation as a centre of opium smoking is based on literary fiction rather than historical fact. The London press, along with popular British authors of the day, were fond of portraying London's Limehouse district as an opium-drenched pit of danger and mystery. In fact, London's Chinese population never exceeded
3300-471: The events of September 11 resulted in a mass migration of about 14,000 Chinese workers from Manhattan's Chinatown to Montville, Connecticut , due to the fall of the garment industry. Chinese workers transitioned to casino jobs fueled by the development of the Mohegan Sun casino. In 2012, Tijuana's Chinatown formed as a result of availability of direct flights to China. The La Mesa District of Tijuana
3375-618: The exceptions being the continued growth and emergence of newer Chinatowns in Queens and Brooklyn in New York City), only to be replaced by newer "Disneyland-like" attractions, such as a new Chinatown that will be built in the Catskills region of New York . This includes the endangerment of existing historical Chinatowns that will eventually stop serving the needs of Chinese immigrants. Newer developments like those in Norwich, Connecticut , and
3450-591: The former French Indochina . Traditionally, Chinatown-based associations have also been aligned with ethnic Chinese business interests, such as restaurant, grocery, and laundry (antiquated) associations in Chinatowns in North America. In Chicago's Chinatown, the On Leong Merchants Association was active. Although the term "Chinatown" was first used in Asia, it is not derived from a Chinese language. Its earliest appearance seems to have been in connection with
3525-501: The large influx of Chinese, who came to participate in the California Gold Rush . The jumping-off point for the gold fields was San Francisco , and the city's Chinatown became the site of numerous opium dens soon after the first Chinese arrived, around 1850. However, from 1863 to the end of the century, anti-vice laws imposed by the new municipal code book banned visiting opium rooms in addition to prostitution. Despite this,
3600-404: The line further by categorizing very different Chinatowns such as Chinatown, Manhattan , which exists in an urban setting as "traditional"; Monterey Park's Chinatown , which exists in a "suburban" setting (and labeled as such); and Austin, Texas's Chinatown , which is in essence a "fabricated" Chinese-themed mall. This contrasts with narrower definitions, where the term only described Chinatown in
3675-404: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Opium_Den&oldid=1060881011 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Opium den Opium smoking arrived in North America with
3750-590: The low hundreds, in large contrast to the tens of thousands of Chinese who settled in North American Chinatowns. In the mid-1880s, Chinatowns started to form in London and Liverpool with grocery stores, eating houses, meeting places and, in the East End, Chinese street names. In 1891, the Census recorded 582 Chinese-born residents in Britain, though this dropped to 387 in 1896. 80% were single males between 20 and 35,
3825-538: The majority being seamen. Companies began to export opium from India to China, selling the drug to raise the money to buy shipments of tea. This was against Chinese law and angered China's authorities. In 1839, war broke out between Britain and China over the opium trade . Britain defeated China and under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, Hong Kong became a British colony. In 1857, the Second Opium War resulted in
SECTION 50
#17330932628773900-480: The majority of the city's wealthy opium smokers, both Chinese and non-Chinese, shunned public opium dens in favor of smoking in the privacy of their own homes. The opium dens of New York City 's Chinatown , due to its geographical distance from China, were not as opulent as some of those to be found on the American West Coast. According to H. H. Kane, a doctor who spent years studying opium use in New York in
3975-562: The names of which still survive into modern district names. This include the Parián de Arroceros of Intramuros , Manila (which was eventually moved several times, ending up in Binondo ). The term was also carried into Latin America by Filipino migrants. The central market place of Mexico City (now part of Zócalo ) selling imported goods from the Manila galleons in the 18th and early 19th centuries
4050-419: The oldest surviving Chinatowns are located, the district where Chinese migrants ( sangleyes ) were required to live is called a parián , which were also often a marketplace for trade goods. Most of them were established in the late 16th century to house Chinese migrants as part of the early Spanish colonial policy of ethnic segregation. There were numerous pariáns throughout the Philippines in various locations,
