Visiting Chicago’s Chinatown In Depth
The Nine Dragon Wall marked the start of my journey in Chinatown and was quite a nice sight to behold. I would say it definitely achieved its purpose in making the “Welcome to China” statement that its presence so often makes. The relief looked very traditional and imaginative which is how I would describe the rest of Chinatown. Admiring the relief were mostly people like myself that would to some extent consider themselves tourists. It was interesting to see the difference in the perception of the work between those who reside frequently within the area and those who don’t. To the more tourist like people its aesthetic appeal was the main draw. After looking up what the Nine Dragon Wall actually means and how it has a spiritual function, I can infer that the main draw for those who are native to the area is this function. It just made me feel funny that I at first saw it as a piece of art and like most pieces of art, subconsciously thought that it would someday be replaced by another. However such is not the case as the piece serves a spiritual function so rather than age and become old, outdated, it becomes historic and traditional.
This idea of the old becoming something of great value rather than simply growing old was most reflected through what I enjoyed most during my Chinatown visit and that was seeing elder people walk, shop, eat, socialize, partake in society with little restraint. It was very nice and sadly not something I see too often outside of Chinatown. The amount of energy and movement being emitted was great. Rather than the elderly seemingly running out of life and slowing down, the elders in Chinatown were oozing energy as to never have been so much full of life (which technically they were). I was in so many elderly people’s way, it was great.
The Chinatown Gate is quite literally a warm welcome as there is more movement, energy, and steam coming out of the heart of Chinatown. The gate marks entrance into a prosperous commonwealth area which is rightly introduced by the Chinese characters on the gate that translate to “the world belongs to the commonwealth”.
I definitely did feel welcome in Chinatown. At the very least my money felt welcome in Chinatown. This was especially true when looking through shops. There was one specific stand of traditional Chinese farming hats. These were located near the entrance and above them a sign stated “Do not take selfies with hats”. I had a little chuckle. It was interesting to see this method of Chinatown coping with its tourists. It made me feel even more welcome for it was a sign that I was in some shape way or form expected. That those who do not normally live among the traditions and lives of Chinatown, were expected and with them their peculiar habits of taking pictures with the seemingly new and unknown. At the very least I knew I wasn’t going to surprise the vendors with my odd behavior, which was a nice harmonious feeling.
There were so many things that peaked my interest and called out to be purchased mainly in the form of food, especially in the form of food. I did have one treat in the form of crystal cake. These are a traditional Chinese dessert and were recommended by a fellow classmate who frequents Chinatown due to its accessibility. They were a cheap 80 cents and were well worth. Mostly a sugary treat, it was very sweet yet filling as it also contains wheat.
The Pui Tak Center is a wonderful sight. It is by far the most architecturally Chinese looking building there as far as I can tell. That is for good reason as it was built with the intent to present Chinese architecture in Chinatown as it was found to be lacking. This historical building was used to change so many lives for the better as it long served as a place for education and community immigrant help. Now it is a historical landmark and was made so in large part by the community which it helped grow. The exterior of the building is made out of the traditional sculpting material, terracotta.
The visit to the Chinese American museum showed off a very traditional side of Chinese culture. The exhibit which we walked through showed mainly historical garments, clothes, and attire. What was very interesting was the fact that much like the Nine Dragon Gate, the clothes had spiritual function. The decorated designs weren’t simply for aesthetics, rather they served a purpose whether it be to show a spiritual tie, a life duty, or position in life. It was also interesting to see how clashes with the western world changed the attire over time. There was a Chinese suit for example that was designed to more closely resemble that of businessmen in the western world, yet was also designed with tradition in mind. What came about was an original, purposeful, and traditional attire. The traditional aspect of Chinese culture has its faults and I believe to have seen some here. The museum shows off seemingly very luxurious clothes and while that may have been representative of the more wealthy population, it seems as that would not be the general case for most of the population. Therefore I feel as representation isn’t all that fair. I also feel as though maybe traditional practices pertaining to women were not criticized as much as they should have been if at all in the descriptions. I speak of traditions such as foot binding which were carried out for a long time. These are simple judgement I had and could very well be down to my limited knowledge. It is likely however that with the pros of tradition, comes some cons.
