Transformation of a New Chinese Immigrant Community in the United States: A Case Study in Flushing, New York - Brill
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translocal chinese: east asian perspectives
11 (2017) 208-229
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Transformation of a New Chinese Immigrant
Community in the United States: A Case Study
in Flushing, New York
Christine Chin-yu Chen
National Chung-hsing University, Taiwan
cychen@dragon.nchu.edu.tw
美國新華人移民社區的轉型—以紐約法拉盛為探
討中心
陳靜瑜
國立中興大學歷史學系，台灣
Abstract
Early Chinese immigrants in America centered on the Chinatown, which had fixed
blocks and scope of activities. The distinguishing features of its ethnic culture and
economy were formed by the ethnic Chinese immigrants who dwelt there. The Chi-
natown has become identified with the early Chinese immigrants and become one
of the most unique residential areas for any ethnic group. Ever since the 1965 amend-
ments to the American Immigration and Nationality Act, however, new C hinese
arrivals no longer inhabit Chinatowns after they reach the United States. Without
stationary blocks and scopes of activities, new Chinese immigrant communities have
become enclaves accommodating multiple ethnic groups instead of one particular
ethnicity. These communities are closely connected to a variety of ethnic features
and have a tremendously different appearance from that of Chinatown. This trans-
formation is still in progress and has been widely-considered by many scholars re-
searching overseas ethnic Chinese immigrants. Flushing, in New York, is the largest
Chinese immigrant community in the twenty-first century. This essay takes it as
a case study to look into the evolution of Chinese immigrant communities in the
United States.
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Keywords
New York – Chinatown – Flushing – new Chinese immigrant communities
摘要
早期美國華人移民以唐人街為中心，它有固定的街區，一定的活動範圍。老移
民住在這個範圍內，形成它鮮明的族裔文化和經濟特色，贏得了早期華人移民
的 認 同 ， 成 為 美 國 最 具 特 色 的 族 裔 聚 居 區 之 一 。 自 1965年 新 移 民 法 修 改 後 ， 新
移民移入美國，不再以唐人街為居住區域，新華人移民社區無固定的街區，無
固定的活動範圍，無單一的族裔聚集區，甚或是多族裔聚集的區域，靠著族裔
特色融匯在一起，與過去的唐人街特色迥異，這種改變正在持續中，也是現今
研 究 海 外 華 人 的 學 者 關 注 的 課 題 。 本 文 欲 藉 由 21 世 紀 全 球 最 大 的 華 人 移 民 社
區 — 紐 約 的 法 拉 盛 （ Flushing） 為 例 ， 探 討 美 國 華 人 移 民 社 區 的 演 變 。
關鍵詞
紐約、唐人街、法拉盛、新華人移民社區
i Introduction
In the past, previous scholarship considered Chinatowns to be an early im-
migrant living pattern with fixed geographical areas and scopes of activities.
Early immigrants lived within these districts and created the vibrant ethnic
culture and economy characteristic of these areas. As a result, these areas be-
came identified with the early Chinese immigrants and became one of the
most distinctive ethnic enclaves in the United States. Some research reveals
that the Chinese in the ethnic enclaves comprising Chinatowns depended
on mutual assistance from one another.1 In Chinatowns, early arrivals helped
newcomers with insufficient funds to find jobs—mostly blue-collar jobs with
low wages. In spite of the low pay and long working hours, the newcomers
could still avoid the unemployment and competition found in the mainstream
economic system and society at large. The economic structure of this type
of Chinese ethnic enclave thus enabled new immigrants to keep a foothold
1 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave (Philadelphia, pa:
Temple University Press, 1992), 11–35.
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and, eventually, successfully enter mainstream American society. As a conse-
quence, Chinatowns did not end up as ghettos, but rather as launching points
from which Chinese immigrants could quickly enter mainstream society.2
After the issuance of the revised American Immigration and Nationality Act
in 1965, however, new Chinese immigrants entering the United States no lon-
ger took Chinatowns as their initial places of residence, and the old streets in
many Chinatowns were renovated as commercial areas. After that time, new
Chinese immigrants typically settled in satellite cities around the periphery of
Chinatowns, or migrated to the suburbs.3 The new Chinese immigrant com-
munities had no fixed geographical boundaries or scope of activity. There were
no longer any fixed ethnic enclaves for Chinese immigrants, and the features
unique to the Chinatowns of the past were lost.4 Until now, academia has yet
to settle on a definitive narrative of new Chinese immigrant communities
found dispersed in various locations. In light of these circumstances, after ex-
amining the formation of new Chinese immigrant communities in the United
States and focusing on some of the problems they have faced, this research
takes the world’s largest Chinese immigrant community, thus far, in the 21st
century—Flushing, New York—as an example in researching issues related to
the evolution of Chinese immigrant communities.
ii The Transformation from Old Chinatowns to New Chinese
Immigrant Communities
(1) The Evolution of Traditional Chinatowns
The formation of urban Chinese communities in North America can be attrib-
uted to external “push” factors and internal “pull” factors. During the 1850s, ex-
ternal push factors chiefly included a series of anti-Chinese exclusion policies
enacted by the American government, as well as the racial discrimination and
anti-Chinese sentiment exhibited by American society. Starting from the dis-
covery of gold in California in 1848, most Chinese labor in America supported
gold mining on the West Coast. Starting in 1864, after the gold deposits were
2 Chin-yu Chen, “The Chinese Immigration Life and Community Institutions in San Francis-
co’s Chinatown, 1850–1882,” Journal of the College of Liberal Arts 23 (March 1993): 107–125; see
also Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave, 41–68.
