Chinatown, Las Vegas
Encyclopedia
The Chinatown
of Las Vegas
, Nevada
(Chinese
: 拉斯維加斯中國城 (pinyin
: Lāsīwéijiāsī Zhōngguóchéng) is a series of large strip mall
s with ethnic Chinese
and other pan-Asia
n businesses on Spring Mountain Road
, with the original called Chinatown Plaza. The strip mall was conceived by Taiwanese American developer James Chih-Cheng Chen, and opened in 1995. Nevada
Governor Kenny Guinn
officially designated the area as Chinatown in October 1999 and it continues to grow as the Asian population in Las Vegas expands rapidly. The Chinatown area has gained much popularity, receiving national attention in a 2004 article by The Wall Street Journal (See Further Reading below for the specific citation). Although called "Chinatown", the many Asian
influences other than Chinese might make that name a misnomer, with the commercial area having a character perhaps better described as an Asian District.
Spring Mountain Road was once a run-down corridor with strip club
s, but Chinatown Plaza and other adjacent power centers have emerged as an archetypal example of immigrants taking an old neighborhood given up for dead by the previous residents and reviving it with major investments as a bustling center of ethnic minority
commerce.
, 1.4 miles (2.3 km) from Las Vegas Blvd. where the Fashion Show Mall
, Treasure Island
, Wynn
, and The Venetian casinos are located. Spring Mountain Road is the main street. Also comprising Chinatown are a number of Filipino
, Korea
n, Thai
, and Vietnamese American
businesses serving a pan-Asian community. Besides serving the local population and tourists, according to a 2004 Wall Street Journal article, Chinatown was especially conceived as an area to offer value authentic Chinese cuisine for inbound Chinese-speaking tourists coming from Southern California and East Asia.
Chinatown is one of the few places where one can find authentic Chinese and Asian ethnic cuisines, such as Hong Kong-style roast duck, won ton noodles, Vietnamese pho
noodle soup, Japanese sushi, or Taiwanese boba tea. The popularity of 99 Ranch Market
, an Asian supermarket
where live fresh seafood
or bottles of authentic oyster sauce
, and other imported Asian-branded foodstuffs can be purchased, has been featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal
.
The aesthetic of the Las Vegas Chinatown bears a strong resemblance to the suburban "Chinatowns" found in Southern California
and Silicon Valley
(and even as far away as Houston, Texas
), in the form of sprawl with large parking lots. For example, in contrast to many urban U.S. Chinatowns — where unforeseen growth forced working class immigrants to congregate, live and work in a small area — the expansive, planned real estate for this Chinatown is modeled upon those in the Los Angeles
suburbs of Monterey Park
, California
and San Gabriel
, California
, both anchored by shopping centers and supermarkets (99 Ranch Market and Shun Fat Supermarket). Before the conception of Chinatown Plaza and nearby malls, some Las Vegas residences had to travel as far as 200 mi (321.9 km) to the nearest "suburban Chinatown" in Monterey Park to shop for authentic Asian groceries. To cater to the Chinese-speaking locals and tourists, entrepreneur James Chen spearheaded a drive in Las Vegas. There are now several businesses in Chinatown that are extensions of prominent Southern California
businesses, including Asian supermarket
chains, restaurants, bakery, travel agents and the like.
It is generally unlike the older Chinatowns throughout the country; the Las Vegas Chinatown takes the form of strip malls with a diverse range of restaurants. The suburban-style 99 Ranch Market
chain is a key anchor to the area, with other Southern California-based chain businesses such as the Sam Woo Restaurant
(serving Cantonese cuisine
), 168 Shanghai Restaurant (serving Shanghai and Taiwanese cuisine), Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant (serving Cantonese cuisine and dim sum), and Kim Tar Restaurant (serving Teochew cuisine). There is also a Chinese
noodle and dumpling restaurant serving Shanghai
-style noodle
s, dumplings, spring onion pancakes and tofu
dishes. Cantonese seafood restaurants are also present, as well as the Vietnamese sandwich banh mi
. Vietnamese restaurants selling pho include Pho Vietnam and Pho Kim Long. The New York City
-based Penang Restaurant offers Malaysian cuisine.
