Love Letters to Boston Chinatown
Places that residents and community members wrote to in reflection of their love for the neighborhood
Dear Reader,
If there’s anything that you need to know about me, it’s that I love love. As much as I’ve tried to hide away from it, I can’t help it – it’s true! The experience of love is something that is able to capture such a wide breadth of emotions – in all the ways that life can be joyful, embarrassing, tender, complicated, and everything in between, so can love. What’s not to like?
During the height of quarantine, many of these tumultuous emotions and so much more were brought to the surface of our minds and left to fester as the months of lockdown continued. We were confronting uncomfortable realities about ourselves and the world around us in a devastating ongoing pandemic. In Boston Chinatown, restaurants and businesses were hard-hit by the lack of income, while temporary small-business loans provided little relief to the establishments that had already been facing the consequences of gentrification and skyrocketing rent prices well before the pandemic.
So began the Love Letters to Boston Chinatown campaign, officially exhibiting in June 2020 – inspired by New York City’s Wing on Wo & Co’s original project, this initiative was spearheaded by the Pao Arts Center, and invited residents and neighbors to boost morale and strengthen the API community of Chinatown through letters that celebrated favorite spots, memories, or people that had impacted their lives. Community members were prompted: “Write a love letter to a person, business, or organization you hold dear in Chinatown. Consider Chinatown as a living being. What would you say to Chinatown during this time? What do you want her to know? What stories do you want to share?”
The responses were tremendous – across generations and languages, people were eager to share their stories from time spent with friends and family in Chinatown, kind messages to the community organizations and programs that helped shape their personal identities, words of encouragement for the community, and even personal confessions about how Chinatown has been a place of solace, reprieve, and belonging during periods of personal pain and loneliness.
"When I first moved here, this was the first place that felt like home, because people didn't stare at me."
And it didn’t just stop there. From then on, the tradition of writing love letters continued, into events that Pao Arts Center hosted, such as the annual Experience Chinatown, a month-long festival that celebrates the neighborhood through performances, exhibitions, and murals. Even as the world started opening back up, people were excited to share the fond memories that they had growing up in Chinatown, and the ways that it had changed now.
Map of Chinatown, 1902 vs. 2014
Map of Chinatown, 1938 vs. 2014
Map of Chinatown, 1972 vs. 2014
Map of Chinatown, 1988 vs. 2014
There have many changes in the community, even before the pandemic. Maps have the power to document lifelines of neighborhoods. In the maps above created by the Chinatown Atlas, you can see how Urban Renewal initiatives pushed by the Massachusetts state government in the 1950’s and 60’s destroyed row houses along Hudson Street that would be replaced by the Central Artery, effectively displacing hundreds of families in a matter of months. Construction and the air pollution that followed from the emissions of vehicles traveling along the highways would soon make Chinatown the neighborhood with the worst air quality in the entire state.
The continued development and gentrification of a community that was once considered to have undesirable land has also made the battle to stay living in Chinatown affordable and sustainably difficult. Though maps tell a big portion of the story, they don’t show everything – they can’t illustrate the individual lives and relationships that have been untethered and made stronger by these changes. That’s why the partnership between the maps and the love letters is so critical, because they paint a more detailed picture of what life in Chinatown is really like, and why it is so worth fighting to maintain.
These letters and this initiative were truly a labor of love from start to finish, so I hope you enjoy reading through them as much as I did.
Much love,
Ashley
Our Favorite Spaces and Places
A special feature for some of the key places that our community members cherish
Chinatown Gate
The Chinatown Gate, with its two tiered tiled roofs with guardian lions residing on each side, stands as an iconic symbol of Boston Chinatown. At the intersection of Beach Street and Surface Road welcoming guests and community members alike into our neighborhood, this gate is one of many around the country that mark the entry into Chinatowns. Designed by David Judelson, the gate was gifted to Boston Chinatown by Taiwan in 1982, when China and Taiwan were competing to build Chinatown gates across the country during the Cold War. As such, Taiwanese and American flags hang above the gate, signifying their generous donation.
For the community, the Gate functions not only as a landmark meeting point, but also as a community gathering space. You will often find seniors here playing a game of xiangqi (Chinese chess) or mahjong, while children and families play on the PlayCubes nearby.
Restaurants
Nothing can quite beat the nostalgic familiarity of the bustle from busy dim sum restaurants on treasured weekends out in Chinatown, or the comfort of indulging in an abundant breadth of dishes too complex to recreate in a home cook’s kitchen. For many, food is a sixth love language that communicates care beyond words – it’s only fitting that in a fast-paced city, the perfect way to display affection is through the act of cooking, exchanging food, recipes, memories, and more. Boston Chinatown has had an illustrious history of restaurants going back to the end of World War I, when restaurants and laundry businesses became main economic drivers of social mobility for new immigrant families.
Select quote from Fiona Yuan's Love Letter -- read more at the button below!
Bakeries and Bubble Tea Shops
Several of these family-run dessert shops have evolved to become institutional staples in our memories, while boba shops have been on the rise due to their trending popularity. At the same time, these spots have grown to function as important social hubs for young people in the area, offering more than just boba, egg tarts, and pineapple buns, but also space to deepen friendships and other critical relationships.
