Chinese people usually calls the Brooklyn Chinatown the 8th Avenue Chinatown, because it all began with couple grocery stores on 8th Ave. Brooklyn. In the beginning of the 20th century, 8th Ave. was a Norwegian neighborhood, and the opening image of this series is the 59th street Lutheran Brethren Church, it was built by the Norwegian communities. After WWII, the neighborhood declined as Norwegians moved out. First Chinese grocery store opened until 1986, some people came for shopping because it was cheaper than Manhattan Chinatown, but it wasn’t a prosperous neighborhood until 911. In 1988, the Brooklyn Chinese American Association was established, it was the first organization that speaks for the local Chinese people’s rights. After 911, traffic wasn’t convenient enough for Chinese people lived in New Jersey and Staten Island to go to shopping, so they turned to the 8th Ave. Chinatown, because the I-278 highway provides a faster route.

Nowadays, the majority of the population of 8th Ave. Chinatown comes from Fujian Province, they have a bad reputation in terms of immigration status. Lots of Fujian people would pay commercial company to sneak them on a cargo ship to come to work in the US, because they believe they could earn much more income in this unfamiliar country across the Pacific Ocean. If you go to a Chinese takeout place where they sell Sesame Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, I can guarantee you 9 out 10 owners are from Fujian. I happen to know an owner of a Chinese takeout place, he and his wife are both from Fujian, I know him for 5 years. They’d cook me food on a special menu, only for Chinese costumer, I often wonder, what if other people want to try it too. I intended to shoot some portraits of his family when I planned this series. Because he told me his eldest son scored very high on SAT and has a chance to go to Princeton, he said if his son is going to Princeton, there will be green smokes coming out of his ancestor’s cemetery, this is a Chinese phrase for very fortunate. I thought this story is very inspirational, a kid of two illegal immigrants going to Ivy league. I asked him to take photos of them, I want to share his happiness to other people, but he refused, he knew I was working on a big project about social justice for Asian communities. And he said to me, republicans come here to eat, democrats come here to eat, as long as I’m making money, I’m all good. An ancient Chinese proverb immediately, “Ge sao men qian xue”, meaning one should only clean the snow in front of their own houses, which implies that people should mind their own business. I never liked this mentality, but I understand his situation, what could possibly outweigh profits to a business owner. And many Chinese business owners are superstitious, “On the counter near the entrance was a red sign in Chinese: a prayer for good fortune. Next to it stood a cat figurine, one of its arms extended in mid-air, that is believed to bring good luck” (Freytas-Tamura, Singer). If you’re a fan of Chinese food, I’m sure you’ve seen a good fortune cat in a Chinese restaurant before.