Which NYC Chinatowns You All Like And Why? (New York, Canton: houses, neighborhoods)

[toby2016]

Hello All

Just wanted to reach out to our Chinese speaking and/or Chinese Americans folks in New York on which Chinatowns in New York you like the best? However, any Non-Asians are welcomed to post too.


I personally think they all have their own personal different unique characteristics. Although they all have some similarities with each other.

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Manhattan's Chinatown is of course the oldest Chinatown and historic one of all of NYC and a tourist attraction. Although the housing conditions are not the best and overcrowding. Not a lot of space and not too many bid stores. But it is surrounded by attractive tourist neighborhoods with many big popular chain stores easily accessible.

Here it is subdivided into the older established Cantonese Chinatown in the western portion, which is the original Chinatown and the newly established Fuzhou Chinatown to the east. Although the eastern portion also still have some old timer Cantonese residents/business due to the fact that many of the new arriving Cantonese during the 1970s/80s could no longer find available housing/storefronts to occupy in the original Manhattan's Chinatown to the west and had started moving east of The Bowery, but were rather overlapping with some of the Latinos/Jewish that had still been living in that portion. As a result, during the 1970s-80s the western portion still remained the primary Chinese population/business center while the eastern portion was still not as fully Chinese and not fully part of Chinatown until the 1990s when a large Fuzhou influx moved into that portion.

I can compare this to Guangzhou, due to the fact that both of them were originally all Cantonese speaking populated and already had a very developed Cantonese and highly Cantonese populated. So despite that fact that they both received large influx of Non-Cantonese Chinese speakers(often most speak Mandarin), the Cantonese population and culture still remains strong. The differences are, the Mandarin speakers in Guangzhou are from many parts of China while in Manhattan's Chinatown, the Mandarin speakers are mainly from Fuzhou.

I also can compare it to Hong Kong and Fuzhou being right next to each other.

Here it is a good spot to find both Cantonese and Fuzhou cuisines, which is what you mostly can find in terms of Chinese food. However, you can still find some Northeastern and Shanghainese and other Chinese style food places, but there is not that many and their quality is not as good as in Flushing Queens.

However, unfortunately with the gentrification going on, the Chinese population is declining here and many of these Chinese are moving into Brooklyn's New Chinatowns.
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Chinatowns in Brooklyn
The largest and original Brooklyn Chinatown is Sunset Park. This was originally all Cantonese as well like Manhattan's Chinatown, however it was never very fully developed and very small. However, after the large influx of Fuzhou immigrants flooded into Sunset Park, it evolved into an extremely large Fuzhou enclave and is now the largest Fuzhou enclave in New York far surpassing the one within the eastern portion of Manhattan's Chinatown.

This one, I can definitely compare to Shenzhen, because they both started off as all Cantonese, but unlike like Guangzhou/Manhattan's Chinatown, which already was very developed and highly populated, Shenzhen/Brooklyn's Sunset Park Chinatown did not have such a large population and not so developed. Which is why when the large influx of Mandarin speaking immigrants flooded these two places, they were able to overwhelm these two places that vast majority of the Chinese speakers became Mandarin speaking and only a marginalized amount are still Cantonese speaking. But once again, the Mandarin speakers in Shenzhen are from all over China, while the Fuzhou speakers are the majority of the Mandarin speakers in Brooklyn's Sunset Park Chinatown.

Although it fair to say that because the Fuzhous have managed to dominate the whole area with only scattering numbers of Cantonese here and there, it can be pretty much compared to Fuzhou in China unlike in Manhattan's Chinatown where the Fuzhous only managed to dominate a section of it leaving the other section still mainly Cantonese.

I have to say, there are more bigger businesses here than in Manhattan's Chinatown and now it is even more busier and crowded with people than Manhattan's Chinatown. Unfortunately, they are not near any large popular big chain stores like in Manhattan's Chinatown and not touristy. The buildings are less taller and feels more like a village environment, with an urban feeling.

Here you can get both Cantonese and Fuzhou food places as well, but is more overwhelmingly Fuzhou now. There are some other Chinese cuisines, but not that much.

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Bensonhurst and Sheepshead Bay are now other Brooklyn neighborhoods experiencing a large influx of Chinese immigrants. This is a result of Cantonese people migrating to these areas, which are attracting more newly arrived Cantonese immigrants and now they have created several Little Cantonese Chinatowns in various sections of Bensonhurst like 18th Avenue(65th-74th Streets), Bay Parkway(65th-68th Streets) and 86th Street(18th-25th Avenues) and in Sheepshead Bay on Avenue U by Q train stop.