4125-401: The passage of the Emancipation Proclamation , many southern states such as Arkansas , Louisiana and Georgia began to hire Chinese for work in place of slave labor. The history of Chinatowns was not always peaceful, especially when labor disputes arose. Racial tensions flared when lower-paid Chinese workers replaced white miners in many mountain-area Chinatowns, such as in Wyoming with
4200-424: The people generally speak Toishanese , Cantonese , Hakka , Teochew (Chiuchow) and Hokkien . In the late 19th century and early 20th century, a significant amount of Chinese emigration to North America originated from four counties called Sze Yup , located west of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, making Toishanese a dominant variety of the Chinese language spoken in Chinatowns in Canada and
4275-404: The population is predominantly of Chinese origin". However, some Chinatowns may have little to do with China. Some "Vietnamese" enclaves are in fact a city's "second Chinatown", and some Chinatowns are in fact pan-Asian , meaning they could also be counted as a Koreatown or Little India . One example includes Asiatown in Cleveland , Ohio . It was initially referred to as a Chinatown but
4350-562: The result of opportunities such as the California Gold Rush and the Transcontinental Railroad drawing the population in, creating natural Chinese enclaves that were almost always 100% exclusively Han Chinese, which included both people born in China and in the enclave, in this case American-born Chinese . In some free countries such as the United States and Canada, housing laws that prevent discrimination also allows neighborhoods that may have been characterized as "All Chinese" to also allow non-Chinese to reside in these communities. For example,
4425-407: The ships, but also others. Some literary elite of the time including Arthur Conan Doyle (see " The Man with the Twisted Lip ") and Dickens himself visited the area, although whether they themselves took up the "pipe" has remained undisclosed. Ah Sing's opium den was probably the most famous of the dens in Victorian London, attracting gentlemen from the very elite of London's high society. In 1868,
4500-431: The start of the 20th century. The Chinese population engaged in business which catered to the Chinese sailors who frequented the Docklands . The area acquired a bad reputation from exaggerated reports of opium dens and slum housing . France received a large settlement of Chinese immigrant laborers, mostly from the city of Wenzhou , in the Zhejiang province of China. Significant Chinatowns sprung up in Belleville and
4575-449: The streets of [SF's] Chinatown". Other Alta articles from the late 1850s make it clear that areas called "Chinatown" existed at that time in several other California cities, including Oroville and San Andres. By 1869, "Chinatown had acquired its full modern meaning all over the U.S. and Canada. For instance, an Ohio newspaper wrote: "From San Diego to Sitka..., every town and hamlet has its 'Chinatown'." In British publications before
SECTION 60
#17330932628774650-480: The structure, to greet visitors). Other Chinese architectural styles such as the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Sydney Chinatown and the Chinese stone lions at the gate to the Victoria, British Columbia Chinatown are present in some Chinatowns. Mahale Chiniha , the Chinatown in Iran , contains many buildings that were constructed in the Chinese architectural style. Paifangs usually have special inscriptions in Chinese. Historically, these gateways were donated to
4725-429: The twentieth century. Several alternate English names for Chinatown include China Town (generally used in British and Australian English ), The Chinese District , Chinese Quarter and China Alley (an antiquated term used primarily in several rural towns in the western United States for a Chinese community; some of these are now historical sites). In the case of Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada, China Alley
4800-458: The various major cities of Southeast Asia. As the population of Overseas Chinese, is widely dispersed in various enclaves, across each major Southeast Asian city, specific Chinese names are used instead. For example, in Singapore , where 2.8 million ethnic Chinese constitute a majority 74% of the resident population, the Chinese name for Chinatown is Niúchēshǔi ( 牛車水 , Hokkien POJ : Gû-chia-chúi ), which literally means "ox-cart water" from
4875-445: The world's largest Chinatown. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected tourism and business in Chinatown, San Francisco and Chinatown, Chicago , Illinois as well as others worldwide. The features described below are characteristic of many modern Chinatowns. The early Chinatowns such as those in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the United States were naturally destinations for people of Chinese descent as migration were
