Across the country, people of Chinese origin have formed communities to help them feel at home. These groups often provide services to help them with business, family and recreation.
After the war, passage of laws such as the McCarran-Walter Act remove racial barriers to immigration and new quotas allow more refugees to enter the United States. Chinese communities in large cities and suburbs grow.
Chinese Festivals
Chinese festivals aren’t just celebrations – they are the heartbeat of China’s culture. They bring together history, tradition and community spirit, allowing the next generation to connect with their heritage in the modern world.
The most important festival of the year is Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year. It is a time of family reunion dinners, feasting and giving gifts, especially red envelopes (Hongbao) filled with money. Red is also a prominent color during this time, symbolizing prosperity and driving away bad luck.
Another important festival is Qingming, known as Pure Brightness Festival. This is a day to remember and pay tribute to one’s ancestors, as well as exorcise evil spirits. Another is the Double Seventh Festival, or Chinese Valentine’s Day, which celebrates a romantic fairy tale of a cowherd and weaver girl. And finally, the Chongyang Festival celebrates health and longevity, with activities such as hiking and drinking chrysanthemum wine.
Chinese Restaurants
Chinese restaurants are a staple of the American culinary landscape, offering both authentic meals and fusion dishes that blend in other Asian cuisines. They can be found everywhere from big coastal cities to small inland towns, with some even getting national attention. From fast-casual places like Shu Jiao Fu Zhou to upscale sit-down eateries, here are some of the best Chinese restaurants in America.
Located in San Francisco, this Chinatown classic has been in business since 1849. It’s still a popular destination for lunch, and it’s not uncommon to see a line out the door. The menu is massive, but the highlights include scallion pancakes, dan dan noodles, and kung pao chicken.
This restaurant serves the foods of the Sichuan province, which is known for its intense heat and spicy flavor. Its massive menu may look traditional at first glance, but it also includes dishes like lychee grilled sea bass and Shanghai velvet shrimp. The restaurant uses techniques like pickling, drying, and smoking to create a unique flavor profile for each dish.
Chinese Schools
The city of New York has the largest Chinese population outside of Asia and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island have the fastest growth. These areas have a large variety of cultural organizations and language schools including Chinese school, folk dance groups, playhouses, choruses, sports clubs, etc.
Many American parents are curious about how Chinese schools compare to traditional American schools. Here are three major differences.
Besides the New York City Department of Education-run PS184 Shuang Wen (
Chinese Businesses
A diverse group of Chinese businesses is eager to enter the Canadian marketplace. Spanning several industries, these companies are seeking opportunities to drive growth through innovation exchange and strategic collaboration.
While American CEOs used to swoon over China, the country’s flagging economy and strained relations with the United States have put a sobering spin on business operations there. Intellectual property theft, an expanded espionage law and the balloon spying incident have made some companies rethink their China strategy.
In New York City, a significant number of Chinese businesses are based in Flushing, the heart of Queens’ Chinatown. Manhattan’s Chinatown, in contrast, grew later, when immigrants from Fuzhou and other non-Cantonese regions began moving to the area. Many of those newcomers could not relate to Manhattan’s Chinatown’s largely Cantonese culture, so they created their own nexus in Flushing’s Chinatown. They were soon joined by more Taiwanese and mainland Chinese, whose communities have now grown to span a wide swath of the neighborhood.