The Chinatown (or the Asian business district) extends for 2.5 miles (4 km). The western end terminates at Korea Town Plaza at the intersection of Spring Valley Rd. and Rainbow Blvd. Greenland Supermarket is the anchor tenant in Korea Town Plaza, which has 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²) of building space on 10 acres (40,468.6 m²). The owners of the grocery store in October 2009 estimated that Las Vegas has 200,000 Asian-Americans, of which 30,000 are Korean. The census bureau has previously estimated 128,594 Asian-Americans in their 2006-2008 Community Survey for Clark County. But an additional 127,215 respondents checked the some other race category which may include many people who decline to choose a race with which they most closely identify. Another 10,036 responded Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander and 60,416 responded two or more races. Adding in another 10% growth in county population since that time, the figure of 200,000 may be an underestimate.
route #203 runs at half hour intervals starting from the bus stand next to the Fashion Show Mall
near the base of the pedestrian bridge crossing from Treasure Island
. Transit time on the bus to the district is from 8 to 18 minutes from the eastern end to western end. The 24-hour pass on The Deuce
is also valid on local buses for no extra charge.
, with restaurants offering regional Chinese
and Hong Kong
cuisine as well as other Asian cuisine (Filipino, Korean, Japanese
, and Vietnamese). The assortment of businesses also includes a book store (selling Chinese language
publications), a ginseng
shop, a travel agent, a VCD
store, a bakery
, and an optometrist.
The entrance of the parking lot of Chinatown Plaza is marked by an ornamental traditional Chinese arch (called in Mandarin Chinese paifang
), providing an opportunity for photo-taking. There are also statues in front of the mall depicting Xuan Zang and the Monkey King, characters from the epic Journey to the West
, a Ming Dynasty
-era classic from Chinese literature
.
These Las Vegas shopping centers contain unique architecture that combine traditional Chinese motifs and red gateways with modern-style strip malls found in American suburbia and are located well away from the touristy casino areas. Chinatown is not a residential district as in other Chinatowns and very few live in the immediate vicinity. Nevertheless, it is a central location for a booming Asian origin population in Las Vegas.
During the Chinese New Year, the Chinatown Plaza hosts Las Vegas's annual Asian food festival
with lion and dragon dance
performances (performed by a local Shaolin
group) and Japanese taiko drum performances as well as martial arts demonstrations. There are also stalls offering goods and services oriented around Chinese culture. The Miss Chinatown Las Vegas pageant
is held in Chinatown Plaza, where the winner will represent Chinatown.
Similarly, Pacific Asian Plaza is the venue for the Chinese autumnal Moon Festival.
To promote cultural diversity
and understanding, field trips to Chinatown Plaza bring students from local elementary schools and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
who are interested in learning about Chinese culture.
. At present, the population of Asian American
s in the Las Vegas area (Clark County) is 132,032 and comprise 7.2% of the total population as of the 2005-2009 Census
. Almost half of the City of Las Vegas Chinese American
population - numbering at 2,784 residents - are from Taiwan
. Some are also from mainland China
and Southeast Asia. There are significant numbers of ethnic Chinese in the city of Las Vegas as well as in the Las Vegas suburbs of Spring Valley
and Paradise
. Filipinos
remain the largest Asian ethnic group of the Las Vegas area, that is, the city itself and surrounding suburbs.
In comparison with the early 1990s when the size of the Chinese population was nominal, Las Vegas now has Chinese-language newspapers and a Chinese American Chamber of Commerce. The Las Vegas Chinese Daily News, based in Chinatown, was founded by an immigrant from Taiwan. Other newspapers, such as conservative-leaning World Journal
and liberal-leaning International Daily News
, come from the Los Angeles area (specifically from Monterey Park).
