Asian Fair Brings Unity in Chinatown

Myra Prado, Staff Reporter

myra_prado@csumb.edu

April 16, 2008

Chinatown in Salinas celebrated their first annual Asian fair Saturday April 12. The festivities marked a new attempt to unify the Chinatown community including Filipino, Vietnamese and Chinese cultures. 

Unity was the theme of the festivities as volunteers wore red tee shirts with the words unity spelled out in both the Chinese and the English language. Henry Gong, a volunteer for the event said that one of the purposes of the Asian fair was to bring redevelopment of the area, "there is a lot of potential here [Chinatown]" said Gong.

Gong further explained, that with support from the surrounding communities they can overcome the negative stereotypes that follow Chinatown. He estimated that everyday at least one person is arrested in that area, but with new security systems including cameras that police can monitor from, visitors will feel more at ease when visiting the community. 

Gong says we want people to vote so that funds can be allocated to the neighborhood, money that would help Chinatown flourish again. 

The fair included several activities that sparked the interest of all generations including Dennis Donahue, Salinas Mayor, who is a frequent visitor to the community. 

In the Confucius Church, demonstrations of Tai Chi entertained guests as they enjoyed Asian cuisine. The Buddhist temple had guided temple tours with flowers and food to purchase.

 On Soladad Street the community garden and community learning center held activities and orchid displays with complementary juice to quench the thirst during the hot Saturday. Jerry Lee, one of the event coordinators, said "we want to bring the people together" and with future events planned like a car show, Lee was hopeful that change could be made. 

Surrounding the auditorium inside the Confucius church pictures in black and white had visitors reminiscing about past times. The pictures were to honor their history especially of the first Chinese school that originally was established on Soladad Street. The School unfortunately burned down during in the 1930’s but was rebuilt on California Street, where today the students attending are taught in Mandarin. 

CSU Monterey bay (CSUMB) students were also present with the Service Learning department, facilitating some of the activities. Red Smith, business major in her fifth year stated, this event is nice, I really like it and it should happen more often.

Kyle Haggmar, business major in his senior year said for being the first event it was successful, there is a lot of people and activities, this fair has a lot of potential.

  As the crafts and activities winded down the first annual Asian fair ended with mementos like magnet fortune cookies that can remind visitors of the unity in Chinatown.