Before our country went into lockdown, Chinatowns were suffering losses up to 70% of their sales due to anti-Asian bigotry. San Francisco’s Chinatown is the largest Chinatown outside of Asia as well as the oldest Chinatown in North America. Once boasting over 930 storefronts a mere 150 are operating today. Chinatowns aren’t just restaurants and tourist attractions, they are cultural and financial hubs for generational communities. With Lunar New Year approaching on February 12th, a time of year that provides most of the revenue for these businesses, the streets will remain largely quiet with parades cancelled. These are photos taken of San Francisco’s Chinatown in January 2019.
Tagged: Asian American, California, Chinatown, photography, San Francisco, travel
During the long months of quarantine the one constant was family. Every week I saw my family, my lifesaver in a sea of isolation, restlessness and fear. I didn’t tell many because it was a personal decision and judgements were being dealt swiftly and fiercely. But just as important as our physical health is our mental health and when our minds have nothing to do but wonder, wander and overthink seeing family was our sanity. We told the same stories, shared the same opinions and laughed at the same jokes week after week; it was wonderfully predictable and comforting. So after months of quarantine we took our routine on the road. For one week our jokes had new air to breathe, we had new scenery for our stories and the foundation of family remained solid in the sand.