3 Min Zhou, Contemporary Chinese: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transformation
(Philadelphia, pa: Temple University Press, 2009), 43–98.
4 Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community (Philadelphia, pa: Temple
University Press, 2004), 194–217.
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exhausted, more than 20,000 Chinese laborers were recruited to build the Cen-
tral Pacific Railroad,5 however, most of them became unemployed after the
completion of the trans-continental railway in 1869, at which time some found
employment as farm workers for white farm owners in California, while many
others sought work in the industrial cities of the eastern, central, and southern
United States.6 Nevertheless, on account of a lack of skills and poor English
speaking ability, Chinese could only engage in non-mainstream fields such as
the laundry, grocery, restaurant, and garment industries.7 These areas later be-
came the major means which members of the Chinese community were able
to make a living. Because Chinese laborers accounted for a large part of the
labor market, competing with other workers, anti-Chinese sentiments started
to rise in the United States, leading to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act
by Congress in 1882.8 This Act restricted the entry of Chinese laborers into the
United States. Meanwhile, the Chinese workers that were already in the us also
suffered a surge of attacks and abuse from white thugs.9 In this anti-Chinese
atmosphere, the Chinese sought protection by settling in their own enclaves;
thus the so-called Chinatowns were established with impetus from external
factors.10
Internal “pull” factors included Chinese cultural and economic practices,
shared language, the place of origin, and psychological factors. These factors
5 Chin-yu Chen, “A Century of Chinese Discrimination and Exclusion in the United States,
1850–1965,” Chung-Hsing Journal of History 3 (April 1993): 187–215; see also John K
uo-wei
Tchen, “New York Chinese: The Nineteenth-Century Pre-Chinatown Settlement,” Chinese
America: History and Perspectives, 1990 (San Francisco, ca: Chinese Historical Society of
America, 1990), 160–161.
6 Gunther Barth, Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States, 1850–1870
(Cambridge, ma: Harvard University Press, 1964), 202–203; Chin-yu Chen, “An Image of
Chinese from the American Viewpoint,” Bulletin of Historical Research, National Taiwan
Normal University No. 48 (December, 2012), 371–402.
7 Louis Beck, New York’s Chinatown: A Historical Presentation of Its People and Places (New
York, ny: Bohemia Publishers, 1898), 23–33.
8 Chin-Yu Chen, “A Century of Chinese Discrimination and Exclusion in the United States,
1850–1965,” 187–215; see also Loïc J.D. Wacquant and William J. Wilson, “The Cost of Racial
and Class Exclusion in the Inner City,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and
Social Science 501 (1989): 8–25.
9 Stuart Creighton Miller, The Unwelcome Immigrant: The American Image of the Chinese,
1785–1882 (Berkeley and Los Angeles, ca: University of California Press, 1969), 71–72; see
also Jianxiong Wu, Overseas Immigrant and Chinese Society (Taipei: Yun-Chen Series 48,
1990), 117–131.
10 Chin-yu Chen, “A Century of Chinese Discrimination and Exclusion in the United States,
1850–1965,” 187–215.
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caused Chinese in the United States to make Chinatown the center of their
lives and a place where they could help one another. In Chinatown, the
Chinese could communicate in their mother tongue(s) and work in shops op-
erated by members of their own clans or by fellow townsmen. In a foreign land,
hearing their own languages and seeing other Chinese faces made Chinese im-
migrants feel welcomed and comforted. In addition, the fact that the Chinese
economy in Chinatown could internally absorb the labor of Chinese workers
enabled these immigrants to survive in an unwelcoming country, and let them
get ahead through hard work and race solidarity.11
During World War ii, when the Republic of China and the United States
fought side-by-side in the war against Japan, the American public’s attitude to-
ward the Chinese gradually changed. This led to the revocation of the Chinese
Exclusion Act in 1943. Aside from this, the revised Immigration and Nationality
Act of 1965 cancelled the existing immigration quota system and established
three major principles for immigration to the us: the acceptance of war refu-
gees; the acceptance of professionals possessing technical and specialized
skills; and an emphasis on family unity, all which made American immigra-
tion policies more open.12 Around the same time, during the 1960s, the United
States’ Civil Rights Movement and Affirmative Action were signs of Ameri-
can society’s adoption of a more tolerant attitude toward minority groups.13
Those Chinese who subsequently immigrated to the United States were no
longer laborers or had to rely on Chinatown for their livelihoods. I nstead, large
numbers of immigrants came from various parts of Asia and this resulted in
a dramatic increase in the Chinese population in numerous American cities
and towns.14 Traditional Chinatowns reached saturation, prompting many
Chinatown residents to move away, often to predominantly white suburbs.
This caused traditional Chinatowns to decline and initiated the rise of sub-
urban Chinatowns.15 The Chinese living in these suburban Chinatowns were
11 Chin-yu Chen, “A Century of Chinese Discrimination and Exclusion in the United States,
1850–1965,” 206; Betty Lee Sung, The Story of the Chinese in America (New York, ny: Col-
lier Books, 1967), 76–77; see also Stuart Creighton Miller, The Unwelcome Immigrants: The
American Image of the Chinese, 1785–1882, 112.
12 Chin-yu Chen, “A Century of Chinese Discrimination and Exclusion in the United States,
1850–1965,” 187–215.
13 John Kifner, “Immigrant Waves from Asia Bring an Underworld Ashore,” New York Times,
January 6, 1991, 1.
