CHINATOWN
PHOTO BY SARAH DERER
Compiled by Maddie Parrish, Neighborhood Captain
W
hen I think of Chinatown, my mind instinctively pictures the bright red gate on South Wentworth Ave. that boldly announces, “Welcome to Chinatown” in gold italic letters, the two-story outdoor mall that encompasses Chinatown Square, the Nine Dragon wall next to the Cermak-Chinatown station. But increasingly, discussions of the Chinese-American community in Chicago will refer to the Greater Chinatown Area, expanding beyond the commercial area that is often described as the heart of Chinatown. The commercial area is small, encompassing a few blocks of Cermak and Wentworth Avenues. “The Wentworth part has been around since Chinese-Americans first moved from the South Loop to downtown in 1912,” said Grace Chan McKibben, the Executive Director of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community. Chinatown Square has been growing since the late ‘90s, she explained. “The Greater Chinatown Area acknowledges the fact that the Chinese-American population has been steadily growing out South and West along the Archer bus line. So the Chinese-American population now is in Chinatown, Bridgeport, McKinley Park, and also in Brighton Park and Archer Heights,” said Chan. Chicago’s Chinatown is often recognized as the only growing Chinatown in
North America, referring not only to a growing population but growth in diversity as well. “There are folks representing different parts of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, speaking different dialects,” Chan said. “The original Chinatown folks speak Toisan, which is a sub dialect of Cantonese, and now we’re seeing more Mandarin speaking people, and it’s shown by the diversity of the restaurants. Now their restaurants represent different cuisines within China.” “The Greater Chinatown Area encompasses this whole area that is where the folks are living, and so there’s shops, there are schools, there are car repair shops all up and down Archer that kind of reflect the services that people need.” If you want to experience Chinatown’s growing diversity, you can let your stomach lead the way—whether it’s to Sichuan cuisine, Hong Kong-style cafes, Taiwanese popcorn chicken, or even Japanese ramen, Korean corn dogs, and Vietnamese pho. And in the process, you might just find yourself exploring outside the boundaries of Chinatown’s traditional commercial area into nearby neighborhoods where Chinatown’s growth is taking place. (Maddie Parrish) Neighborhood caption Maddie Parrish is the education editor at the Weekly. SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 ¬ SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY 33
