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The Chinatown of Las Vegas, Nevada (Chinese: 拉斯維加斯中國城 (pinyin: Lāsīwéijiāsī Zhōngguóchéng) is a series of large shopping centers with ethnic Chinese and other pan-Asian businesses on Spring Mountain Road, with the original called Chinatown Plaza. The strip mall was conceived by Taiwanese American developer James Chih-Cheng Chen, and opened in 1995. Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn officially designated the area as Chinatown in October 1999 and it continues to grow as the Asian population in Las Vegas expands rapidly. The Chinatown area has gained much popularity, receiving national attention in a 2004 article by The Wall Street Journal. Although called "Chinatown", the many Asiatic influences other than Chinese might make that name a misnomer, with the commercial area having a character perhaps better described as an Asian District. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... This article is about sections of an urban area associated with a large number of Chinese residents or commercial activities. ... For other uses around the city, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin method be merged into this article or section. ... For the traditional meaning of the word mall, see mall. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... A Taiwanese American is an American of Taiwanese ancestry. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Kenneth Carroll Kenny Guinn (born August 24, 1936) is an American educator and businessman who was a two-term Governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2007. ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ...

Spring Mountain Road was once a run-down corridor with strip clubs, but Chinatown Plaza and other adjacent power centers have emerged as an archetypal example of immigrants taking an old neighborhood given up for dead by the previous residents and reviving it with major investments as a bustling center of ethnic minority commerce. For the book or movie Striptease see Striptease (book) and Striptease (movie) A striptease is a performance, usually a dance, in which the performer gradually removes their clothing for the purposes of sexually arousing the audience, usually performed in nightclubs. ... The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sociological sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has...

Generally

Las Vegas's Chinatown is located west of the Las Vegas Strip, not far from the Fashion Show Mall, Treasure Island, Wynn Hotel and Casino, and The Venetian casinos. Also comprising Chinatown are a number of Filipino, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese American businesses serving a pan-Asian community. Besides serving the local population and tourists, according to a 2004 Wall Street Journal article, Chinatown was especially conceived as an area to offer value authentic Chinese cuisine for inbound Chinese-speaking tourists coming from Southern California and East Asia. The south end of The Strip. ... Fashion Show Mall is located at 3200 Las Vegas Boulevard South on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada (unincorporated Las Vegas area). ... Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of buccaneers and buried gold. First published as a book in 1883, it was originally serialised in the childrens magazine Young Folks between 1881-82 under the title The Sea Cook, or Treasure Island. ... The bridge at the Venetian Gondola ride in the Venetian View from second floor casino balcony. ... A Vietnamese American is a resident of the United States who is of ethnic Vietnamese descent. ...

Indeed, as an alternative to the buffets or prime rib specials typically found in Las Vegas, Chinatown is one of the few places where one can find authentic Chinese and Asian ethnic cuisines, such as Hong Kong-style roast duck, won ton noodles, Vietnamese pho noodle soup, fresh Japanese sushi, or cold Taiwanese boba tea. The popularity of 99 Ranch Market, an Asian supermarket where live fresh seafood or bottles of authentic oyster sauce, and other imported Asian-branded foodstuffs can be purchased, has been featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. A Chinese buffet restaurant in the U.S. A buffet (buh-FAY or /bÉ™.ˈfei/) is a meal-serving system where patrons serve themselves. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Pearl milk tea Bubble tea, pearl milk tea (Chinese: 珍珠奶茶; pinyin: zhēnzhū nǎichá), or boba milk tea (波霸奶茶; bōbà nǎichá) is a tea beverage mixture with milk. ... 99 Ranch Market (also called Tawa Supermarket in its Chinese name, sometimes called Ranch 99 due to confusion based on its logo) is one of the largest Asian American supermarket chains in the United States. ... Exterior of Hong Kong Supermarket in Monterey Park, California, USA Asian market in Buenos Aires, Argentina An Asian supermarket, sometimes called an Oriental supermarket, is a grocery store in non-Asian countries that stocks items imported from the many countries of Asia. ... Spaghetti with seafood (Spaghetti allo scoglio). ... Oyster Sauce produced by Lee Kum Kee Oyster sauce (蚝油 háo yóu ; 蠔油) is a viscous sauce prepared from oysters and brine, often with chemical preservatives added. ... The Las Vegas Review-Journal, also known as The R-J, is published in Las Vegas, Nevada. ...