They are more spread out and mixed in with other ethnic groups like Italians, Russians, Mexicans, Muslims and etc., unlike in Sunset Park where the Chinese are all concentrated among each other. However, if you were to put them all together, they can actually create and even large Chinatown than the one in Sunset Park.

There is no question about it that I can compare these newer smaller Brooklyn Chinese enclaves to Hong Kong, since these newer developed smaller Chinatowns are mainly Cantonese. Although they are less overcrowded than the main Brooklyn Chinatown in Sunset Park. Here there are more bigger houses with more parking spaces unlike Sunset Park and has more suburban feeling with some urban style mixed in. Streets are not the cleanest, but they are still better than in Sunset Park. There is more of a mix of Americanized Chinese professionals and new arrived Chinese immigrants unlike in Sunset Park, the Chinese are mostly immigrants and newly arrived.

These are good places to get Cantonese style foods.
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Chinatowns In Queens
Flushing is the largest Chinatown and first one to develop in Queens. There is a smaller one in Elmhurst, which developed much later but they are not as developed and mixed in with the Latino enclaves.

These Chinatowns by far are the most diverse in NYC due to the fact that they have all different regional groups of Chinese people and food styles unlike in Manhattan and Brooklyn where the Chinese are mainly Cantonese/Fuzhou.

Flushing's Chinatown started off mostly as a small Taiwanese Mandarin speaking enclave because when the Taiwanese started arriving in the 1970s-80s, they could not relate to the poor conditions of Manhattan's Chinatown and as well as it's then Cantonese cultural dominance and therefore settled in Flushing. In addition, they are usually more middle class unlike the Cantonese are mainly working class. Flushing's Chinatown became a more middle class Chinatown.

Later when large numbers of other Chinese immigrants from many parts of China started arriving, they also could not relate to Manhattan's Chinatown's Cantonese culture, so they settled with the Taiwanese in Flushing to be around Mandarin speakers where they can communicate in Mandarin more easily and do business and then Flushing evolved into the largest Chinatown of New York and became the primary center of Chinese culture because of the mix of so many different Chinese groups.

Another Chinatown in Queens later emerged in Elmhurst and also very diverse with different Chinese groups, but not as large and mixed in with Latino Enclaves.

I can say this is like Taiwan, Shanghai and Beijing all together in one spot because many of the Chinese are from these areas, but like the way Shanghai and Beijing have many Chinese from many different parts of China, Flushing also has so many other different Chinese groups as well.

However, I can somewhat compare the similarities to Manhattan's Chinatown because they both have a lot of taller buildings unlike in Brooklyn. There is more urbanized feeling like Manhattan's Chinatown. But the stores are much bigger. There is also easy walking distance access to famous big chain businesses like Manhattan's Chinatown.

This is a good spot to try all different kinds of Chinese food and different Chinese cultures. Here it is mainly Mandarin speaking.

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Please let me know what you all think and vote for the New York Chinese enclaves you like.

NOTE: YOU ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE FOR AS MANY AS YOU WANT.

I KNOW THIS LOOKS SIMILAR TO THE LAST POST I MADE ABOUT COMPARING DIFFERENT PARTS OF CHINA/TAIWAN/HONG KONG.

THIS REPEATED INFORMATION WAS ONLY ADDED TO THIS POST FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

THE MAIN FOCUS OF THIS POST THIS TIME IS FOR THE READERS TO VOTE ON WHICH ONE THEY LIKE THE MOST AND MORE ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS, BUSINESSES, ARCHITECTURES AND ETC.

NOT SO MUCH ABOUT COMPARING THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF CHINESE REGIONS AND GROUPS. ALTHOUGH OPINIONS ON THIS IS STILL WELCOMED.

PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU COMMENT.

[bill83]

Again?????

Do you remember you started a very similar thread not too long ago?

[nycnyc11209]

Look like you are a Chinese Supremacist.. Im not Chinese, but I wonder why some Chinese shop at C-Town (Italian people grocery) while there is a Big Chinese Market 1 block away.. my expierence been ok with them.. some look unkept.. I dont understand why they throw smelly filty water out on the street right near their store...