14 Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contemporary New York
(Ithaca, ny: Cornell University Press, 1992), 5–6.
15 Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community (Philadelphia, pa:
Temple University Press, 2004), 194–217.
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no longer poor immigrants from Guangdong Province in China, and they no
longer engaged in work in the laundry, garment and grocery industries. Many
of these new immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia, as well
the newcomers from China after the 1990s, have received higher education,
and many of them possessed business management experience. The econom-
ic activities of these new immigrants expanded among several countries and
formed a multinational economy. They purchased luxurious mansions and
frequently traveled between the East Asia and the United States. They also
brought assets to America and made investments in the financial industry and
real estate development. Additionally, new immigrant laborers, including il-
legal immigrants, also vitalized local development and brought new life to the
existing Chinatowns in large port cities.16 These new Chinese communities
were responsible for the founding of these major cities such as Los Angeles,
Boston and New York.17
(2) Formation of New Chinese Immigrant Communities
This transformation of the Chinese immigrant community in America oc-
curred after the revocation of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the wake of World
War ii, and particularly after the issuance of the revised Immigration and
Nationality Act of 1965, with the fundamental changes occurring in the 1980s.18
The main result of the alteration of the Immigration and Nationality Act was
a large surge of immigration from Asia and Latin America. Originally, a great
number of Chinese immigrants came from Hong Kong and Taiwan, followed
by many from Mainland China and other parts of the world. These new im-
migrants offered human resources and brought assets from various places,
initiating a large-scale transformation in the Chinese immigrant community,
for example, there were 384,000 by 1980, 681,000 by 1990, 1,195,000 by 2000,
1,683,000 by 2010, and 2,018,000 by 2013.19 That is, the Chinese population of
16 Huping Ling, “Rise of China and Its Meaning to Asian Americans,” American Review of
China Studies 14, 1 (Spring 2013): 1–23; Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cul-
tural Community, 36–37; see also Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of
Chinatown in the United States,” Cultural Geography 17 (2003): 115–120.
17 Min Zhou, “On Ethnic Capital: A Comparative Analysis of Chinatown and Chinese Eth-
noburb in the United States,” In The Transformation of Chinese America: A Collection of
Essays (Shanghai: San Lian Publishing Co., 2006), 217–244.
18 Min Zhou and Rebecca Kim, “A Tale of Two Metropolises: Immigrant Chinese Communi-
ties in New York and Los Angeles,” In Los Angeles and New York in the New Millennium, ed.
David Halle (Chicago, il: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 124–149.
19 Jan Lin, Reconstructing Chinatown: Ethnic Enclave, Global Change (Minneapolis, mi:
University of Minnesota Press, 1998), 189–190; Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The
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the United States decupled in only fifty years. What’s more, during this period,
there were about 1.4 million Chinese immigrating to the United States from
China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with permanent resident status. After 1980, at
least 88% of new Chinese immigrants immigrated as part of the family spon-
sorship, and the others were high-skilled immigrants.20
There are three characteristics of the new immigrants that differentiate
them from earlier immigrants: First, the immigrants’ backgrounds shifted from
railroad workers, miners and farm workers to the middle class. Early Chinese
immigrants were largely illiterate and had low levels of education. As a re-
sult, they had no alternative but to engage in low-paying work and live in old
Chinatowns with poorer living conditions. They were largely unwilling to as-
similate into the American society. They preferred to speak their native tongues,
consume Chinese food, and anticipate the moment when they reunited with
their family after gaining enough money. The economic scale of their work was
small, and the structure of it was usually homogenized.21 The case of new Chi-
nese immigrants, however, was totally different. Many had been born into the
urban middle class, and not only did they bring ample savings, but they also
received relatively high levels of education and were skilled professionals.22
In many cases, they uprooted their whole families and conscientiously made
investments in the us, trying to approach the norms of mainstream society
in America as closely as possible. Furthermore, the average family income of
these immigrants was higher than that of most other Americans.23
Second, the immigrants’ places of origin were much more diverse. Even
though the majority of the early immigrants were from the southern part of
Guangdong Province in China, newer Chinese immigrants not only came from
many different provinces of China but also from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other
countries in Southeast Asia. They no longer dwelled inside the C
hinatowns, but
Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120; see also u.s. Census Bureau,
2010 of Census of Population (Washington, dc: Department of Washington, 2012).
20 u.s. Census Bureau, 1960–2000 of Census of Population (Washington, dc: Department
of Washington, 1962–2002); Philip Q. Yang, “Sojourners or Settlers: Post-1965 Chinese
Immigrants,” Journal of Asian American Studies 2, 1 (1999): 61–91; Min Zhou and Ming-
gang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120; see also ins
Statistical Yearbook, 1950–1990, Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, 1950–1990 (Washington, dc: u.s. Department of Justice, 1952–1992).
21 Chin-Yu Chen, “The Chinese Immigration Life and Community Institutions in San Fran-
cisco’s Chinatown,” Journal of the College of Liberal Arts 23 (March 1993): 107–125.
22 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120.