4950-454: The world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The development of most Chinatowns typically resulted from human migration to an area without any or with few Chinese residents. Binondo in Manila , established in 1594, is recognized as the world's oldest Chinatown. Notable early examples outside Asia include San Francisco 's Chinatown in the United States and Melbourne 's Chinatown in Australia, which were founded in
5025-558: Was a parallel commercial street adjacent to the town's Main Street, enjoying a view over the river valley adjacent and also over the main residential part of Chinatown, which was largely of adobe construction. All traces of Chinatown and China Alley there have disappeared, despite a once large and prosperous community. In Chinese , Chinatown is usually called 唐人街 , in Cantonese Tong jan gai , in Mandarin Tángrénjiē , in Hakka Tong ngin gai , and in Toisan Hong ngin gai , literally meaning "Tang people's street(s)". The Tang dynasty
5100-574: Was a zenith of the Chinese civilization, after which some Chinese call themselves. Some Chinatowns are indeed just one single street, such as the relatively short Fisgard Street in Victoria , British Columbia , Canada. A more modern Chinese name is 華埠 (Cantonese: Waa Fau, Mandarin: Huábù) meaning "Chinese City", used in the semi-official Chinese translations of some cities' documents and signs. Bù , pronounced sometimes in Mandarin as fù , usually means seaport ; but in this sense, it means city or town . Tong jan fau ( 唐人埠 "Tang people's town")
5175-410: Was called "Parián de Manila" (or just "Parián"). Along the coastal areas of Southeast Asia , several Chinese settlements existed as early as the 16th century according to Zheng He and Tomé Pires ' travel accounts. Melaka during the Portuguese colonial period, for instance, had a large Chinese population in Campo China. They settled down at port towns under the authority's approval for trading. After
5250-473: Was described in popular press and books, various individuals and religious organisations began to campaign against unrestricted opium trafficking. At Pennyfields there was a Christian Mission for the Chinese and a Confucian temple. At Limehouse Causeway there was the famous Ah Tack's lodging house. There was much prejudice against the East End Chinese community, with much of it initiated by the writings of Thomas Burke and Sax Rohmer . Both of these men wrote about
5325-442: Was formerly a small enclave, but has tripled in size as a result of direct flights to Shanghai . It has an ethnic Chinese population rise from 5,000 in 2009 to roughly 15,000 in 2012, overtaking Mexicali 's Chinatown as the largest Chinese enclave in Mexico. The New York metropolitan area , consisting of New York City , Long Island , and nearby areas within the states of New York , New Jersey , Connecticut , and Pennsylvania ,
5400-504: Was heavily bombed during World War II, causing the Chinese community moving to the current location Liverpool Chinatown on Nelson Street. The Chinatown in San Francisco is one of the largest in North America and the oldest north of Mexico. It served as a port of entry for early Chinese immigrants from the 1850s to the 1900s. The area was the one geographical region deeded by the city government and private property owners which allowed Chinese persons to inherit and inhabit dwellings within
5475-507: Was raided and shut down on June 28, 1957. Chinese immigrants first established Chinatowns in Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia , and here too, opium dens were common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When the city of San Francisco began taxing imported opium for smoking, the trade was diverted to Victoria , and, from there, much of the opium was smuggled south into
5550-473: Was still fairly common in San Francisco and other North American cities until around World War II . A typical opium den in San Francisco might have been a Chinese-run laundry that had a basement, back room, or upstairs room that was tightly sealed to keep drafts from making the opium lamps flicker or allowing the tell-tale opium fumes to escape. A photograph of one luxurious opium den in 19th-century San Francisco has survived, taken by I. W. Taber in 1886, but
5625-599: Was subsequently renamed due to the influx of non-Chinese Asian Americans who opened businesses there. Today the district acts as a unifying factor for the Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Nepalese and Thai communities of Cleveland. Further ambiguities with the term can include Chinese ethnoburbs which by definition are "... suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas An article in The New York Times blurs
#876123