At 7:15 a.m., we
got in the cars and headed toward San Francisco. As we got half way to San
Francisco, most of the people were sleep and creating questions so they can ask
our tour guide, Rick Evans. Rick Evans was the best tourist guide that I have
ever had. At 9:00 am, Rick started our tour by telling us why the Chinese came
to America. The Chinese came to America because of gold rush in 1849. I think
the reason why the Chinese came to America because wanted it to be more then
whites and African Americans living America. First, Chinatown was originally 12
blocks long, but after the fire in April 18, 1907 at 5:17 a.m. The new
(current) Chinatown was made in 1907, one year after the fire and earthquake
that happened in San Francisco. There was only one temple that stayed up and
still up after the fire and earthquake and that temple was built from Italy;
The Saint Mary Church.
Chinatown made the
type of crimes in California. The first crimes that the chineses had were
drugs, prostitution and gambling. The person that was working on these crimes
was people that was called tongs and was the first “Chinese Mafia.” The Chinese
came into San Francisco by wearing all black. Today Chinatown is made as a
theme park. Some people think that Chinatown is fake and that they took down
the false materials that Chinese brought from China. I think that it weird that
we went to a place that wasn’t a real place, but a theme park for tourist to
come into and she how Americans made Chinatown the way it is today. The only
Chinese culture in Chinatown was the dragon street lights that were built in
1916. The government can’t do anything about Chinatown so; Chinese have no new
housing because there is a 24-inch height limit.
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The new
information that learned about Chinatown was the Tin How Temple. It all started
when we had walk up 3 flights of stairs at 11:30 a.m. When we got to the top of
the temple we spent sometime to catch are breath and look around before Mr.
Evans began to talk. The Tin How Temple is a temple that any religion can go
into the temple and do traditional practices. The first step you have to do is
to bring oranges/foods to the temple for the gods know that you are in the
room. Next, you have to light incents to also tell the gods that you are in the
room. When we first got into the temple you can smell that sense of incents. When
I walked into the temple I smelled nothing but incent and thought that I have
to learn more about this temple.
The next step is
to make a paper looking hat, with three sheets of papers underneath it. After
you make the hat and the papers you then have put the sheet of papers in the
furnace, (that’s why they have the temple on the top floor). The topic of the
temple that caught my eye the most was that the Mr. Evans said that you can buy
paper materials for the person that died. For example, if your uncle died then
you will so the practice and buy him some paper money, they got a stack of
paper money for 50 cent in Chinatown. You will put the paper money into the
furnace and your uncle can use that money to pay off the debt from the devil.
You probably thinking that it is weird that you put some money in a furnace and
your uncle give it to the devil, but the Chinese believed in the afterlife and
making shore that the people that died have a great life into the afterlife.
You can also buy a credit card, I-Pad, clothing, and a brand new car. This
temple was the first temple that can be used for fortunes. You can get your
fortune after you give respect to your dead relative. Warning, the fortunes are
not like the fortunes that you get from a fortune cookie.
Chinatown was a
great place to learn new things about a culture that I had never known that I
can study about. Threes more important topic about Chinatown but I liked the
temple the most. The temple was the most important topic to me was because if I
want to understand more about a new culture, then I have to learn from there
religion or most talked topic of Chinatown. Chinatown was an awesome place to
visitor and I wished that we have never left Chinatown. Rick has given us a map
with the entire topic that we learned about in Chinatown. I will be coming back
to Chinatown with my family and friends. I like to thank Ms. Everett and all the people that helped Ms. Everett in the study of Rome and the Chinatown trip. The classes and the trip was the best time and the places that I got the most information about Rome and Chinatown. If I don't get picked this year, then I will do it again next year.
-Roynell Anderson
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