Grocery Stores and Supermarkets
Grocery stores in Chinatown continue to be places where people find solace in acquiring ingredients that wouldn’t otherwise be sold in their local supermarkets – not just in Chinese cuisine, but all across the Asian diaspora. Whether it’s all the right spices to cook up a childhood dish for the first time on your own, frozen dumplings to satisfy your cravings in a pinch, or imported Asian snacks that make you reminisce about summers abroad in your grandmother’s apartment, the Boston Chinatown grocery store experience is sure to conjure both familiar memories and exciting possibilities for what to make next. Not only that, but the fresh produce at affordable prices are a treasure to the community that is not taken for granted.
Community Organizations
Community organizations serve as a critical vessel in maintaining the health and well-being of a neighborhood, offering services to support residents to access affordable housing, language-learning skills, childcare, political resources, cultural education, extracurricular activities, and more. For many, community organizations are safe landing places for new immigrants to gain the skills and support needed to get on their feet in an unfamiliar country, and fight to protect sacred spaces against the looming forces of gentrification and displacement. These organizations are advocates and placekeepers for the community, constantly trying to improve the quality of life for residents and community members. It is due to the tireless efforts of activists and local organizations that Boston Chinatown is able to continue to stand as it is today, and the work is far from over.
Parks and Recreational Space
The parks and integration of green space in Chinatown have faced many new iterations of change in recent years. Still, some beautiful things never change. By Mary Soo Hoo Park, you can find elders playing xiangqi (Chinese chess), practicing taichi, or just enjoying each other’s company. In Auntie Kay and Uncle Chin Park, green and orange PlayCubes provide children and families with an opportunity to let loose and have fun. The rotating public art pieces in Chinatown Park and by the Hudson Street Stoop provide people with new ways to engage in the spaces, eating lunch and socializing in new seating areas. A bit farther from the central gates, you might find 9-Man volleyball teams practicing on the blacktops of Reggie Wong Park.
Having green space in a community is particularly critical in Boston Chinatown, as highway air pollution from the Central Artery has troubled this neighborhood with the worst air quality in the state, which could lead to breathing problems, asthma, and even lung cancer – just one of many devastating consequences from the urban renewal projects from the 1950s and 60s. With the context that Chinatown has historically been home to low-income and working class residents of color with limited immediate access to public park services, the health ramifications of having such troublesome air quality conditions is jarring. Generating access to green spaces in response to community requests is one important first step in the aftermath of highway air pollution.
9-Man Documentary Trailer
The Tradition of 9-Man Volleyball
On the blacktops of Reggie Wong Park, you can often find people playing scrimmage volleyball games with intense ferocity. The tradition of this kind of street volleyball, better known as 9-Man, originated from the resourcefulness and ingenuity of Chinese laundry workers in the 1930s. The Immigration Act of 1924 effectively barred Asians from entering or leaving the United States, in addition to making all Asians ineligible for citizenship – consequently, the immigrant workers who had already made the journey to the states prior to the passing of this act were further alienated from any semblance of community or their homeland.
With little reprieve for recreation from the constant struggle of demanding labor, language barriers, and hostile discrimination, the men did what they could with what they had, making use of the backyard of the Chinatown YMCA by playing volleyball – an accessible sport because of its popularity in China and minimal equipment requirement. The rules in China had been tweaked from the original format, with nine men on each side, a bigger court, and no rotating positions during games. 9-Man quickly became a way of gathering and creating community amongst a group of otherwise isolated workers, making space to socialize and better understand each other.
Since then, 9-Man has developed into a flourishing tradition, with the first North American Chinese Invitational Volleyball Tournament (NACIVT) held in Boston in 1944. Since then, 9-Man has spread to Chinatowns all across the US and Canada, with annual tournaments that draw in massive crowds with dedicated fanbases. The game has since expanded to also include divisions for women’s teams, and anyone is welcome to play informally. In an effort to keep some old traditions, however, the official guide for national tournaments maintains that at least ⅔ of each team must be “100% Chinese,” while the remaining three members should be of Asian descent.
The story of 9-Man is a reflection of Chinese resilience in the face of racism, hardship, and injustice. Their legacy in Chinatown is critical to the neighborhood’s history, and continues to be an important element in maintaining the fabric of Chinatown’s culture today.
Team Spotlight: The Boston Hurricanes
The Boston Hurricanes are a sports program focusing on volleyball and basketball as athletic focuses, while also encouraging the development of social, educational, and professional skills through community service. Formed in 1970, they have since become a premier destinations for athletes across generations and genders to foster Asian-American identity and sportsmanship, with 9-Man, women's, and junior teams.
Photo Credit: Boston Hurricanes
Read more Love Letters to Boston Chinatown written by Boston Hurricane players below!