23 Jan Lin, Reconstructing Chinatown: Ethnic Enclave, Global Change, 147–150.
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chose to reside in the satellite cities around Chinatowns, engaging in white-
collar jobs instead.24 Third, the immigrants’ residential model shifted from liv-
ing within a traditional Chinatown and expanded to various states and areas
with predominately white populations. After 1980, while some new Chinese
immigrants continued to settle in the urban areas on the east and west coasts,
others dispersed to other areas, including American states with relatively few
Chinese residents, where they lived among non-Chinese. These states includ-
ed Washington, Illinois, and Wisconsin, whose Chinese population exceeded
100,000.25 Traditionally, Chinese immigrants settled in the Chinatowns of San
Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Chicago. Nevertheless, while
these traditional Chinatowns continue to exist and welcome new immigrants,
they are no longer the ultimate destinations for many new immigrants. In
particular, new immigrants in highly skilled professions have tended to shun
downtown Chinatowns and instead head straight for the middle class resi-
dential areas in the suburbs. They brought funds to invest, bought houses and
settled down upon their arrival in the United States. The vast majority of the
Chinese in these areas has dispersed to the suburbs.26 Flushing, in New York
City, is a typical example.
iii The Formation of Flushing’s New Immigrant Community
(1) Flushing’s New Immigrant Community
Flushing was initially a white, middle-class community in the New York area
with a history typical of the region. The name “Flushing” was derived from a
city in the southwestern part of the Netherlands.27 Flushing was first occupied
by the Dutch West India Company in the 17th century (at a time when New York
was known as New Amsterdam, and itself was a Dutch colony). The residents
24 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120.
25 Him Mark Lai, Becoming American: A History of Communities and Institutions (Walnut
Creek, ca: Alta Mira Press, 2004), 300–302; Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transfor-
mation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120; see also Alejandro Portes and Ruben
G. Rumbaut, Immigrant America: A Portrait (Berkeley, ca: University of California Press,
1990), 48.
26 Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community, 36–37; see also Min
Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120.
27 Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contemporary New York,
36–45.
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of early Flushing mainly consisted of British Quaker immigrants. Because the
Dutch colonial authorities did not permit them to openly practice their reli-
gion, the Quakers signed the Flushing Remonstrance, which was the predeces-
sor of the Bill of Rights. When the United States was established, Flushing was
still home to many Quaker merchants and also the location of North America’s
first commercial tree nurseries, which provided many trees for Manhattan’s
Central Park.28
In 1898, prior to the consolidation of Brooklyn and New York City, Flush-
ing was still a small town in Queens. By the 1930s, the residents of Flushing
were comprised predominantly of Jews with low incomes.29 After Line 7 of
the New York subway system reached Flushing in 1964, it became a combined
commercial/residential area with large Chinese and Korean populations. A sta-
tion of the Washington Line of the Long Island Railroad was also established
there. During the 1970s, before the large influx of Asian and Latin American
immigrants, Flushing was regarded as a pleasant, comfortable residential area
inhabited by whites located at the edge of the metropolitan area with a fairly
sparse population. Few Chinese or other minorities lived there in those days.
But since the 1990s, Flushing has gradually become the home of Asian immi-
grants, most of whom have come from China, India and South Korea, and it has
developed a commercial district with a distinctive East Asian atmosphere.30
Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, many Chinese residents in
Manhattan moved to Flushing, and the size of its Chinese community thus
surpassed that of the old Chinatown.31
Flushing is a residential area in the northern part of the borough of Queens
in New York City. Although it is part of New York City, it is far from the old Chi-
natown in Manhattan, the center of the city.32 Flushing is not only representa-
tive of the new type of the Chinese immigrant community but also a typical
for new immigrant communities comprised of diverse ethnic groups.33 During
the early 1960s, Flushing had only one Chinese restaurant and one Chinese
28 Henry D. Waller, History of the Town Flushing, Long Island, New York (New York, ny: Nabu
Press, 2010), 72–76.
29 Henry D. Waller, History of the Town Flushing, Long Island, New York, 84–97.
30 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave (Philadelphia, pa:
Temple University Press, 1992), 185–218; see also Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Trans-
formation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120.
31 Henry D. Waller, History of the Town Flushing, Long Island, New York, 172–183; see also Min
Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120.
32 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120.
33 Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contemporary New York, ix.
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laundry, but no Chinese families or other families from minority groups lived
there.34
After 1980s, with the decline of the American economy and the growing
suburbanization phenomenon, Flushing’s demographic development had two
characteristics: On one hand, a large number of new immigrants flooded into
Flushing and the population of minority groups increased rapidly. A variety of
nationalities successfully infused Flushing with multicultural vitality. On the
other hand, Flushing’s original white residents quickly migrated away from the
area and the remaining white population aged rapidly.35 From 1980 to 2010,
white residents as a share of the population of Flushing fell from 90% to 11%.
In contrast, the Chinese and other Asian populations of Flushing rose from
7.5% to 60% in the same period.36
In 2010, the three largest groups of Asian immigrants in Flushing were com-
posed of Chinese, South Koreans, and Indians, of which Chinese accounted for
40%, Koreans accounted for 13%, and Indians accounted for 3.8%.37 The fea-
tures of these three major ethnic groups are evident in Flushing’s business dis-
trict. The Asian residents of Flushing accounted for the majority of this area,
and Flushing itself revealed an ambiance generated by a vibrant mixture of
characteristics in comparison with the uniform traits of the early Chinatown.
Flushing possesses a flourishing commercial district and vast residential
area. After 2010, according to a market survey report, Flushing possessed the
largest Chinatown in the United States, exceeding New York’s old Chinatown
in Manhattan in terms of scale.38 At that time, Asians accounted for 60% of
Flushing’s resident population, and its structure of population also included
numerous Hispanic, Filipino, and white residents that have lived here for a
long time.39 In general, Flushing is just like a small United Nations with com-
munities of Chinese, Koreans, Indians, African Americans and Whites living
side by side, even the Chinese come from many different places of origin.40
34 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–116.