The aesthetic of the Las Vegas Chinatown bears a strong resemblance to the suburban "Chinatowns" found in Southern California and Silicon Valley, in the form of sprawl with large parking lots. Illustration of the backyards of a surburban neighbourhood Suburbs are inhabited districts located either on the outer rim of a city or outside the official limits of a city (the term varies from country to country), or the outer elements of a conurbation. ... Downtown Los Angeles Skyline Southern California, also colloquially referred to as SoCal, is an informal name for the megalopolis and nearby desert that occupies the southern-most quarter of the U.S. state of California. ... A view of downtown San Jose, the self-proclaimed Capital of Silicon Valley. ...

For example, it is unlike Chinatown, San Francisco (the largest and oldest in the United States) and Chinatown, Los Angeles, and departs even further in character from the famous Chinatown, New York. Las Vegas's Chinatown does not share a history of gambling halls, opium dens, tong warfare, or restaurants serving unauthentic MSG-laden Chinese American cuisine (such as chop suey, chow mein, sweet and sour pork, General Tso's chicken, and so on){fact}. In contrast to many urban U.S. Chinatowns - where unforeseen growth forced working class immigrants to congregate, live and work in a small area - the expansive, planned real estate for this Chinatown is modeled upon those in the Los Angeles suburbs of Monterey Park, California and San Gabriel, California, both anchored by shopping centers and supermarkets (99 Ranch Market and Shun Fat Supermarket). Before the conception of Chinatown Plaza and nearby malls, some Las Vegas residences had to travel as far as 200 miles to the nearest "suburban Chinatown" in Monterey Park to shop for authentic Asian groceries. To cater to the Chinese-speaking locals and tourists, entrepreneur James Chen spearheaded a drive in Las Vegas. There are now several businesses in Chinatown that are extensions of prominent Southern California businesses, including Asian supermarket chains, restaurants, bakery, travel agents and the like. An intersection of Chinatown in San Francisco. ... New Chinatown, Los Angeles postcard, late 1940s Chinatown in Downtown Los Angeles, California, (Chinese: 洛杉磯唐人街/luò shān jÄ« táng rén jiÄ“, Vietnamese: khu Hoa kieu, thanh pho Los Angeles) was originally located less than a mile from its current location. ... Manhattans Chinatown in 1995, with 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) in the background. ... Depiction of opium smokers in an opium den in the East End of London, 1874. ... Typical General Tsos Chicken General Tsos chicken (左公鸡, Hanyu Pinyin ZuÇ’ gōng jÄ«; or 左宗棠鸡, ZuÇ’ Zōng Táng jÄ« in Mandarin Chinese) is a sweet and spicy dish that is popularly served in American Chinese restaurants. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Mayor Betty Tom Chu Area    - City 19. ... San Gabriel City Hall San Gabriel is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. ... Downtown Los Angeles Skyline Southern California, also colloquially referred to as SoCal, is an informal name for the megalopolis and nearby desert that occupies the southern-most quarter of the U.S. state of California. ... Exterior of Hong Kong Supermarket in Monterey Park, California, USA Asian market in Buenos Aires, Argentina An Asian supermarket, sometimes called an Oriental supermarket, is a grocery store in non-Asian countries that stocks items imported from the many countries of Asia. ...

It is generally unlike the older Chinatowns throughout the country; the Las Vegas Chinatown takes the form of strip malls with a diverse range of restaurants. The suburban-style 99 Ranch Market chain is the key anchor to the area, with other Southern California-based chain businesses such as the Sam Woo Restaurant (serving Cantonese cuisine), 168 Shanghai Restaurant (serving Shanghai and Taiwanese cuisine), Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant (serving Cantonese cuisine and dim sum), and Kim Tar Restaurant (serving Teochew cuisine). There is also a Mainland Chinese noodle and dumpling restaurant serving Shanghai-style noodles, dumplings, spring onion pancakes and tofu dishes. Cantonese seafood restaurants are also present, as well as the Vietnamese sandwich banh mi. Vietnamese restaurants selling pho include Pho Vietnam and Pho Kim Long. New York City-based Penang Restaurant offers Malaysian cuisine. 99 Ranch Market (also called Tawa Supermarket in its Chinese name, sometimes called Ranch 99 due to confusion based on its logo) is one of the largest Asian American supermarket chains in the United States. ... Sam Woo Restaurant (三和) is a Chinese-American restaurant chain that serves Hong Kong-style cuisine. ... Cantonese (Yue) cuisine originates from Guangdong Province in southern China, or more precisely, the area around Canton (Guangzhou). ... Chiuchow cuisine, Teochew cuisine or Chaozhou cuisine (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) originates from Chiuchow (now called Chaozhou), a city of China in Guangdong Province, not far from Guangzhou. ... In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Look up Noodle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Tofu, also called Doufu (often in Chinese recipes) or bean curd (literal translation), is a food of Chinese origin[1], made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. ... Bánh mì is a Vietnamese sandwich made with a French-inspired baguette, small slices of pickled carrots, daikon, onions, cilantro, and choice of barbecued pork, paté, and other meats. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City... The cuisine of a country is generally a microcosm of the nation and Malaysian cuisine reflects the multi racial aspects of Malaysia. ...

