Photo by Michael Smith (Flickr/Creative Commons).
Visiting LA and want to know more about the history of the city? Here are two resources downtown where you can learn all about the experiences and contributions of Chinese Americans to the Los Angeles region.
Chinese American Museum
The Chinese American Museum is located in the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument across the street from Union Station. It is an accessible, kid-friendly introduction to the history of Chinese settlement in the Los Angeles region. Reflecting the diversity of the local Chinese American population, it also includes the narratives of refugees from Southeast Asia. Since ethnoburban development is a relatively recent phenomenon, most of the exhibits focus on the city’s downtown Chinatown, which has moved several times since the first Chinese immigrants arrived.
Currently, there is an exhibit on Chinese American architects in Los Angeles. Did you know that Chinese American architects had a hand in designing such iconic LA buildings such as Norms Restaurants?
