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New York - New York City - Manhattan - Chinatown Area: Baxter St. east to Park Row and New Bowery; south of Bayard St. The first Chinese known to have visited New York was Pung-hua Wing Chong, who arrived in 1807, the year the embargo on foreign trade was established. Later he became known as John Jacob Astor's mandarin because Astor got permission from President Jefferson to send out a ship, despite the embargo, on the pretense of taking "this prominent mandarin" home. Historians iffer as to the identity of the first Chinese resident of New York City. Some say it was Quimbo Appo, who came to San Francisco in 1844 and arrived here a few years later; others state it was Ah Ken, a Cantonese merchant who made his home on Mott Street in 1858. Still others contend it was Lou Hoy Sing, a sailor who shook off his wanderlust and settled in New York in 1862. (He married an Irish lass who bore him two stalwart sons, one of whom became a policeman and the other a truck driver.) From 1875 until shortly after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Chinese migrated in large numbers to the city, displacing wellto-do families in the neighborhood of Mott and Pell Streets. The colony soon overflowed into Bayard and Canal Streets. For many decades Chinatown kept intact the religious and cultural customs of old China. The younger generation, however, like that of other immigrant groups, no longer adheres strictly to the traditional mores; changes in China have been an added factor in the weakening. Though the joss houses, shrines of Buddhist worship, still exist, they are rarely attended by Chinese, certainly not by the youth. The Chinese New Year is still celebrated in traditional paper-dragon-and-firecracker style but the more rigid ethical customs, such as suicide because of failure to pay debts, are being ignored or abandoned. No longer is American citizenship frowned upon; and mixed marriages cause little comment. The tongs, Chinese equivalent of American fraternal societies, which for so many years ruled the quarter with iron discipline and fought each other with hired gunmen, now share influence with newer groups. The Chinese Journal and the Vanguard, recently established liberal-progressive newspapers, are steadily gaining in circulation, and the Chinese Republic News and the Nationalist Daily reflect the new trend. A leisurely stroll at sundown through Chinatown's winding streets is an interesting experience. Throughout the neighborhood Chinese importing houses and groceries, like the New England "general stores," offer a wide variety of goods. Neatly stacked in the windows are Chinese vegetables (grown on Long Island) -- tender green Chinese cabbage, blanched bean sprouts, fibrous brown lily roots, crinkly bitter melons, great squashes resembling watermelon covered with a white bloom, water chestnuts, young pods of peas -- with smoked squid, shark fin, blubber, roast ducks, and roast pork hanging from hooks. In these shops, patronized almost exclusively by Chinese, many articles for use and decoration may be purchased: hexagonal and fluted green bowls, native spoons of China, simple brown paper fans, packets of joss sticks, sturdy black cotton slippers without backs, strangely shaped but unusually durable toothbrushes, kites shaped like butterflies or dragons, wooden flutes, beautiful green-leaved Chinese lilies, wall pockets for flowers, long-handled wooden back-scratchers. Mott Street, entered from Worth Street, which extends west of Chatham Square, gives the first colorful view of the quarter. The large Chinese signs of a native temple at No. 5 emphasize the oriental style of the façade of the adjoining PORT ARTHUR RESTAURANT BUILDING (No. 7). The CHINATOWN EMPORIUM in the Port Arthur Building attracts souvenir buyers, and near by at No. 13 the Joss HOUSE presents for curious passers-by and the herded throngs from the "rubberneck wagons" an inaccurate but highly dramatic lecture on Chinese religious customs. At No. 37 the oldest JEWELRY STORE in Chinatown offers gold objects hammered according to the design requested by the customer. The headquarters of the powerful ON LEONG TONG are at No. 41, and beyond is the LIQUOR STORE of Wing Lee Quon at No. 53, where authentic Chinese wines and cordials, medicated with snakeskin and tiger bone, are available. At No. 58, Wah Kue sells Chinese books, brushes, and writing material; at No. 64 is the CHINESE