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
of Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
(Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 拉斯維加斯中國城 (pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Lāsīwéijiāsī Zhōngguóchéng) is a series of large strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
s with ethnic Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
and other pan-Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n businesses on Spring Mountain Road
Spring Mountain Road
State Route 591 was a highway running east–west in the Las Vegas metropolitan area along Spring Mountain Road. Spring Mountain Road is the main road for the Chinatown area of Vegas which parallels Spring Mountain from just east of Valley View Boulevard to just west of Rainbow Boulevard...
, with the original called Chinatown Plaza. The strip mall was conceived by Taiwanese American developer James Chih-Cheng Chen, and opened in 1995. Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
Governor Kenny Guinn
Kenny Guinn
Kenneth Carroll "Kenny" Guinn was an American businessman, educator and politician. He was the 27th Governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2007. He was a member of the Republican Party and a former member of the Democratic Party....
officially designated the area as Chinatown in October 1999 and it continues to grow as the Asian population in Las Vegas expands rapidly. The Chinatown area has gained much popularity, receiving national attention in a 2004 article by The Wall Street Journal (See Further Reading below for the specific citation). Although called "Chinatown", the many Asian
Culture of Asia
The culture of Asia is human civilization in Asia. It features different kinds of cultural heritage of many nationalities, societies, and ethnic groups in the region, traditionally called a continent from a Western-centric perspective, of Asia...
influences other than Chinese might make that name a misnomer, with the commercial area having a character perhaps better described as an Asian District.
Spring Mountain Road was once a run-down corridor with strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
s, but Chinatown Plaza and other adjacent power centers have emerged as an archetypal example of immigrants taking an old neighborhood given up for dead by the previous residents and reviving it with major investments as a bustling center of ethnic minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
commerce.
Boundaries and makeup
Chinatown is located west of the Las Vegas StripLas Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
, 1.4 miles (2.3 km) from Las Vegas Blvd. where the Fashion Show Mall
Fashion Show Mall
Fashion Show Mall is a shopping mall located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Fashion Show Mall is owned by the General Growth Properties Inc. With of space, this is one of the largest enclosed malls in the world...
, Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
, Wynn
Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Las Vegas is a resort and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The US $2.7 billion resort is named after casino developer Steve Wynn and is the flagship property of Wynn Resorts Limited. The resort covers . It is located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Sands Avenue Wynn Las...
, and The Venetian casinos are located. Spring Mountain Road is the main street. Also comprising Chinatown are a number of Filipino
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n, Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and Vietnamese American
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
businesses serving a pan-Asian community. Besides serving the local population and tourists, according to a 2004 Wall Street Journal article, Chinatown was especially conceived as an area to offer value authentic Chinese cuisine for inbound Chinese-speaking tourists coming from Southern California and East Asia.
Chinatown is one of the few places where one can find authentic Chinese and Asian ethnic cuisines, such as Hong Kong-style roast duck, won ton noodles, Vietnamese pho
PHO
PHO may refer to:* Primary Health Organisation* Potentially hazardous object, an asteroid or comet that could potentially collide with Earth...
noodle soup, Japanese sushi, or Taiwanese boba tea. The popularity of 99 Ranch Market
99 Ranch Market
Although most of its customers are ethnic Chinese Americans and Taiwanese Americans, shoppers also include recent immigrants from China, ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, and others. The chain sells a wide range of imported food products and merchandise from Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, ...
, an Asian supermarket
Asian supermarket
An Asian supermarket, sometimes called an "Oriental supermarket", is a grocery store in non-Asian countries that stocks items imported from the many countries in East and Southeast Asia. They carry items and ingredients generally well-suited for Asian cuisines and not found in most Western...
where live fresh seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
or bottles of authentic oyster sauce
Oyster sauce
Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking oysters. The most common in modern use is a viscous dark brown condiment made from sugar, salt and water thickened with cornstarch, flavoured with a little oyster essence or extract and some versions may be darkened with caramel, though high...
, and other imported Asian-branded foodstuffs can be purchased, has been featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in Las Vegas . It is the flagship publication of Stephens Media LLC...
.
The aesthetic of the Las Vegas Chinatown bears a strong resemblance to the suburban "Chinatowns" found in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
(and even as far away as Houston, Texas
Chinatown, Houston
Chinatown is a community in southwestern Houston, Texas, United States. It is roughly bounded by Fondren, Beechnut, State Highway 6, and Westpark, west of Bellaire in the Alief area. The naming of the new Chinatown is disputed, as various ethnic groups live within the community...
