Participants are energized by their enthusiasm and commitment to Chinatown

Chinatown is often thought of as a tourist attraction, but its origins date back to the 19th century, when Chinese immigrants came to the United States and Canada during the California Gold Rush, helped build the transcontinental railroad, and created communities that faced life as outsiders. Today, there are 62 Chinatowns in North America, and nearly a third of them were represented this October at the second annual U.S.-Canada Chinatown Cultural Preservation and Revitalization Conference, which aims to connect Chinatown business and cultural leaders and Address their systemic challenges.

“Not many platforms or organizations have the capacity and resources to connect Chinatown communities across the U.S. and Canada to foster stronger knowledge exchange, solution strategies and collaboration,” said Carrie Leung, director of events and partnerships for the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, and Brian Pang, chief operating officer and head of partnerships at Stand Together with Asian Americans. The two are members of the organizing committee for the 2023-2025 United States and Canada Chinatown Solidarity Summit, responding conveneAsk questions about the event in a joint email. They say limited resources, travel costs and a lack of viable venues have presented challenges for in-person gatherings of Chinatown leaders in the past, but since last year’s conference in Vancouver, funding partners have provided funding for participants’ travel costs and accommodations , so that they could gather.

Chinatowns across North America have faced many challenges in recent years, including weathering economic headwinds and, unfortunately, history repeating itself with rising anti-Asian sentiment and related safety concerns, “especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Liang , Peng said. Two of the campaign’s core pillars, economic revitalization and public safety, directly address these issues, while the third core pillar is dedicated to cultural and historic preservation.

Liang and Peng said the key takeaway from the event was that despite the isolation attendees experienced, their “passion and commitment to these often overlooked communities was very strong. After the summit, attendees were inspired to know that they and We are not alone in our efforts to revitalize these historic areas.”

Kathy Gale is the executive editor held.

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