Shopping centers

Chinatown Plaza

Located on Spring Mountain Road between Valley View Boulevard and Arville Street, Chinatown Plaza (中國城, Mandarin: zhong guo cheng) comprises 85,000 square feet of bustling immigrant commerce, with restaurants offering regional Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong cuisine as well as other Asian cuisine (Filipino, Japanese, and Vietnamese). The assortment of businesses also includes a book store (selling Chinese language publications), a ginseng shop, a travel agent, a VCD store, a bakery, and an optometrist. Commerce is the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money between two or more entities. ... In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ... Categories: Bookstores | Stub ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Species Subgenus Panax Section Panax Series Notoginseng Panax notoginseng Series Panax Panax bipinnatifidus Panax ginseng Panax japonicus Panax quinquefolius Panax vietnamensis Panax wangianus Panax zingiberensis Section Pseudoginseng Panax pseudoginseng Panax stipuleanatus Subgenus Trifolius Panax trifolius Panax is a genus of 11 species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots... A travel agency is a store where individuals or families go to buy travel packages. ... VCD can stand for: Video CD Voice command device Value Change Dump (IEEE 1364 Verilog) Value-Centered Design This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Bakery foods A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, cakes and similar foods. ... Optometrists are primary care practitioners for vision and ocular health concerns. ...

The entrance of the parking lot of Chinatown Plaza is marked by an ornamental traditional Chinese arch (called in Mandarin Chinese paifang), providing an opportunity for photo-taking. There are also statues in front of the mall depicting Xuan Zang and the Monkey God, characters from the epic Journey to the West, a Ming Dynasty-era classic from Chinese literature. This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... One of the formal entrances or Paifang to Chinatown in London, England. ... Xuanzang, Dunhuang cave, 9th century. ... The four heroes of the story, left to right: Sun Wukong, Xuánzàng, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... // [edit] Classical texts Main article: Chinese classic texts China has a wealth of classical literature, both poetry and prose, dating from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE) and including the Classics attributed to Confucius. ...

Others

Other shopping centers developed adjacently in recent years by other developers include:

• Pacific Asian Plaza - opened in 2001, the 90,000 square foot Pacific Asian Plaza features grand Japanese accents. Shun Fat Supermarket, locally called SF Supermarket, is the prime anchor of this special complex.
• Great China Plaza - opened in 1999
• The Center at Spring Mountain - developed by non-Asian developers and opened in 2002, extended this year to include more businesses. This shopping center includes a branch of the Lollicup tea beverage franchise, a Taiwanese American company originally from Southern California.

These Las Vegas shopping centers contain unique architecture that combine traditional Chinese motifs and red gateways with modern-style strip malls found in American suburbia and are located well away from the touristy casino areas. Chinatown is not a residential district as in other Chinatowns and very few live in the immediate surroundings. Nevertheless, it is a central location for a booming Asian origin population in Las Vegas. Shun Fat Supermarket (Traditional: 順發超級市場; Simplified: 顺发超级市场; Pinyin: Shùnfā Chāojíshìcháng; Vietnamese: Siêu Thị Thuận Phát; also known as SF Supermarket) is a small, but growing, Chinese Vietnamese American supermarket chain in the San Gabriel Valley region in California, Sacramento, California, San Pablo, California, and... Lollicup is a Taiwanese American fast food chain specializing in boba tea, coffee, espresso, a large variety of fruit juices and slushes, and a variety of other Asian-style cold and hot teas. ... Franchising (from the French for honesty[citation needed]) is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and tried and proven methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring payment, and usually a percentage piece of gross sales or gross profits as well as...