35 Da-wei Long, “From Fringe to Mainstream: New Immigrants and Chinese Economies in
North America,” Overseas Chinese History Studies, No. 2 (June 2011): 1–8.
36 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120; see also Min Zhou, “On Ethnic Capital: A Comparative Analysis of Chinatown and
Chinese Ethnoburb in the United States,” 217–244.
37 u.s. Census Bureau, 1960–2010 of Census of Population, 1962–2012.
38 “Market Survey Report,” Business Weekly, August 31, 2010.
39 u.s. Census Bureau, 1960–2010 of Census of Population, 1962–2012; see also Min Zhou and
Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120.
40 It is by a Queens newspaper, the Daily News of May 30, 1990. See also http://140.109.8.58/
sinorama/content/ChEnIm.asp?chptnumber=150608, 2017/03/20.
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Before this large influx of immigrants, Flushing’s economy was chiefly sup-
ported by retail businesses, mostly in the form of small specialty stores and
shops, as well as furniture stores, household goods, and restaurants. In those
days, most of Flushing’s stores were mostly small shops run by couples, and
there were also some chain department stores and supermarkets.41 In the 1970s,
a decline in New York’s economy affected that of Flushing and forced many
small stores and companies to shut their doors. With the large influx of Asian
immigrants in the 1980s, however, Flushing received a large amount of new
capital from outside areas, and the local economy began to revive and prosper
again. Since that time, Flushing has been the epicenter, and representative of,
new Chinese immigrant communities in an urban area, and new commercial
activity has expanded throughout the original commercial downtown area.
Among the various business fields, the commercial and service businesses
owned by Chinese accounted for 75% of the area’s business activities. A variety
of groceries stores and restaurants catering to cuisines from around the world
enabled the area to become a cuisine paradise. For instance, by 2010, a fresh
supermarket was open for business in Tianjing center. At 36,000 square feet,
and it sold food from a great number of countries, including China, India, In-
donesia, Japan, Korea, Philippine, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The community’s sprawling commercial heart was lively and full of vitality.42
(2) People Concentrate in Flushing
Why have Asian people concentrated in Flushing, in particular? First, Flushing
was really brought back to life by the Chinese. Looking back to the 1970s and
1980s, several large stores opened in parts of Long Island and Queens, which
led many white residents to move away due to dissatisfaction with their dete-
riorating living environment. Situated on the northern side of Queens where
it was originally intended as a center in the city plan, Flushing’s proximity to
jfk International Airport and La Guardia airports and an additional subway
system that provided greater access for the Chinese community contributed
to the demographic change, as well.43 Flushing’s good transportation links
41 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120.
42 Da-wei Long, “From Fringe to Mainstream: New Immigrants and Chinese Economies in
North America,” 1–8; u.s. Census Bureau, 1960–2010 of Census of Population, 1962–2012;
Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120; see also Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contempo-
rary New York, 4.
43 Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contemporary New York,
21–26.
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a ttracted an influx of poorer families, leading some established residents to
conclude that the neighborhood had gone “downhill.”
Secondly, the abundance of familiar food and drink is another factor that
has attracted Chinese into the area.44 Upon exiting the subway station, one can
find many high-end Chinese restaurants and supermarkets run by Chinese, as
well as the ubiquitous Chinese-operated coffee shops, fruit shops, pharmacies,
fast food places, and other stores. The overall impression given by Flushing
is similar to that of the old Chinatown. Despite the fact that the economic
activities are similar to those of the old Chinatown, the majority of the new
businesses are trans-regional and transnational companies with modern man-
agement. The goods and services provided by these companies are extremely
varied, including American-style supermarkets, insurance companies, real es-
tate development and brokerage companies, auto dealerships, and high-tech
equipment production and assembly plants, as well as businesses with strong
ethnic features, such as restaurants, travel agencies, advertising businesses,
health insurance companies, and legal, financial, translation, and consulting
service institutes.45 The new enterprises established in Flushing were usually
developed on a larger scale than those in Chinatown, and they generally com-
bined ethnicity, Western, modern management, and marketing strategies al-
together in an effort to boost the service of Asian quality and ethnic products
and promote sales.46
Thirdly, New York’s biggest Chinese-language newspaper, the World Dai-
ly, moved to Flushing to offer Chinese information and advertising for the
Chinese community. Chinese newspapers are an important part of overseas
Chinese life, and the readership expects prompt and timely publication.
Formerly based in Chinatown, the paper’s noon edition staff was required to
arrive at the Chinatown office in Chinatown at 3 a.m., yet 90% of them lived in
Queens and had to spend three hours a day commuting. Therefore, the office
moved to Flushing, with its handy transportation links and excellent potential.
The newspaper’s Flushing office formally went into operation in July 1980.47
44 Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contemporary New York,
21–26; see also http://140.109.8.58/sinorama/content/ChEnIm.asp?chptnumber=150608,
2017/03/20.
45 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120.
46 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave, xvii; and Min
Zhou, The Transformation of Chinese America: A Collection of Essays (Shanghai: San Lian
Publishing Co., 2006), 318–341.
47 Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contemporary New York, 21–
26l; http://140.109.8.58/sinorama/content/ChEnIm.asp?chptnumber=150608, 2017/03/20;
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In general, Flushing has become a cross-cultural, cross-nationality, inter-
regional center of Chinese-managed production service and Chinese econom-
ic activities.