), in the form of sprawl with large parking lots. For example, in contrast to many urban U.S. Chinatowns — where unforeseen growth forced working class immigrants to congregate, live and work in a small area — the expansive, planned real estate for this Chinatown is modeled upon those in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
suburbs of Monterey Park
Monterey Park, California
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. The city's motto is "Pride in the past, Faith in the future"...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and San Gabriel
San Gabriel, California
San Gabriel is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is named after the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founded by Junipero Serra. The city grew outward from the mission and in 1852 became the original township of Los Angeles County. San Gabriel was incorporated in 1913...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, both anchored by shopping centers and supermarkets (99 Ranch Market and Shun Fat Supermarket). Before the conception of Chinatown Plaza and nearby malls, some Las Vegas residences had to travel as far as 200 mi (321.9 km) to the nearest "suburban Chinatown" in Monterey Park to shop for authentic Asian groceries. To cater to the Chinese-speaking locals and tourists, entrepreneur James Chen spearheaded a drive in Las Vegas. There are now several businesses in Chinatown that are extensions of prominent Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
businesses, including Asian supermarket
Asian supermarket
An Asian supermarket, sometimes called an "Oriental supermarket", is a grocery store in non-Asian countries that stocks items imported from the many countries in East and Southeast Asia. They carry items and ingredients generally well-suited for Asian cuisines and not found in most Western...
chains, restaurants, bakery, travel agents and the like.
It is generally unlike the older Chinatowns throughout the country; the Las Vegas Chinatown takes the form of strip malls with a diverse range of restaurants. The suburban-style 99 Ranch Market
99 Ranch Market
Although most of its customers are ethnic Chinese Americans and Taiwanese Americans, shoppers also include recent immigrants from China, ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, and others. The chain sells a wide range of imported food products and merchandise from Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, ...
chain is a key anchor to the area, with other Southern California-based chain businesses such as the Sam Woo Restaurant
Sam Woo Restaurant
Sam Woo Restaurant is a restaurant chain that serves Hong Kong-style cuisine. It has many locations in predominantly overseas Chinese communities of Southern California, in Las Vegas, and in the suburbs of Toronto. It is commonly referred to by non-Chinese-speaking customers as "Sam Woo's" as if...
(serving Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine comes from Guangdong Province in southern China and is one of 8 superdivisions of Chinese cuisine. Its prominence outside China is due to the great numbers of early emigrants from Guangdong. Cantonese chefs are highly sought after throughout the country...
), 168 Shanghai Restaurant (serving Shanghai and Taiwanese cuisine), Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant (serving Cantonese cuisine and dim sum), and Kim Tar Restaurant (serving Teochew cuisine). There is also a Chinese
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
noodle and dumpling restaurant serving Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
-style noodle
Noodle
The noodle is a type of food, made from any of a variety of doughs, formed into long thin ribbons, strips, curly-cues, waves, helices, pipes, tubes, strings, or other various shapes, sometimes folded. They are usually cooked in a mixture of boiling water and/or oil. Depending upon the type, noodles...
s, dumplings, spring onion pancakes and tofu
Tofu
is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu...
dishes. Cantonese seafood restaurants are also present, as well as the Vietnamese sandwich banh mi
Bánh mì
Bánh mì or bánh mỳ is a Vietnamese term for all kinds of bread. Bread, or more specifically the baguette, was introduced by the French during its colonial period. The bread most commonly found in Vietnam is single serve and resembles a torpedo, therefore the term bánh mì is synonymous with this...
. Vietnamese restaurants selling pho include Pho Vietnam and Pho Kim Long. The New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based Penang Restaurant offers Malaysian cuisine.