[That_One_Guy]

I like Flushing.

I like that it is cheaper and much less touristy than Manhattan Chinatown. It also seems more authentic. And it also seems more mixed too, ie not just Chinese stuff. I would spend a lot more time there if it weren't all the way at the end of the 7 train

I never liked Brooklyn Chinatown that much for some reason

[toby2016]

Originally Posted by bill83

Again?????

Do you remember you started a very similar thread not too long ago?

Please read my added detail at the bottom of the first post. Sorry, I was not specific enough in the post, which I just clarified.

The last post you are referring to was just only focused on about comparing different regions of China and if anyone agreed with me.


But this time, this post is more about opinions of the characteristics in general, building structures, businesses and etc. And I also wanted people to vote, which I did not include in the last post.

The information about comparing different regions of China in this post was only just for informational details this time. However, opinions are still welcomed.

[toby2016]

Originally Posted by That_One_Guy

I like Flushing.

I like that it is cheaper and much less touristy than Manhattan Chinatown. It also seems more authentic. And it also seems more mixed too, ie not just Chinese stuff. I would spend a lot more time there if it weren't all the way at the end of the 7 train

I never liked Brooklyn Chinatown that much for some reason

I can understand why. As I mentioned in my post, Brooklyn's Chinatown does not have the urbanized feeling, which Flushing has. In addition, Flushing has other kind of popular big chain businesses other than just Chinese. And more taller buildings and so much more middle class. And so much more large businesses. It is like the Chinese Time Square. Also, there are more different kinds of Chinese food unlike in Brooklyn where it is mainly Cantonese/Fuzhou.
Although businesses in Brooklyn's Chinatown is larger than the ones in Manhattan's Chinatown, but Flushing has the largest.

I hope you voted for Flushing in the poll I created.

[gahando]

Originally Posted by That_One_Guy

I like Flushing.

I like that it is cheaper and much less touristy than Manhattan Chinatown. It also seems more authentic. And it also seems more mixed too, ie not just Chinese stuff. I would spend a lot more time there if it weren't all the way at the end of the 7 train

I never liked Brooklyn Chinatown that much for some reason

The little fuzhou (eastern manhattan chinatown) is pretty non-touristy imo
Plenty of places where there's no non-chinese, and businesses where the old ladies speak little-to-no english

[Javawood]

I like the Eastern portion of Manhattan's Chinatown a lot, especially since for me it's basically just across the street. $2 noodle dishes? Awesome. I also enjoy the rustic decor that is the rundown late 1800s to early 1900s tenements. 69 Eldridge St is great, first floor is a pre school, second floor an internet cafe with gambling, and the third floor is an extremely nice kareoke bar where the rooms can get as low as $10/hr. A group of 4 friends singing k-pop for $2.5/hr is AMAZING and it's so tucked away that it feels similar to that old school 'you gotta know about it'. The elevator has a person capacity of about 3 people haha.

It's so noticeably different than the touristy Chinatown past Bowery. You can probably find me over at 99 Favor Taste twice a month!

[eureka1]

Shanghai Joe's, at least the one in Flushing, is among the best Chinese restaurants I've been to. Not just the soup dumplings but everything they serve.

[toby2016]

Originally Posted by gahando

The little fuzhou (eastern manhattan chinatown) is pretty non-touristy imo
Plenty of places where there's no non-chinese, and businesses where the old ladies speak little-to-no english

True. The Cantonese portion is more touristy and the Fuzhou portion not as much, however it is slowly changing now.

Although not as many, but the Fuzhou portion is slowly getting more tourists now.

Unfortunately, with the gentrification going on, the Cantonese and Fuzhous are moving out of Manhattan's Chinatown and relocating to Brooklyn's newest Chinatowns. Manhattan's Chinatown is now declining slowly.

The Fuzhous are moving to Sunset Park, which is now the largest Fuzhou enclave of New York and primary destination for the newly arriving Fuzhous. The Cantonese are relocating to the Bensonhurst and Sheepshead Bay Chinatowns, however they are rather more scattered and spread out. Bensonhurst holds the largest Cantonese population in all of New York now and is the primary destination for newly arrived Cantonese.

Brooklyn is now the main settlement for the Cantonese and Fuzhous, but they are rather segregated by further distance in different neighborhoods from each other. Pretty soon, Brooklyn will be the only cultural centers of Cantonese and Fuzhou cultures of New York.