Home to hundreds of Chinese immigrants and their families, 8th Avenue is arguably New York City’s largest growing Chinatown. Though the name is comprised of only one avenue, Brooklyn’s very own Chinatown spreads all throughout 5th Avenue to 9th Avenue. As you walk down this busy neighborhood, you’ll spot a multitude of Chinese restaurants, supermarkets, dessert places, etc. Anything you may need, this neighborhood will provide it for you. This neighborhood is so popular and well known that the Beijing government planned to gift a 40-foot tall “friendship” archway to symbolize the bridge between New York and the Chinese culture as a way to welcome visitors to the area. Though the project has ceased to begin, there’s no telling how important this neighborhood is to not only the people it houses but also the culture it reaches beyond.
History
Being born and raised in another part of Brooklyn, I wasn’t very exposed to the Chinese culture, as I mostly focused on perfecting my English and excelling in school. In elementary school, I was surrounded by white people and only had Caucasian friends. It wasn’t until I went to a specialized middle school with roughly a 70% Asian population (at the time), where I was exposed to people that looked and came from similar cultural backgrounds as I did. Shortly after finishing elementary school, I moved to Sunset Park, to which I discovered a little Chinatown in my own backyard.
The history behind Chinatown is certainly rich and dates back 170 years ago. The very first Chinatown in America was located in San Francisco, California, and served as “an unofficial landing port of entry for Chinese immigrants escaping economic and political chaos in the mid-1800s.”Developed during the Californian gold rush, Chinese immigrants sought out jobs to make a better life for themselves and achieve the American dream. As the population of Chinese immigrants grew, more and more hubs developed all over the country leading to multiple Chinatowns across the United States. Though the Chinatowns in California have been revamped and renovated with the backings of wealthy Chinese merchants, the Chinatowns in New York provide tourists a more realistic portrayal of many towns and villages in China today.
Embedded Ideas Within The Neighborhood
The Chinese name of a business is typically bolder and bigger in terms of the font in comparison to the English name or translation (fig. 1). In many instances, there are more pieces of Chinese writing in marketing than there are English. Especially in figure 2, you can see how the storefront has a lot of Chinese on the window, with only English abbreviations. This shows how the neighborhood wants to emphasize Chinese culture and keep it alive, as well as the fact that many of the residents in the area typically understand or prefer to communicate in Chinese while also assimilating with the western language.
In the cases where the signs are mostly in English, it’s typically seen with construction signs and notices that are issued by the government or in stores that aren’t owned by the Chinese (fig. 3). As seen in the signs below, because there is also a growing Latino population within Sunset Park and nearby 8th avenue, there have also been signs that include a Spanish translation (fig.4). It truly depends on where on 8th Avenue you are walking down. When you’re near 40th to 47th street, where there are a lot of Latino residents and you will see more signs in English and in Spanish. In figure 5, MetroPCS has a sign written solely in English because most of their consumer base are English speakers. Most notable, however, in a more condensed Chinese area of 8th Avenue, there is a church that posted a sign that is translated into Chinese, English, and Spanish, showing that although they are part of different ethnicities, all the cultures can come together to share their religion (fig. 6). What this means from a linguistic landscape point of view is that the neighborhood acknowledges that although they are mostly Chinese, they also contain residents that speak different languages and are open to supporting those communities as well.
To shift the focus onto more prominent signs, a majority of the businesses are seen donning yellow awning with red font or vice versa. What’s interesting about this is that yellow and red are seen to be lucky colors in Chinese culture. Yellow represents royalty and is one of the many colors that represent wealth, whereas red represents happiness, success, and good fortune. The two colors together are perceived to mean longevity, luck, and hopefully ward off evil spirits from the business. Being decorated in these colors are meant to protect businesses and aid them in their journeys to success. Very rarely will Chinese businesses decorate themselves in colors that are perceived to be “unlucky.” Most notably these colors are white, black, and on occasion, green. With this in mind, it shows just how superstitious Chinese culture is and how it translates into how 8th Avenue is designed. So not only is language encapsulated within the signage of the neighborhood but superstitions within the culture are embedded alongside them as well; the signs unconsciously promote Chinese ideals within the area.
This also ties into the Chinese value called Guan Xi, or 关系. What Guan Xi is, is “having personal trust and a strong relationship with someone” and it’s very apparent in the marketing of 8th Avenue. Besides the signs of promotions, most of the marketing within the neighborhood is done via word of mouth. There will always be old men outside seafood markets that will yell in their native dialects to buy one fish and get another for half off or old Asian aunties that will always haggle and try to convince you to enter their business. The idea of Guan Xi forges a bond within the neighborhood, sort of like a symbiotic relationship. If you help them and their business out, they’ll give you discounts and a new relationship out of it.
Sense of Community and Acceptance
In relation to Guan Xi, another theme that is very prevalent within the linguistic landscape of Brooklyn’s Chinatown is the sense of community. You see the Chinese language everywhere, whether it be in the signs or the people that visit the area and it reminds them of what life is like back to where they consider home, China. There are even community development organizations, Brooklyn Chinese-American Association (BCA) (fig. 10) in particular whose main goal is to help the community. This organization aims to maintain the relationship within the community of 8th Avenue whether it be town hall meetings, neighborhood cleanups, or hosting annual cultural events like their Annual Chinese New Year Parade. They also plaster signs that encourage education for the youth as well as programs for the elderly to really strengthen the bond and foster relationships within the community (fig. 11).
However, this isn’t only limited to the Chinese community. In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, there have been more and more signs promoting the acceptance of people that aren’t Chinese. Due to the pandemic and turbulent times, more and more stores have put up signs spreading positivity as well as making sure people part of different communities know they are welcome in the area and are appreciated for keeping the community afloat. This spreads the message of inclusivity throughout the neighborhood and symbolizes an olive branch between different groups of people. This welcomes more people into the neighborhood which in return promotes the businesses as well as fosters genuine relationships amongst the residents and visitors (figs. 12 & 13).
All in all, family and community are what keeps 8th Avenue alive, and it’s also what has allowed Brooklyn to continue maintaining its own bustling Chinatown. Bringing in little pieces of history within the neighborhood, it has allowed its residents to relive their childhood and stay in touch with their ancestry. With its population of immigrants and their families, the businesses in 8th Avenue have tiny details that reinforce the Chinese culture and beliefs that have been instilled in them generations ago. It has also allowed for the acknowledgment and acceptance of different cultures that may reside in the area as well. From the decorations of the awnings to the Chinese signs and guanxi, there’s no doubt this neighborhood was made by the Chinese for the Chinese.