The Chinatown (or the Asian business district) extends for 2.5 miles (4 km). The western end terminates at Korea Town Plaza at the intersection of Spring Valley Rd. and Rainbow Blvd. Greenland Supermarket is the anchor tenant in Korea Town Plaza, which has 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²) of building space on 10 acres (40,468.6 m²). The owners of the grocery store in October 2009 estimated that Las Vegas has 200,000 Asian-Americans, of which 30,000 are Korean. The census bureau has previously estimated 128,594 Asian-Americans in their 2006-2008 Community Survey for Clark County. But an additional 127,215 respondents checked the some other race category which may include many people who decline to choose a race with which they most closely identify. Another 10,036 responded Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander and 60,416 responded two or more races. Adding in another 10% growth in county population since that time, the figure of 200,000 may be an underestimate.
Public transportation from the Strip
Public busRegional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is both the transit authority and the transportation-planning agency for Southern Nevada...
route #203 runs at half hour intervals starting from the bus stand next to the Fashion Show Mall
Fashion Show Mall
Fashion Show Mall is a shopping mall located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Fashion Show Mall is owned by the General Growth Properties Inc. With of space, this is one of the largest enclosed malls in the world...
near the base of the pedestrian bridge crossing from Treasure Island
Treasure Island Hotel and Casino
Treasure Island Hotel & Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA with 2,664 rooms and 220 suites, and is connected by tram to The Mirage as well as pedestrian bridge to the Fashion Show Mall shopping center...
. Transit time on the bus to the district is from 8 to 18 minutes from the eastern end to western end. The 24-hour pass on The Deuce
The Deuce
The Deuce is the name of the double-decker bus line serving Las Vegas operated by RTC Transit. These buses went into service on October 27, 2005...
is also valid on local buses for no extra charge.
Chinatown Plaza
Located on Spring Mountain Road between Valley View Boulevard and Arville Street, Chinatown Plaza (中國城, Mandarin: zhong guo cheng) comprises 85000 sq ft (7,896.8 m²) of bustling immigrant commerceCommerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, with restaurants offering regional Chinese
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
cuisine as well as other Asian cuisine (Filipino, Korean, Japanese
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...
, and Vietnamese). The assortment of businesses also includes a book store (selling Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
publications), a ginseng
Ginseng
Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....
shop, a travel agent, a VCD
VCD
VCD is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* VCD Athletic, semi-professional football team* Video CD* Voice command device* Value change dump * Vocal cord dysfunction* Visual Communication and Design...
store, a bakery
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
, and an optometrist.
The entrance of the parking lot of Chinatown Plaza is marked by an ornamental traditional Chinese arch (called in Mandarin Chinese paifang
Paifang
Paifang, also called pailou, is a traditional Chinese architectural gating style as an archway.The word paifang originally was a collective term used to describe the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese city. The largest division within a city in ancient...
), providing an opportunity for photo-taking. There are also statues in front of the mall depicting Xuan Zang and the Monkey King, characters from the epic Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...
, a Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
-era classic from Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
.
Others
Other shopping centers developed adjacently in recent years by other developers include:- Pacific Asian Plaza — opened in 2001, the 90000 sq ft (8,361.3 m²) Pacific Asian Plaza features grand Japanese accents. Shun Fat SupermarketShun Fat SupermarketShun Fat Supermarket is a small, but growing, Chinese Vietnamese American supermarket chain in the San Gabriel Valley region in California, Sacramento, California, San Pablo, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada....
, locally called SF Supermarket, is the prime anchor of this complex. - Great China Plaza — opened in 1999
- The Center at Spring Mountain — developed by non-Asian developers and opened in 2002, extended this year to include more businesses. This shopping center includes a branch of the LollicupLollicupLollicup Coffee and Tea Lollicup Coffee and Tea Lollicup Coffee and Tea (chi. 樂立杯）, formerly known as Lollicup TeaZone, is an American fast food chain specializing in bubble tea, coffee, espresso, a large variety of fruit juices, slushes and smoothies, and a variety of other kinds of cold and hot...
tea beverage franchiseFranchisingFranchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
, a Taiwanese American company originally from Southern California.
