Travelogue: The sight of Chinatown

Almost every metropolitan city of India has a Chinatown in existence for decades. In Kolkata, Chinatown symbolizes authentic Chinese restaurants and the leather industry, especially handmade shoes. At one point, there were Chinese dentists too, who made dentures their art form.

We plan to visit New York’s Chinatown to see what is similar and what isn’t. We’re told the area will be dirty; we’re also encouraged to be careful of our belongings. As aliens we will stand out in the crowd - not safe to go alone.

It's really cold. We bundle up in overcoats borrowed from our hostess; but the wind is piercing. We catch the commuter bu in New Jerseys, getting to the city in about twenty minutes from across the river, through the Lincholn Tunnel. Then we board the subway train to arrive at the place.

The Chinese lettering is prominent on the display boards. The Chinese here seem far more entrepreneurial. The sidewalk is lined with little shops – curios, accessories, clothes, electronics, fruit, vegetables and the large fish market. You hear as much of American accents as you do Chinese around you and there are plenty of I Love NY tee-shirts too.



Chinese goods are all cheap, cheap says our resident guide. The large store there is Payless, the regular American shoe retail. Other smaller Chinese owned shops want to measure your pocket before they let you try on their displays. They're regular branded items, not Chinese hand-made shoes. Cost eighty dollars, the salesperson says as you point. In other words, can you really afford it? But when you make a purchase choice they offer a discount, so the 80-year old is happy too.

We browse through stores as tourists tend to just to get a sense of what’s available. To build knowledge we ask the prices of a few Chinese styled dresses. It seems high. The point apparently is to bargain, and arrive at a mutually satisfactory number. When we don’t make a counter offer, the salesman is irritated. Indian peoples never buys, he vents. I wonder whether traditional cultural animosity is being verbalized or the felt effects of the recession. Your talking too much might be losing you customers, I say. He rattles back in Chinese. Our guide hurries us away to lunch before there can be further altercation. The Chinese mafia of Hollywood fantasy begins to make sense!

The décor in the Chinese restaurant is heavily oriental. The clientele is a high percentage of non-Asians. It’s interesting to watch Americans ordering spice in their meals. We try some very Chinese sounding names on the menu. The food served looks different from what we’re accustomed to in India.

In Kolkata’s ‘Chinese’ restaurants, a bowlful of green chillies in vinegar adorns every table along with salt, pepper, and tomato/chilli sauces. I look for it in vain. Our guide looks surprised. She’s never heard of it (and she’s Chinese!) She tells us that the cooking done mutates with place. It's done to suit the palates of the locals, wherever they are. If really Chinese style, you cannot eat, she asserts.

Cont'd...