SCHOOL where, after regular public-school hours, children are taught Chinese culture and language according to the traditional method. Just north of Pell Street on Mott hangs the WALL NEWSPAPER. Sheets of brilliant red and orange paper flecked with gold are covered with characters which inform knots of readers that a business is for sale or has been sold, that a job is available or is wanted, and of the latest war news from China. At 32 Pell Street, the MEE TUNG COMPANY announces "Ladies Dresses Made to Order in Chinese Styles." The ESTABLISHMENT OF MAN GAR CHUNG at No. 26 offers an assortment of Chinese drugs and ingredients for an assortment of love potions: dried sea horses, blanched snakes, preserved bears' testicles, neat slices of deer's horn, and ginseng root. The last-named sells for as much as a hundred dollars an ounce. The headquarters of the HIP SING TONG are situated appropriately near the corner of Pell and Doyers Streets, for just beyond is the BLOODY ANGLE, the bend in Doyers Street where henchmen of this tong fought the On Leongs in the early 1900's. The Hip Sings, led by Mock Duck, a gambler, battled the On Leongs, captained by Tom Lee, for control of the lucrative gambling and opium rackets. At this bend, occupying the quarters of the old Chinese theater, is Tom Noonan's famous RESCUE SOCIETY. Near by, at 6 Doyers Street, is a building once occupied by the Chatham Club, where a young singing waiter, Isadore Baline (Irving Berlin), occasionally performed. Here, too, Chuck Connors, whom the movies years later made king of Chinatown lobbygows, Bowery thespian and philosopher, served as bouncer. Each night the Chinese take over the ten-cent movie house on Chatham Square just north of Mott Street, and Chinese pictures made either in China or in San Francisco replace the customary Westerns. At 8 Chatham Square the old-fashioned TOBACCO EMPORIUM of Seckler Brothers is crowded with smokers' oddities. The next building houses the establishment of Rocks Grillo, the artist who makes "black eyes" look normal. Two doors north is the studio of Charlie Wagner, "champion tattooing artist in the world." A visit to Chinatown should include dinner at one of the numerous restaurants, declared by the Board of Health to be among the cleanest in the city. Some of the less prominent places, many of which are on the second story or in unpretentious basements, are as good as the larger ones. The food in most of the quarter's restaurants is authentically Chinese and of a uniformly high quality, and most places specialize in one or more native dishes. Chop suey came into existence in Chicago in 1896 during the visit of Li Hung Chang, famous "ambassador of good will." Literally translated the name means "hodge-podge." As prepared by the restaurants in Chinatown the dish is far superior to that served in drug stores and cafeterias. A good Chinese meal consists of soup, fish, and of preparations of sea food, pork, or chicken, served with Chinese vegetables and sauces. When a group dines together it is advantageous to order "by the table," fixing a price beforehand with the waiter. The most delicious soups are won ton soup, made with little dumplings filled with duck; water-cress soup, tart with quantities of fresh water cress; chop suey soup, rich with chicken gizzards, livers, and oddments. Shrimp is usually fried and served with egg or lobster sauce or with steamed Chinese vegetables, or combined with chopped lobster and seasoning as the filling for the fried dough cakes known as egg rolls. Stuffed crab, served in deep-sea crab shells, is a pungent and exotic delicacy, and fishballs covered with delectable sauce and with native vegetables is a favorite dish. Roast pork prepared by Chinese chefs is famous. Soft noodle chow mein, Canton style, and chicken diced with almonds and fresh peas with a Chinese white sauce, are two other appetizing dishes. A Chinese meal is not complete without one sweet and pungent dish, preferably spareribs prepared with a rich sauce of ginger, pineapple, and spices. Chinatown, New York City Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com Mott Street, Chinatown, New York City Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com Subway Chinatown- Canal Street Station Tin Sign Buy at AllPosters.com Greetings from New York City, New York Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com Greetings from New York City, New York Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com