These Las Vegas shopping centers contain unique architecture that combine traditional Chinese motifs and red gateways with modern-style strip malls found in American suburbia and are located well away from the touristy casino areas. Chinatown is not a residential district as in other Chinatowns and very few live in the immediate vicinity. Nevertheless, it is a central location for a booming Asian origin population in Las Vegas.
Events
During the Chinese New Year, the Chinatown Plaza hosts Las Vegas's annual Asian food festival
Food festival
A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. "These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season...
with lion and dragon dance
Dragon dance
Dragon dance is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance it is most often seen in festive celebrations. Many Chinese people often use the term "Descendants of the Dragon" as a sign of ethnic identity, as part of a trend started in the 1970s. Another...
performances (performed by a local Shaolin
Shaolin kung fu
Shaolin Kung Fu refers to a collection of Chinese martial arts that claim affiliation with the Shaolin Monastery.Of the multitude styles of kung fu and wushu, only some are actually related to Shaolin...
group) and Japanese taiko drum performances as well as martial arts demonstrations. There are also stalls offering goods and services oriented around Chinese culture. The Miss Chinatown Las Vegas pageant
Beauty contest
A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...
is held in Chinatown Plaza, where the winner will represent Chinatown.
Similarly, Pacific Asian Plaza is the venue for the Chinese autumnal Moon Festival.
To promote cultural diversity
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
and understanding, field trips to Chinatown Plaza bring students from local elementary schools and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Nevada-Las Vegas is a public, coeducational university located in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada, USA. The campus is located approximately east of the Las Vegas Strip. The institution includes a Shadow Lane Campus, located just east of the University Medical Center of...
who are interested in learning about Chinese culture.
Asian demographics of Las Vegas
Originally, "Chinatown" was conceived for the purpose of serving Chinese-speaking tourists and businesses visiting Las Vegas from the Southern California area and AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. At present, the population of Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
s in the Las Vegas area (Clark County) is 132,032 and comprise 7.2% of the total population as of the 2005-2009 Census
. Almost half of the City of Las Vegas Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
population - numbering at 2,784 residents - are from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Some are also from mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
and Southeast Asia. There are significant numbers of ethnic Chinese in the city of Las Vegas as well as in the Las Vegas suburbs of Spring Valley
Spring Valley, Nevada
Spring Valley is an unincorporated town in Clark County, Nevada, United States located two miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. The population was 117,390 at the 2000 census.-Background:...
and Paradise
Paradise, Nevada
Paradise is an unincorporated town in the Las Vegas metropolitan area in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 223,167 at the 2010 census...
. Filipinos
Filipino American
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy",Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century...
remain the largest Asian ethnic group of the Las Vegas area, that is, the city itself and surrounding suburbs.
In comparison with the early 1990s when the size of the Chinese population was nominal, Las Vegas now has Chinese-language newspapers and a Chinese American Chamber of Commerce. The Las Vegas Chinese Daily News, based in Chinatown, was founded by an immigrant from Taiwan. Other newspapers, such as conservative-leaning World Journal
World Journal
World Journal is a daily Chinese language newspaper serving overseas Chinese in North America. The newspaper has its headquarters in Whitestone, Queens, New York City....
and liberal-leaning International Daily News
International Daily News
International Daily News is a major Chinese-language newspaper in North America and Indonesia. Launched in 1981 in the city of Monterey Park, California...
, come from the Los Angeles area (specifically from Monterey Park).
External links
- Las Vegas Chinatown Plaza
- The Center at Spring Mountain
- Las Vegas Chinatown Guide
- Pacific Asian Plaza
- Chinatown expands borders - Las Vegas Review-Journal article
- http://www.co.clark.nv.us/Public_Communications/news_releases/060403_asian.htm
- http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/gbp/ant427/ant427fm/ - An ethnic studies ethnography project with very descriptive work on Chinatown Plaza from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Plenty of fine pics for good measure.
Further reading
- For Asians in U.S., Mini-Chinatowns Sprout in Suburbia, Barry Newman, The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, April 28, 2004 (article on development of Las Vegas's Chinatown). - American Chinatown: A People's History of Five Neighborhoods, Bonnie Tsui, 2009 ISBN 978-1416557234 Official website