(3) A New Area of Diversity—A Chinese Community of Multi-ethnic and
Transnational Economy
In contrast to more conventional Chinatowns, the formation and develop-
ment of Flushing’s new Chinese immigrant community benefited greatly
from Taiwan’s outstanding manpower and abundant capital. Immigrants from
Taiwan had no ties to the Chinese immigrants living in old Chinatown, and
couldn’t adapt themselves to the Cantonese language and the strong cultural
circumstance in Chinatown. These immigrants’ superior educational back-
grounds and affluent economic resources enabled them to keep a foothold
in the white communities on the periphery of Chinatown, and helped them
to quickly establish new Chinese communities and exert their economic
power.48 As soon as the new Chinese immigrant communities were set up,
more Chinese immigrants from China and other parts of the world arrived.
The social and economic status of the new Chinese immigrant communities
is rather high, and the average educational level of new Chinese immigrants
in Flushing was higher than those of both New York and the United States. In
spite of the fact that the white middle-class residents began a steady exodus
from Flushing starting in the 1970s, large numbers of highly skilled immigrants
migrated to Flushing, ensuring that Flushing on the whole would still maintain
its status as a middle-class community.49
Flushing’s new immigrant community features racial pluralism, and the di-
versity of its population had led to a loose and open community structure.
Consequently, Chinese and other ethnic groups have had especially close
interactions in Flushing, and Chinese residents have actively participated in
community affairs and political activities. This signified a new mode of immi-
gration and approach to immigrants’ integration into mainstream society, and
was a significant break from the past model of immigration in the traditional
Chinese community of Manhattan’s Chinatown.50
Chin-yu Chen, “Social Structure, Adaptability and Identity of Taiwanese American
Immigrants. 1980–2000,” Research of Overseas and Southeast Asian 3, 3 (Summer 2003):
1–25.
48 Chin-yu Chen, “Social Structure, Adaptability and Identity of Taiwanese American Im-
migrants, 1980–2000,” 28–37.
49 Jan Lin, Reconstructing Chinatown: Ethnic Enclave, Global Change, 189–206; see also Min
Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120.
50 Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,”
115–120.
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By gathering human capital, financial capital, and social capital together,
Flushing’s new immigrant community created a new economic model combin-
ing “multinational operations” and “overseas investment” with local economic
development. This economic structure is significantly different from the iso-
lated, self-contained economic model of traditional immigrant c ommunities.
The economy of Flushing’s new Chinese immigrant community is closely
linked with the external economic system and provides an all-new pathway
for the rapid development of immigrant economy.51 During the ten-year pe-
riod from 1977 to 1987, companies owned by Chinese immigrants increased
by 268%, and their counterparts owned by Latin American and African im-
migrants increased by 93%. In the next ten years, that is, from 1987–1997,
companies operated by Chinese immigrants increased by 180% and reached
a total more than 250,000.52 After 2010, companies run by Chinese immigrants
accounted for 11% of all minority-owned companies in the United States, but
their total sales accounted for 21% of the sales of all minority-owned compa-
nies in the United States.
In summary, although some new Chinese immigrants still gravitated to
Chinatowns located in city centers, most Chinese immigrants no longer had
any need of Chinatowns as springboards to enter mainstream society. Instead,
these immigrants directly entered the middle-class suburbs on the periphery
of the United States’ major cities. Chinatown is being replaced by new Chinese
immigrant communities with modern features. This transformation in Chi-
nese immigrant communities is thus posing new challenges to the traditional
immigrant community development model.
iv Overseas Chinese Communities after Their Transformation
(1) The Revision of the Immigration and Nationality Act was the Key to
Transformation
The chief factor prompting the transformation of Chinese immigrant commu-
nities in the United States was the revision of the Immigration and Nationality
Act in 1965. After 1965, a large number of new Chinese immigrants influxed
to the us, and created a new era of Chinese American society. With higher
education standards, abundant economic investment, and professional train-
ing, most new Chinese immigrants showed quite a different way from their
51 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave, 77–79; Min Zhou
and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United States,” 115–120.
52 Mae M. Ngai, “Transnationalism and the Transformation of the ‘Other’,” American
Q
uarterly 57, 1 (March 2005): 59–65.
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counterparts in Chinatown and represented a more open and pluralistic life-
style. Accordingly, Flushing, as a suburban part of New York County, was built
as the first suburban Chinatown of us in the late 1970s. It soon became the
archetype of Chinese American community’s development and gained wide-
spread in 1980s.53
From another perspective, these changes promoted the circulation of hu-
man capital and financial capital on a global scale. In order to maintain the ad-
vantage in the process of economic globalization, the United States and other
Western countries have worked to attract immigrants with technological skills
and capital for many years. Owing to this policy, many global cities, Flushing
in the United States, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, and Auckland in New
Zealand included, have gained substantial Chinese suburban communities.54
In these communities, new Chinese immigrants from China, Hong Kong, Tai-
wan, and other places used their various and distinct forms of ethnic capital55
to build new Chinese communities and economies. Due to their strong char-
acteristics of diversity, openness, and globalization, these communities pro-
moted contact between originally isolated ethnic economies and the external
economic system. As a result, the economies of new Chinese immigrant com-
munities developed a non-traditional pathway, capable of rapid development,
53 Bernard P. Wong, “Globalization and Localization of the Chinese Diaspora in the usa,” in
Routledge Handbook of the Chinese Diaspora, ed. Tan Chee-Beng (London and New York:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2012), 290–309.
54 Wei Li, Spatial Transformation of an Urban Ethnic Community from Chinatown to Chinese
Ethno-burb in Los Angeles, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1997,
122–124; Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United
States,” 115–120.
