Mark Rivera
Professor Shrake
AAS 100
16 April, 2012
Community Ethnography
On Tuesday, April 13, 2013 I decided to go to Chinatown in Los Angeles as my place for analysis for my ethnography. The reason why I chose Chinatown as my space for analysis is because growing up as a child, my family would always take me to Chinatown due to their own fascination about the Chinese culture. Over time, I can say that the Chinese culture has grown into me and fascinated me in many ways. I thought of this ethnographic research paper as an opportunity for me to learn a little bit more about the culture that fascinates me so much. As my family and I enter the Chinatown district, I immediately feel a change in the atmosphere. With Chinatown being an ethnic enclave, it would obviously stand out from normal neighborhoods. I immediately noticed the people that walked the streets were mostly Asian. I also notice the buildings, and how they were designed and decorated to replicate the Chinese culture. Walking around the district, I can tell that the Chinese culture has a strong presence with all of the monumental statues placed and events that are constantly being held here relating to Chinese culture. Unfortunately, there were no events being held at the time of my visit. As I continue to walk around the district of Chinatown, I see plenty of small local businesses and bazaars. I decided to walk into a few of the local Chinese stores and saw that they were selling goods such as toys, food, electronics, etc. at a reasonably low price. All of the merchants were Asian, most likely of Chinese descent as well. These small businesses seemed economically stable, as I noticed that they were getting plenty of business throughout the day. I also got to interview two merchants, asking them about how business was running. Both of them stated, “We get a lot of business here, because a lot of tourists like to come here”. These few characteristics listed about the Chinatown district are my...