Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Chinatown - Los Angeles

Since I've been posting about Chinese restaurants lately, I thought I'd share some photos from last month when I took an out-of-town visitor to Los Angeles' Chinatown. Wikipedia has a more detailed history. Saigon Plaza, Dynasty Center, and Chinatown Plaza are newer shopping areas that feature swap meet-like booths and shops selling imported clothes, toys, accessories, and CDs/DVDs. About 90 percent of the merchants here are Chinese refugees from Vietnam who set up shop in the 1980s and revitalized this part of Chinatown. My rule of thumb for bargaining, whether here or abroad, is that if I'm willing to pay the merchant's initial offer, then I start bargaining for a lower price. Even if the final negotiated price is only a dollar or two cheaper, I leave happy because the initial price was something I was willing to pay anyway.

On weekends there's always a crowd of people in front of China Town Deli. Why?

The freshly squeezed sugarcane juice. They also sell pineapples and mangos with chili peppers and salt, fried yams and bananas, and other assorted Vietnamese to-go goodies like cha gio (egg rolls), banh mi (sandwiches), and goi cuon (salad rolls).
The Chinatown train stop.
Afterward, I usually head to the old part of Chinatown. The merchants here tend to be American-born Chinese from Toishan and Canton. The Chinese architecture makes this area a popular site for filming movies such as "Rush Hour" and "Lethal Weapon 4." The shops here sell a mixture of curios, souvenirs, trendy collectibles, and art galleries.
Every first, third, and fifth Fridays of the month, Grand Star gets transformed into Firecracker, a live jazz downstairs/urban hiphop scene upstairs.
And I always save my pennies for the Chinatown Wishing Well.
Although I have no idea why they make winning a date with "Adam" so difficult.
China Town Deli
828 N. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-625-8721
Grand Star
943 N. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-626-2285
9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.
21 and up
$5 before 10:30 p.m., $10 after
All Text and Photos Copyright © 2006-2013 by Wandering Chopsticks.
Posted by Wandering Chopsticks at 3:33 PM Categories: , , , , , , ,

2 comments:

  1. WC, you've to come and be our tour guide when my swiss & m'sian floggers come visit this summer, ok ? I don't see your email address here ?

    ReplyDelete

  2. Melting Wok,
    Sure. It'll be fun. My email address is at the bottom of my About Me section. :)

    ReplyDelete

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