The fight for San Francisco's Chinatown
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 24 May 2021
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
San Francisco is home to the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America. But with boarded up businesses and an upsurge in anti-Chinese attacks, the past 14 months have been some of the toughest this community has faced. Will this historic and bustling quarter of San Francisco recover?
Vivienne Nunis meets Yiying Lu, a graphic designer from Shanghai who recently made the city her home. She's working with many local businesses to bring visitors back. We also hear from celebrity TV chef Martin Yan on the unifying power of food, and from local business-owners combating racist stereotypes perpetrated by the former US president.
Producer: Sarah Treanor
(Picture: San Francisco police officers patrol Grant Avenue in Chinatown; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The unmistakable clanging of a lion dance, |
| 0:12.2 | the traditional Chinese performance that aims to bring good luck and prosperity |
| 0:16.2 | and water away evil spirits. |
| 0:19.5 | A change of fortune will be welcomed here by many. |
| 0:23.0 | Today, Business Daily with me, Vivienne, Nunes, |
| 0:25.8 | is coming to you from San Francisco, |
| 0:28.4 | home to the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America. |
| 0:32.5 | But with boarded up businesses and an upsurge in anti-Chinese attacks, |
| 0:36.9 | the past 14 months have been some |
| 0:38.9 | of the toughest this community has faced. |
| 0:41.7 | 80% of the business were shut down, and it was really hard for them to recover. |
| 0:47.8 | As you can see, these are all shut down. |
| 0:49.8 | Some of them, they couldn't renew their lease anymore. |
| 0:52.8 | President Trump says China virus. |
| 0:55.8 | And people don't want to come in. |
| 0:57.0 | They thought they could get infected in Chinatown only, |
| 0:59.4 | but that was totally wrong. |
| 1:01.4 | The fight for San Francisco's Chinatown, |
| 1:04.3 | Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 1:09.7 | The performance finishes with a bang of fireworks and the lion jumping for a lucky red envelope. |
| 1:15.6 | The crowd watching is a small one. |
| 1:21.6 | A few locals are grocery shopping nearby, but there are none of the usual tourists. |
... |
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