Community Organizations in Boston Chinatown
Highlighting just a few of the many organizations that support neighbors in Chinatown
Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW)
The Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) is a pan-Asian member-led organization that builds grassroots power through political education, creative expression, and issue-based and neighborhood organizing. Established in Boston Chinatown in 1979 and now based in Dorchester, AARW has had a long history of advocating for the AAPI community, with current campaigns running in housing justice, immigration and deportation, fighting criminalization, and encouraging civic engagement.
Photo credits: Asian American Resource Workshop
Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC)
Formed in 1987, ACDC aims to provide affordable housing and sustainable neighborhoods for underserved and immigrant Asian American communities in the Greater Boston area. Not only do they build affordable homes in the Chinatown area, but they also empower families with asset-building tools, and strengthen residents and youth through leadership programs. Some examples include teaching financial literacy and home buying skills to low-income and immigrant families, the A-VOYCE summer leadership program, community organizing to preserve land in Chinatown for affordable housing, and creative placekeeping campaigns.
Photo credit: Asian Community Development Corporation
Boston Asian Youth Essential Services
Originally founded in 1975 by youth workers, educators, and community activists, Boston Asian YES aims to tap into and actualize the potential of Asian youth in the Chinatown and greater Boston community, particularly those without the access to services, resources, and opportunities that match their specific needs and interests. YES provides language and culture services in 4 dialects of Chinese and Vietnamese to support low-income immigrant Asian youth who face challenges in school, at home, and in the community with cultural barriers.
Photo credit: Boston Asian Youth Essential Services
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC)
BCNC empowers Asians and new immigrants in the Chinatown community to build healthy families and achieve greater economic success through family-centered programs and services. Through childcare and enrichment programs, education and workforce initiatives, and family and community engagement, BCNC is able to support over 13,000 community members annually. To better understand and strengthen their family services, they also conduct research on community issues with high priority, such as health, gentrification, parenting, problem gambling, and the impacts of COVID-19.
Photo credit: Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
Chinese Progressive Association
CPA is a grassroots community organization that works toward equality and empowerment of the Chinese community in Chinatown and the greater Boston area. Founded in 1977 by Chinese immigrants, families, and elderly working in low-wage industries, they originally organized to have more input in the desegregation process of Boston schools and land development of Chinatown. Since then, they have consistently worked to improve the living and working conditions of Chinese Americans, organizing around a breadth of causes including adult education, Chinatown Stabilization Campaign for affordable housing, Workers Center solidarity building, environmental justice campaigns, and the Chinatown Youth Initiative.
Photo credit: Chinese Progressive Association
Pao Arts Center
Pao Arts Center was founded in 2017 as a visionary collaboration between Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center and Bunker Hill Community College to celebrate and strengthen the API community of Chinatown and Greater Boston, through culturally relevant art, education, and creative programs. Pao Arts Center is the first arts and culture center that Boston Chinatown has ever had, and they aim to promote cultural equity and support API artists by lowering the barrier of access to the arts. Programs such as Residence Lab, which foster partnerships between artists and community members to create public art projects, and Experience Chinatown, which is a month-long celebration that offers the public with free performances by the Chinatown main gate and exhibitions, ensure that art can be a part of everyday life for the community.
Photo Credit: Pao Arts Center
Works Cited
"About - Boston Asian YES." Boston Asian YES, Boston Asian Youth Essential Services, http://bostonasianyes.org/?page_id=601.
"Brief History of 9-Man Volleyball." Bostonese.com Online Journal / 双语网, Bostonese Online Journal, 13 Mar. 2015, https://bostonese.com/2015/03/brief-history-of-9-man-volleyball/.
"China Trade Gate (Sculpture)." Smithsonian Institution Research Information System - Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum, https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=ariall&source=~%21siartinventories&uri=full#focus.
"Chinese Progressive Association". About Us | Chinese Progressive Association, Chinese Progressive Association, https://www.cpaboston.org/eng/about-us.
Lee, Tunney, et al. "Expansion and Threats: WWII-1970's." Chinatown Atlas, Chinatown Atlas, https://www.chinatownatlas.org/era/wwii-1970s/.
Lee, Tunney, et al. "Maps." Chinatown Atlas, Chinatown Atlas, https://chinatownatlas.org/maps.
"Mission, Vision, Values." Asian American Resource Workshop, Asian American Resource Workshop, https://www.aarw.org/mision-vision-values.
Suarez, Saphia. "Tour Uncovers History of Boston's Chinatown Neighborhood." The Bay State Banner, The Bay State Banner, 8 Aug. 2018, https://www.baystatebanner.com/2018/08/10/tour-uncovers-history-of-bostons-chinatown-neighborhood/.
Wei, Max. "Air Pollution in Chinatown Continues to Alarm Residents." Sampan, Sampan, 12 Apr. 2022, https://sampan.org/2022/boston/air-pollution-in-chinatown/#:~:text+According%20to%20Douglas%20Brugge%20professor%20and%20chair%20of,South%20Station%20where%20there%20are%20many%20diesel%20trains.
"What We Do." Asian Community Development Corporation, Asian Community Development Corporation, https://asiancdc.org/our-work.
"What We Do". Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, https://bcnc.net/our-programs.
