Reflections of Chicago’s Chinatown
This paper will describe my observations during several fascinating days I have spent in the Chicago's Chinatown, speaking with people primarily business owners occasionally someone I randomly met perhaps in the restaurant. I have visited the Cultural center and Chinese library located in the center of Chinatown and had the opportunity to be introduced to little of the fascinating history and the origins of China, which I will omit and concentrate on my experiences, and comparative observations relating to the readings, class discussions. Major changes in geopolitical and national policies, as well as global economic restructuring, and technological and communicational development have taken place since first emergence described in the books: “Different Mirror and Chinese in Chicago”. With the rapid globalizing economy, increased flow of population, , information, goods and financial resources across the Pacific Rim - particularly in the last several decades is to be taken in to consideration from the time frame of the reading and class discussions that I will re-examine best to my ability.
The migration patterns of Chinese population, the motivations for Chinese to come to the United States are similar to those of most immigrants; some came to "the Gold Mountain" (Jinshan “Mandarin” or Gumsaan “Cantonese”), the United States, to seek better economic opportunity, while others were compelled to leave China as refugees or contract laborers. They brought with them their language, culture, social institutions, and customs, and over time, they made lasting contributions to their adopted country and tried to become an integral part of the U.S. population. It is my belief that the assimilation in some respects is still taking place otherwise is successful while the adaptation part discussed in the class would be complete. I would reason that because throughout the second half of the nineteenth and early decades of the...