Chinatowns are often portrayed as gritty underworlds riddled with prostitution, gambling and drug trafficking. Some of this is rooted in truth, but that unfair depiction is largely the result of rampant xenophobia and cultural ignorance, especially in the West.
New York has such an established Chinese population that the city is home to multiple Chinatowns.
The original, in Lower Manhattan, is one of the oldest and biggest Chinese enclaves in the United States.
The neighbourhood’s population was estimated to be more than 100,000 at its peak in the second half of the 20th century, mostly immigrants from mainland China’s Guangdong and Fujian provinces and from Hong Kong.
In recent years, however, the neighbourhood’s population has dwindled to less than 60,000, according to a report published by New York’s Department of Small Business Services.