Chinatown, Anywhere
Chinese immigrants helped give reggae its start in Kingston, Jamaica. They brought chowmein to Calcutta, India, “became black” in South Africa, and are remaking fast fashion in Prato, Italy.
Today 40 million people of Chinese descent live outside China. Collectively, they represent the largest diaspora in the world.
Stories by Country
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United States Archive
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How to Tell Japs from Chinese (or What I Learned on My Summer Vacation)
A field trip to the Museum of Chinese in America: Original dragon lady Anna May Wong, Bing cherries, “Poison Jim” the Squirrel Trapper, and Charlie Chinaman. -
De Bamboo Express
Discovering Chinese-Jamaican food in Brooklyn: curried goat, plait bread and jerk chicken fried rice. And then discovering major food coma. -
Final Boarding Call: Beijing to Brooklyn
Goodbye to the old capital in transformation, to everything being possible (or at least negotiable), to the surprise of a second life. -
How Hard Is It to Immigrate to the U.S.?
True or False: Anybody can immigrate to the U.S. legally if they want to. Plus: Why don't illegal immigrants just get on the line to be legal? -
Fung Wah: My, How You’ve Grown
Back in college, we heard rumors that the Chinatown buses were fronts for Chinese gangs. But no one cared; it was cheap as hell and that's what mattered. -
Priced Out of New York’s Chinatown
Why does New York's Chinatown feel emptier these days? Why do immigrants live in Florida or Ohio and commute back to NYC on weekends? -
The Chinatown Shuttle: Better Than New York’s Subway
What's the fastest, cheapest way to get from Flushing in Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn? Plus: Meet Mr. Deng, my seatmate on the Chinatown Shuttle -
Back in Action
Hi all, apologies for the radio silence in May! Expect to see upcoming posts from me about going to a Vietnamese-Chinese wedding in southern California, taking the Chinatown bus to Boston, exploring Sunset Park in Brooklyn, and interviewing a scholar-adventurer about the Chinese in Zambia.
