New Chinatown opens its gates
June 7, 1938: A tourist attraction called China City opened on Ord Street between Main and Spring streets, drawing 10,000 visitors on its first day.
“The little shops are filled with art objects and steaming foods. There is a bamboo theater,” The Times said on opening day. “A temple in which peanut oil burns in silver lotus flowers before the Goddess Quan Yin is fragrant with incense wafted against the silver and gold embroidery on the walls.”
China City featured winding cobblestone streets, art galleries and rickshaw rides.
The site was dreamed up by civic activist Christine Sterling, the founder of Olvera Street, after construction of Union Station pushed out Chinatown residents and shopkeepers.
The Main Street gate was dedicated to the late Times reporter and columnist Harry Carr. “He would have enjoyed watching every little store going into place. Chinatown was one of his adventure lands,” The Times said.
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