55 The interplay of financial capital, human capital, and social capital within an identifiable
ethnic community can be broadly conceptualized as “ethnic capital” to explain causes
and consequences of community development and transfomation. Thus, ethnic capital
involves interrelated and interactive processes of financial, human, and social capital. Old
Chinatowns and new Chinese ethnoburbs are two ideal types illustrative of the dynam-
ics of ethnic capital. Old Chinatowns had relatively weak human and financial capital
but strong social capital. The process of ethnic capital formation are quite different, and
the interactive processes of ethnic capital are not based on social capital in new Chinese
ethnoburbs. Instread, the community is built on strong financial and human capital. So-
cial capital formation through ethnic internaction and organization comes after the for-
mation of ethnoburbs. In ethnoburbs, the development of ethnic institutions, including
ethnic business, creates opportunities and multiple sites for interpersonal relations. Min
Zhou, Contemporary Chinese America: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Community Transfor-
mation (Philadelphia, pa: Temple University Press, 2009), 12–14.
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while they also enhanced the contact with mainstream society and acceler-
ated the process of assimilation.56
(2) From Homogeneous to Multi-ethnic Communities
In the past, traditional Chinatowns served as places where Chinese immigrants
could settle down when they reached the United States for the very first time,
where they could obtain assistance from clan members and the early arrivals
would help newcomers survive in their new home. These former immigrants
came namely from four cities—Taishan, Kaiping, Xinhui, and Enping—in
Guangdong Province, spoke similar dialects, led similar lifestyles, and con-
sumed the same food, and these characteristics were still preserved in the old
Chinatown in Manhattan to some extent.57 Starting in the 1960s, Japanese and
Koreans set up ethnic communities in Flushing, and immigrants from Taiwan
later arrived in this area as well.58 Throughout the 1970s, the government ben-
efit buildings were built in the area around Flushing’s Roosevelt Boulevard and
Prince Street, and a great quantity of unemployed people and blacks moved
into these buildings, and the Jews who originally lived here consequently
moved away.59 During the 1980s, Chinese who couldn’t tolerate the saturated
residential environment of Chinatown in Manhattan gradually migrated to
Flushing, which was then a small affordable community on the edge of the
New York. After the mid-1980s, the number of immigrants from Taiwan living
in Flushing increased dramatically, and they established the first supermarket
specializing in Chinese food—the Chinshan Supermarket—in New York. After-
wards, as the size and influential power of the Chinese community in Flushing
grew, a local real estate boom also added to the area’s appeal, and the Chin-
shan Supermarket continued to thrive as well.60 By 2000, there were more than
56 Philip Q. Yang, “From Sojourning to Settlement to Transnationalism: Transformation of
the Chinese Immigrant Community in America,” in Routledge Handbook of the Chinese
Diaspora, ed. Tan Chee-Beng (London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group,
2012), 122–140; see also Jan Lin, Reconstructing Chinatown: Ethnic Enclave, Global Change,
xi; and Min Zhou and Minggang Lin, “The Transformation of Chinatown in the United
States,” 115–120.
57 Chin-yu Chen, “A Century of Chinese Discrimination and Exclusion in the United States,
1850–1965,” Chung-Hsing Journal of History 3 (1993): 187–215; see also Chin-yu Chen, Man-
hattan Chinatown in New York City (Taipei: Dau Shan Published, 2000), 78–90.
58 Min Zhou and John R. Logan, “Return on Human Capital in Ethnic Enclaves: New York
City’s Chinatown,” American Sociological Review 54 (1989): 793–830.
59 Mae M. Ngai, “Transnationalism and the Transformation of the ‘Other’,” American Quar-
terly 57, 1 (March 2005): 59–65.
60 Da-wei Long, “From Fringe to Mainstream: New Immigrants and Chinese Economies in
North America,” 1–8.
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20 Chinese supermarkets in Flushing. Meanwhile, the Korean community in
Flushing expanded toward the east along the Northern Boulevard and eventu-
ally reached Long island. Additionally, shops have sprung up everywhere and
small shopping centers abound, while signs in Chinese and Korean are to be
found throughout the landscape. In conclusion, Flushing’s multi-ethnic com-
munity has given Asian immigrants a landing place in the New York area, while
Japanese seek to move into Manhattan, the heart of New York City, the Chinese
like to purchase real estates and operate restaurants, and the Koreans engage
in groceries. The members of all of these groups tend to specialize in certain
career fields, and they all work conscientiously to put down roots and attempt
to achieve success.61
(3) From Tangible to Intangible Chinese Communities
The old Chinatowns in the past had clearly delineated streets and geographical
scope. The immigrants preserved the customs and culture of their hometowns
in China within this district, and remained deeply apprehensive of being as-
similated by mainstream American society. However, following the revision of
the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965, no longer did the flood of new
Chinese immigrants take Chinatown as their place of residence. In contrast,
the new immigrants moved to satellite cities around the edges of Chinatown
or to more distant suburban areas. The so-called “cultural community” model
can be used to define the Chinese American community in Flushing since the
1970s. A cultural community does not necessarily have visible and clearly de-
fined physical boundaries, but rather is constituted by cultural institutions of
ethnic churches, ethnic language schools, community organizations, and cul-
tural, social, and political activities sponsored by the above institutions and
organizations. A cultural community also demonstrates the significance and
applicability of the cultural community model to our understanding of the
multiethnic and multicultural American society.62
All in all, in the new loosely-bounded Chinese communities like Flushing,
there were no fixed geographical boundaries or scope of activities for the im-
migrant Chinese communities that formed after this period; they were no
longer uniform ethnic enclaves, and they had enormously different features
from those of the Chinatowns in the past.63 New Chinese immigrants living
61 Him Mark Lai, Becoming American: A History of Communities and Institutions, 372–375;
Min Zhou, “On Ethnic Capital: A Comparative Analysis of Chinatown and Chinese Eth-
noburb in the United States,” 217–244.
