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After a six-week trip in China over the summer and knowing only
enough Chinese to say "Give me a beer" and "I am
NOT stupid," taking Chinatown as a beat for RWI in the fall
semester was of course a natural next step. Besides, it was easy
enough to cover from Columbia since it isn't necessary to change
trains if you get out at Canal Street on the 1 or 9 subway and are
willing to walk a bit.
Chinatown is terribly under-reported in the English-language press,
and when it is written about it is just terribly reported. There
are probably more tensions between the Chinese themselves than with
other ethnic groups. After all, they've had thousands of years to
get annoyed at each other. Other issues like the sweatshops that
employ illegal immigrants and the horrid conditions they live under
are also little discussed.
A walk through Chinatown really is unlike any other experience
in New York. Everything from the cheap souvenirs being sold in tatty
stores to the roasted ducks hanging in the windows to the suspicious
stares at a white face walking the sidestreets reminded me of parts
of China.
The Italian-Americans along Mulberry Street in Little Italy seem
to have resigned themselves to their loss of turf. It is this constant
change in demographics that makes Chinatown so interesting, too.
This is captured in the Transfiguration Church, which has so far
successfully straddled both worlds.
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