The walk through Chinatown square was not dry for me. I mean this in both a cultural and physical sense as it was raining, and I was left impressed with the statues, floor, and Chinatown square stage. They had statues for all the zodiac creatures. My favorite was the rabbit as it is my own. I don’t quite believe in zodiac signs but knowing that there was a statue erected for mine, fit into the welcoming feeling I got throughout my whole excursion Chinatown Square was quite empty due to weather but, the market area near had people working. The businesses in the outside mall were almost exclusively displayed in what I predict to be mandarin. For trade were both goods and services which very clearly had an Asian market. An interesting figure I ran into was a man who was seemingly in his mid 30’s who was smoking. He had a very nice pair of boots on and was dressed somewhat formal. He gave of a very nightlife care free kind of vibe. He reminded me of the depictions of “cool guys” in Japanese anime. The outer mall was architecturally really cool as it has two floors. The balcony and stairway were aesthetically pleasing as they were designed in Chinese architecture style.
The New Chinatown Library was a nice surprise for it was in use to a large extent. You can very well tell that this building is newer as its design emits such energy. It is not distinctively Chinese architecture but it does well to show the “New” in New Chinatown. The first floor is almost exclusively for kids and was rightly occupied by many, it personally pleased me but not as much as seeing a board meeting going on in the conference room. The table was compiled of about a dozen individuals from all sorts of ethnicity and gender. The idea that decisions that will impact the community should be held within a public space accessible to those whom the decisions will affect is one that resonates extremely well with me. This library was huge, way bigger than my local branch. I know the importance of Libraries and believe it will only grow as time progresses. With the constant involvement of elders in the Chinatown community and the library being new, I would not be surprised to see more elders spend time at the library in the future. As a matter of fact I would hope they would tailor to that audience as it could prove valuable to show that learning doesn’t and shouldn’t end at later ages.
My final destination was the Chinese-Americans Veteran Memorial. This memorial was very nice and rightfully well maintained. It reminded me of the Vietnam memorials which I saw in D.C. long ago. I was satisfied that it did such as it meant that to some extent the memorials were of good quality, which they should most definitely be. Behind these memorials were housing complexes which peaked my interest as they were so huge. My travel companion shared some information on them explaining that structure like such were built with grass areas surrounding as kind of a public area for all its tenants to enjoy. He explained how it never quite went to plan as the public grounds were surrounded by black gates to mark territory and keep crime away. This became a problem when there were multiple buildings as such near each other as they look like they would be accessible by either building but are actually gated off from each other. Needless to say it gives off a very uninviting vibe and so the public space is not used with desired frequency
I did not go to the Ping Tom Memorial Park this time around but on my first trip to Chinatown I did. It was last summer during a rowing boat race. There was music, dance, art, competition. It was a fun event and I could definitely see the benefit of having an allocated park for cultural community events. The fact that the memorial is culturally significant is a neat touch as it asserts the significance of culture and tradition in every event held there.
The trip to Chinatown proved to be very educational, fun, and overall welcoming. Regardless of future assignments I know I will be visiting Chinatown again. At the very least once a year. I’ll make it a tradition.
Chicago Park District. “Community Stewardship Workday at Ping Tom.” Chicago Park District, www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/ping-tom-memorial-park.
Pui Tak Center, www.puitak.org/.
“The Meaning Behind the Nine-Dragon Wall in Beijing’s Forbidden City.” Vision Times, 15 Oct. 2017, www.visiontimes.com/2017/06/23/the-meaning-behind-the-nine-dragon-wall-in-beijings-forbidden-city.html.