From Bangkok to Sydney to San Francisco, the Chinese have managed to
settle, form enclaves, and anchor their roots. In Chinese, this is aptly
described by the proverb “落地生根”. Chinese businesses have typically
flourished in many of these cities. But in many ways, however much the
ways of life have been influenced by indigenous forces, the Chinese have
strived to uphold their language, customs, beliefs and traditions.
Statistics
There were a total of 34,505,000 overseas Chinese scattered around the
world as of the end of 1999, an increase of 2.3 percent over the previous
year, according to statistics released by the Overseas Chinese Affairs
Commission.
Residents of Asia topped the list, with 26,788,000 ethnic Chinese living in
countries other than mainland China and Taiwan. Overseas Chinese
residents of the Americas were second most populous. The total there
came to 6,013,000, a 19.8 percent increase on the 1998 figure of
5,020,000.
Europe was third in terms of total population of overseas Chinese, with
968,000 residents. Oceania came in next, with 605,000 people, and Africa
trailed the list, with only 132,000 ethnic Chinese residents.
The statistics show that the total number of overseas Chinese worldwide
increased by 2.3 percent from 1998's figure of 33,726,000.
Today Oversea Chinese have thrived at commerce, live away from a
motherland to which they still nurture strong cultural links, and contribute
a great deal to rebuild their homeland.
Origins of Chinatowns
The formation of Chinese enclaves was sometimes not by decision, such
as in Singapore, where Sir Stamford Raffles mandated that racial enclaves
be formed upon arrival. In other cases, complete cities literally flourished
from what started out as mere Chinese village settlements, an example
being Kuala Lumpur.
The more typical Chinatowns, however, are neighbourhoods or districts
within cities that others have developed, as is the case in Paris. It is not
unusual to find multiple Chinatowns within a single city.
Chinatowns in most developed societies have often been depicted by
media and the film industry as seedy, overcrowded places, saddled with
social problems such as sweatshops, undocumented immigrants, poverty,
and organized criminal syndicates. Many have come a long way from such
dilapidated quarters, and indeed, many have flourished into prominent
business districts and established themselves as cultural icons. This series
will profile the major Chinatowns in the world, focusing on their
development, culture and transformation.
Excellent background information on Chinatowns can be gleaned from the
book “Sons of the Yellow Emperor” by Lynn Pan. In this thorough and
rigorous exposé of the Chinese diaspora, an entire chapter had been
devoted exclusively to Chinatowns, outlining their historical evolution, with
detailed features of the prominent Chinatowns in Bangkok, New York and
London.
This series will kick off with the New York Chinatown, in view of the 911
disaster. Subsequent features will highlight chinestowns in Southeast Asia.