D.C.'s Ever-Shrinking Chinablock

Asian businesses face difficult choices; Neighborhood works to preserve Chinese culture

Reported and produced by Kristen Lee

Ethnic enclaves have influenced America's cultural and national identity for generations. Restaurants, stores and traditional events attract locals and tourists alike in cities across the country.

But in the nation's capital, Chinatown has evolved into a corporate-dominated neighborhood during the past decade. In the area known by many locals as "Chinablock," McDonald's arches tower over signs boasting Chinese characters, and Chinese lanterns dangle in American shoe stores. On any given night, thousands of sports and movie fans pour out of the D.C. sports arena or the Gallery Place cinema, located in the heart of Chinatown.
Listen Now, Part One

Listen Now, Part Two


But even as tourists flock to Chinatown's busy streets, there is less and less of "China" to see. Since the D.C. sports arena opened in 1997, Chinese business owners have encountered a new type of competition. Although the chain stores and restaurants attract more tourists, they've also squeezed the neighborhood's Chinese businesses. Abandoned Chinese restaurants sit vacant among bustling Hooters and Starbucks storefronts.

Samir Bannout, an engineer and frequent Chinatown-goer, has noticed the block's aesthetic changes.

"You know, it seems [Chinatown is] losing its characteristics. People, you know, because they're not making money and they're leaving the area. And the big businesses and corporations coming and buying the lands and everything," Bannout said.

Washingtonian Tony Davenport drives his two kids to the Chinatown Cultural Community Center once a week for their Mandarin language classes. He said the new businesses in the Chinablock are nice for the tourists, but he has concerns about how this new wave of stores affects D.C.'s Chinese community.

"As rents have gone up so high, obviously people are going to be displaced residentially. And you can be sure, that some of the businesses will be displaced also. It's going to be rough," Davenport said.

Chain stores, looking for property in Chinatown in recent years, have offered buy-outs to small Asian businesses. Chinese store owners say it's difficult to resist the payouts, which often run into the thousands of dollars.

Some community leaders, like Alex Chi, chairman of D.C.'s Chinatown Revitalization Council (CDC), have said there is one way to keep the Chinablock intact.

"Economic development, and small business development in the Chinatown district [is] probably the single most important element," Chi said.

The CDC, just one year old, is trying to jumpstart that economic development. The group is working on a three-year action plan to revive the block's cultural, economic, residential and urban design.

But recent developments are not exactly Chinese in nature. "Nando's Peri Peri," a Portuguese chicken restaurant, opened in July, and a European-style pizzeria called "Vapianos" is scheduled to open in September of this year.

Whatever the cost, the menu on the Chinablock is evolving.

Production assistance from Ashley Lau and April Fehling.