Cities in the US with Big Chinese Communities?

[homerjay1011]

Hi everyone,

Grateful as always for all the support and community at candleforlove!

My wife and I are thinking about bringing her parents over here permanently, but want them to have a community where they can feel at home. We live in the southeast and Atlanta would probably be the closest best move, but I'm curious what other's experiences have been in other cities and in Atlanta.

My FIL loves the part of China where he can just go to a square and be with people and I'm wondering if that's in Atlanta or anywhere near the southeast.

Thanks!

[Randy W]

Wikipedia pretty well covers the numbers here -

List of U.S. cities with significant Chinese-American populations

 

Is Mandarin or Cantonese more common in the US?

 

In the U.S. alone, according to the U.S. Census, 458,840 people speak Cantonese and 487,250 speak Mandarin — a very close margin.May 7, 2017

 

But my own experience has been that Cantonese tends to dominate in the Chinatowns, while Mandarin speakers tend to be more spread out geographically.

The Chinatowns have community centers, which may not be what he expects in a town square.

[homerjay1011]

Thanks Randy! That's definitely helpful!

I'm guessing it's pretty hard to find the exact nightly chinese square experience, but a community center sounds like it would at least be a place where they could connect and be with other Chinese people.

[Randy W]

8 hours ago, homerjay1011 said:

Thanks Randy! That's definitely helpful!

I'm guessing it's pretty hard to find the exact nightly chinese square experience, but a community center sounds like it would at least be a place where they could connect and be with other Chinese people.

Some articles on where those town square gatherings may have morphed from

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/50182-the-rise-and-fall-of-china’s-working-class-‘palaces’/

 

[Martin B]

21 hours ago, homerjay1011 said:

Hi everyone,

Grateful as always for all the support and community at candleforlove!

My wife and I are thinking about bringing her parents over here permanently, but want them to have a community where they can feel at home. We live in the southeast and Atlanta would probably be the closest best move, but I'm curious what other's experiences have been in other cities and in Atlanta.

My FIL loves the part of China where he can just go to a square and be with people and I'm wondering if that's in Atlanta or anywhere near the southeast.

Thanks!

We live in an area where there isn't an enormous Chinese community, but there were large gatherings twice a week from 6-9pm where a bunch of older Chinese folks would rent out a room somewhere and meet to play cards, eat, etc.  However, my understanding is that it still hasn't resumed post-COVID as that population tends to be quiet fearful of getting sick. Most metro areas should have something similar. Chinese churches are often popular meeting spots as well and will often have events for older people. 

Otherwise, there are really IMO only a few places in the US that can replicate living in a Chinese city and those would be Chinatown Chicago, NYC (prob the best bet), SF, maybe Boston...

Edited October 26, 2022 by Barfus (see edit history)