Events

During the Chinese New Year, the Chinatown Plaza hosts Las Vegas's annual Asian food festival with colorful lion and dragon dance performances (performed by a local Shaolin group) and pulsing Japanese taiko drum performances as well as martial arts demonstrations. There are also stalls offering goods and services oriented around Chinese culture. The Miss Chinatown Las Vegas pageant is held in Chinatown Plaza, where the winner will reprresent Chinatown. A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. ... Head of dragon dance costume Double dragon dance at Chongqing, China, September 28, 2002, during a weeklong celebration of modern Chinas National Day (October 1st) Dragon dance (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: wǔ lóng) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture. ... Main gate of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan. ... A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition between people, based largely, though not always entirely, on the beauty of their physical appearance. ...

Similarly, Pacific Asian Plaza is the venue for the Chinese autumnal Moon Festival. The Mid-Autumn Moonfestival is also celebrated in overseas Chinese communities like the San Francisco Chinatown The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: 中秋節; pinyin: Zhōngqīujíe), Moon Festival, or, less commonly, Mooncake Festival (月餅節; pinyin: yùe bĭng jíe) is...

To promote cultural diversity and understanding, field trips to Chinatown Plaza bring students from local elementary schools and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who are interested in learning about Chinese culture. Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. ... The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public, coeducational university located in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, known for its programs in engineering, English, hotel administration, and management information systems. ...

Asian demographics of Las Vegas

Originally, "Chinatown" was conceived for the purpose of serving Chinese-speaking tourists and businesses visiting Las Vegas from the Southern California area and Asia. At present, the population of Asian Americans in Las Vegas is 22,879 and comprise 4.8% of the total population as of the 2000 Census. Almost half of Las Vegas's Chinese American population - numbering at 2,784 residents - are from Taiwan. Some are also from mainland China and Southeast Asia. There are significant numbers of ethnic Chinese in the city of Las Vegas as well as in the Las Vegas suburbs of Spring Valley, Nevada and Paradise, Nevada. Filipinos remain the largest Asian ethnic group of the Las Vegas area, that is, the city itself and surrounding suburbs. World map showing the location of Asia. ... An Asian American is a person of Asian ancestry or origin who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ... A Chinese American is an American who is of ethnic Chinese descent. ... The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: is a geopolitical term which is usually synonymous with the area currently administered by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC); however, it excludes the two special administrative regions... Spring Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States. ... Looking west toward Paradise Road and the Las Vegas Strip in the CDP of Paradise, Nevada Paradise is a census-designated place located in Clark County, Nevada. ...

In comparison with the early1990s when the size of the Chinese population was nominal, Las Vegas now has Chinese-language newspapers and a Chinese American Chamber of Commerce. The Las Vegas Chinese Daily News, based in Chinatown, was founded by an immigrant from Taiwan, Republic of China. Other newspapers, such as conservative-leaning World Journal and liberal-leaning International Daily News, come from the Los Angeles area (specifically from Monterey Park). Motto: Three Principles of the People (三民主義 San-min Chu-i) Anthem: National Anthem of the Republic of China Capital Taipei (de facto)  Nanking (de jure)1  Largest city Taipei Official languages Mandarin (GuóyÇ”) Government Semi-presidential system  - President Chen Shui-bian  - Vice President Annette Lu  - Premier Su Tseng-chang... World Journal (Chinese: 世界日報; pinyin: shì jiè rì bào) is a daily Chinese language newspaper serving overseas Chinese in North America. ... International Daily News is a Taiwanese-owned major Chinese-language newspaper in North America and Indonesia. ...

External links

• Las Vegas Chinatown Plaza
• The Center at Spring Mountain
• Las Vegas Chinatown Guide
• Pacific Asian Plaza
• Chinatown expands borders - Las Vegas Review-Journal article
• http://www.co.clark.nv.us/Public_Communications/news_releases/060403_asian.htm
• http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/gbp/ant427/ant427fm/ - An ethnic studies ethnography project with very descriptive work on Chinatown Plaza from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Plenty of fine pics for good measure.

Further reading

For Asians in U.S., Mini-Chinatowns Sprout in Suburbia, Barry Newman, The Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2004 (article on development of Las Vegas's Chinatown). The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with a worldwide average daily circulation of more than 2. ...