62 Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community, 145–170.
63 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave, 155–57; and Hup-
ing Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community, 112–130.
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in suburbs or areas on the periphery of Chinatowns might still visit the old
Chinatowns on weekends for shopping or enjoying eating Chinese food,
and to indulge a sense of nostalgia for the flavor and atmosphere of their
motherland.64 Accordingly, the places where Chinese immigrants settled then
enlarged outwardly from Chinatown and became Chinese residential areas
without clear boundaries.65
(4) Gradual Disappearance of the Functions of Old Chinatowns
In American immigration history, new immigrants are usually deemed as poor
and disadvantaged; they generally settle on the periphery of urban centers and
slowly climb from an initially low social status through individual endeavor.
Only after many years, sometimes two or three generations, and with great
effort can these immigrants ultimately gain a foothold in mainstream soci-
ety. Hence, immigrant settlements such as old Chinatowns can be perceived
as springboards that will gradually disappear as members of the target eth-
nic groups gradually assimilate. The decline of New York’s little Italy and Los
Angeles’ little Tokyo are two of the most vivid instances. During the past four
decades, even though some new Chinese immigrants settled in Chinatowns in
the centers of large cities, most new immigrants didn’t need to utilize China-
towns as their launching pads for entry into mainstream society. Instead, they
entered the suburbs of major cities directly.66
v Conclusion
It is common knowledge that any human community can be divided on the
basis of geographical and social aspects. Geographical aspects are comprised
of geographical areas, and social aspects consist of such elements as commu-
nity group activities, cultural and festival celebration, and the cultural, emo-
tional, and psychological demands of community members.
In the past, scholars developing theoretical models of the traditional Chi-
natowns tended to put particular emphasis on the observation and analysis
of the geographical aspects of Chinese communities.67 While the Chinatown
64 Mae M. Ngai, “Transnationalism and the Transformation of the ‘Other’,” 59–65.
65 Hsiang-shui Chen, Chinatown No More: Taiwan Immigrants in Contemporary New York,
145–160.
66 Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community, 122–130.
67 Peter Kwong, Chinatown, New York: Labor and Politics, 1930–1950 (New York, ny: Monthly
Review Press, 1979), 124–145.
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model could be used to explain the formation and development of Chinese
communities prior to the 1960s, after a surge of immigrants established a new
type of Chinese community in Flushing and other suburban areas, following
the revision of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965, the traditional Chi-
natown model could no longer be used to interpret and understand these new
Chinese communities.68 Because the newly formed Chinese community in
Flushing had no definite geographical boundaries, models constructed based
on geographical aspects were inadequate to explain Flushing’s Chinese com-
munity. This prompted the academic community to develop new theoretical
frameworks to provide insight into these communities.69
After the 1970s, Flushing’s new Chinese immigrants gradually consolidated
their status. From the point of view of employment, many immigrants were
professors, physicians, engineers, researchers, computer programmers, and
managers recruited at large American companies, while others became the
owners of restaurants, grocery stores, processing firms, insurance agencies,
and other service firms.70 From the perspective of living situations, these im-
migrants no longer inhabited the inner city, but rather dispersed to suburban
areas with good services. These new places of residence gave greater oppor-
tunity to mix with other ethnic groups, typically white Americans.71 In terms
of cultural activities, Chinese residents commonly gathered at festivals and
celebrations held by Chinese schools, Chinese churches, and Chinese social
organizations on weekends and holidays.72
How can we interpret these kinds of fluid and changing Chinese communi-
ties? Because these communities had no obvious geographical characteristics
to distinguish them as Chinatowns or as specifically Chinese communities,
traditional theoretical frameworks focusing on geographical aspects could not
entirely explain their formation and development. Only an analysis adopting
cultural aspects would be suitable to confirm the historical position of these
communities.73
In sum, this examination of the transformation from old Chinatowns to
new Chinese immigrant communities over the course of half a century reveals
the evolution of Chinese immigrant communities and allows us to reach a
68 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave, 185–218.
69 Min Zhou and John R. Logan, “Return on Human Capital in Ethnic Enclaves: New York
City’s Chinatown,” 793–830.
70 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave, 185–218.
71 Min Zhou, Chinatown: The Socioeconomic Potential of an Urban Enclave, 41–68.
72 Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community, 122–130.
73 Huping Ling, Chinese St. Louis: From Enclave to Cultural Community, 17–185.
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c onclusion: old Chinatowns could no longer accommodate more immigrants
after their number increased dramatically. Moreover, as the new immigrants
had higher levels of education, neither did they need Chinatown as a spring-
board for entering mainstream American society. As a consequence, in terms
of function, old Chinatowns were gradually changed to miniatures of conven-
tional Chinese urban culture in the United States’ diverse cultural landscape.74
Furthermore, as the number of new immigrants increased, the level of Chinese
immigrants rose, and many immigrants had the financial resources to invest
in multinational trades when they arrived in the us. When new immigrant
clusters attracted more and more immigrants willing to make investments, the
new immigrant communities became jewels in America’s multi-ethnic tapes-
try, and the development of Flushing, America’s largest new immigrant com-
munity, does confirm this conclusion.
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