The New Chinatown

By Peter Kwong,

Book cover of The New Chinatown

Book description

Newspapers today are filled with stories of corruption and strife in America's Chinatowns, reversing the popular view of Chinese Americans as a model minority of law-abiding, hard-working people whose diligent children end up in high-tech jobs. In The New Chinatown, Peter Kwong goes beyond the headlines in a compelling and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The New Chinatown as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Today most people associate Chinatowns with restaurants and tourism. In the past and for many Chinese Canadians, Chinatown was a ghetto and place of exclusion. But for many Chinese and other first-generation migrants, Chinatown was simply home. It was where friends (and sometimes families) lived and socialized, operated businesses, and felt a sense of belonging through mutual support networks and devotion to Sun Yatsen at KMT and other political meetings and events. Peter Kwong’s The New Chinatown tells a complicated narrative of Chinese political, social, and cultural life and dispels many Chinatown stereotypes. In my book, I tried to…

From Alison's list on to reimagine Chinatown.

Want books like The New Chinatown?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The New Chinatown.

Browse books like The New Chinatown

Book cover of Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China
Book cover of Lives of the Family: Stories of Fate & Circumstance
Book cover of Becoming Yellow: A Short History of Racial Thinking

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,355

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Chinese Americans, New York State, and the economy?

New York State 563 books
The Economy 184 books