Chinatown in the 21st Century

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Chinese population makes up 45.9% of the total 787,047 Asians that reside in New York City. With the continual increase of Chinese population in New York, the urgency to understand the changing roles, needs and aspiration of Chinatown’s residents is an important issue that cannot be taken lightly.

Funded by the Diversity Grant from the City University of New York, the goal of this eleven session workshop series is to capture the opinions of experts and professionals, some with more than three decades of hands-on experience, on issues currently affecting Chinatown, as it begins to merge into “mainstream” American society.

Our target audience for this workshop series are college students involved in Asian American Studies, professionals working in Chinatown, governmental officials who represent the Chinese community, and educational institutions in the metropolitan area. It is through them, that Chinatown’s future will be determined.

The ‘Chinatown in the 21st Century Preview’ is a 45 minute documentary montage of the eleven workshops that took place over the course of three months, and takes viewers into the streets, and homes of Chinatown.

Through its journal publication, and Video CDs, the Asian American/Asian Research Institute will disseminate the information gathered during the Chinatown in the 21st Century workshop series, as reference teaching materials in the classroom for general public education.

Chinatown in the 21st Century Preview

Script Writer, Executive Producer, Director: Thomas Tam

Editor: Antony Wong

Camera: Chun Lee, Phillip Li, Antony Wong, Tony Wong

Sound: Phillip Li

Production Assistants: Nick Feng, James Huang, Nga Trang