Personal Narrative: Chinatown

The first place comes to my mind is Chinatown, the place I have been living for three years, but never got a chance to have a close-up view of it. When I came to Chicago, it was the first place I went to and it really gave me a different feedback. It made me feel like I was back in China, because there were a lot of Chinese people and Chinese restaurants in the town. The landmarks of Chinatown are the Chinatown Gate, and the Nine-Dragon wall.
Now, I have a chance to get a close-up view of Chinatown. I started my own walking tour on the Chinatown Square. It is a two-story outdoor plaza located on the north side of Wentworth Ave. It opened in 1993, with mostly restaurants, retail stores, banks, clinics, beauty salons, and offices. In the center of the plaza, there are statues of the twelve animals which represent Chinese zodiac. After visiting this, I went to the Chinatown Gate.
The first thing I saw on the Chinatown Gate, which was completed in 1975, were the Chinese words 天下為公 (All under heaven are equal). The Chinese words were written by Sun

Yat-sen, and they represent and tell people about his main thought. When you’re walking through the gate there a lot of business distributions on both sides of the street, like restaurants, bakeries, gift shops, jewelry stores, and grocery stores. The architecture of Chinatown was mostly Ancient Chinese style, there were a lot of red and green colors, which mean luck and happiness, and Chinese dragon totems used on the buildings. The role of the architectures was more like a historical map; the buildings witnessed the development of Chinatown and gave the neighborhood a historical depth. In addition, the especial cultural architecture made Chinatown more unique and attracted the more visitors to come and visit. So, it is my opinion that Chinatown is like an aggregation with Chinese culture because of its tourist attractions, restaurants, shopping places, and Chinese Americans living quarters.
On the opposite side of the Chinatown Gate is the Nine-Dragon Wall, which was completed in 2004. The Nine-Dragon Wall was originated from a screen wall in ancient Chinese architecture. On the wall, there were nine Chinese dragons. Ancient Chinese people believed the number nine was the most prestigious number and they believed that the Chinese are the descendants of dragons. I found out the things that struck me the most were the food, the Chinatown Gate, and the Nine-Dragon Wall. The reason why I like them most is because Chinese food is my favorite food and the Chinatown Gate and the Nine-Dragon Wall both have very strong connections with the Chinese Culture. They make me feel like I’m back in China.
During 1882, Chinese Americans that were looking for a place to escape the anti-Chinese violence in the U.S.

found that Chicago was a great place to settle down. At the time, most Chinese Americans lived on Clark Street between Van Buren and Harrison Street in the downtown Loop. In 1912, Chinese Americans moved to the south to Armour Square. Most Chinese Americans lived together to avoid persecution from the other people, and most of them were at the bottom of the social class. In most people’s minds, they thought that Chinatown was not a good place to live; they thought Chinatown was the dirtiest, most disorderly and poorest neighborhood in the city. Nowadays, by the continuing work of Chinese Americans, the new Chinatown is clean and orderly; it changes a lot of people’s minds. For now, most people living in Chinatown are workers and business owners; they are in the middle of the social class, but barely in political

status.
The main streets of Chinatown are the West Cermak Road, South Wentworth Ave, and South Archer Ave. These three main streets are like a golden triangle, they connect Chinatown with Downtown Loop more closely. Most people drive on these streets every day to get to work or school. Also, they connect the highway. Every day there are a lot of trucks and personal vehicles that pass through, which makes Chinatown more prosperous.
After the walking tour, I felt surprised that Chinese Americans had gone through so many problems, but they never gave up. They are the sprit the Chinese Culture around the U.S.; they let other people get to know about the culture and pass it to the next generation.