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New Chinatown, Los Angeles, California

 
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Title
New Chinatown, Los Angeles, California
Description
Looking north onto Central Plaza; restaurant Tuey Far Low on left; straight ahead is Ginling Gifts, Hong Kong Restaurant and The Phoenix Bakery in the right corner; automobiles parked outside Hong Kong restaurant; People walking; sign on awning of Ginling Gifts reads: Chinaware; beneath Hong Kong, sign reads:"Genuine Chinese Dishes" brick patio with wishing well and benches in the center of the plaza.
Format Extent
1 postcard : Color ; 9 x 14 cm.
Subject
Chinese Restaurants--California--Los Angeles; Decoration and ornament, Architectural--California--Los Angeles; Gift shops--California--Los Angeles;
Note
The original Los Angeles Chinatown began in the late 1800s as a small settlement on Calle De Los Negros, between El Pueblo Plaza and Old Arcadia Street, and expanded east across Alameda Street. Suffering from absentee landlords and a lack of municipal services and code enforcement, the area was in decline when the city forced residents out and demolished it to make way for the new Union Station Terminal. Two new Chinatowns were created: China City, a tourist attraction, complete with rickshaw rides, brainchild of Christine Sterling, founder of Olvera Street; and New Chinatown, a business and residential neighborhood created and funded by the Chinese community under the leadership of Peter Soo Hoo. Both opened to great fanfare in 1938. New Chinatown has come to be known as Old Chinatown Plaza. Tuey Far Low, first located in old Chinatown on Alameda and Marchessault, was the site of a fundraising banquet in the early 1900s in support of Sun Yat-Sen's fight for a Chinese republic. On April 22nd, 1937, Peter Soo Hoo, Herbert Lapham and others met there to form a corporation to build New Chinatown. Tuey Far Low reopened on Sun Mun Way in the Central Plaza in 1938. Phoenix Bakery now at corner of North Broadway and Bamboo Lane, is famous for its strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. Owned and operated by two brothers, Fun Chow Chan and Fun Lun Chan, it was originally located inside the Central Plaza next to Hong Kong Low restaurant.
Collection
Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection
Type
Geographic Location
Chinatown (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Language
eng
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