Sampan rings in 2013

Happy New Year! We at the Sampan are excited to usher in 2013.

Chinatown Safety Committee reviews ‘supper club’ proposal

The Chinatown Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Dec. 5 at the Doubletree Hotel.

Chinatown McDonald’s owner is lovin’ it

When Carol Chin came to America, she did not speak English and worked in a sewing factory. Today, Chin owns multiple McDonald’s franchisees in the Boston area, including the Chinatown location on Washington and Kneeland streets.

Creating a vision for Chinatown’s future

In 2008, the community embarked on a plan to create a vision for the future of Chinatown, and to identify opportunities for future growth. Since the adoption of the 1990 Chinatown Community Plan and complementary zoning, Chinatown has experienced significant changes: the decline of the Combat Zone was replaced by new high-rise housing developments; the movement of the garment industry out of Chinatown; increased civic participation; and the rapid growth of the Asian population in Boston’s suburbs.

With a two-year planning process, the community elected a master plan committee consisting of an oversight committee with 13 members, and a technical committee that was charged to establish guidelines for the plan. The oversight committee was elected from major Chinatown agencies, organizations and residents, and had total responsibility for the master plan and its finances. With guidelines prepared by the technical committee, the oversight committee held five public meetings to further refine and create a collective vision for the future.

Wang YMCA celebrates 4th Legacy Dinner

Chinatown’s Wang YMCA raised more than $100,000 during its fourth annual fundraising event Legacy Dinner at the Empire Garden restaurant on Nov. 3.

An Interview with Mildred Wong

What was it like growing up as an Asina-American in the United States?
Fortunately, I can say that as an Asian American growing up in Boston, I have never been teased with degrading names or insults. No blond-haired, blue-eyed boy in my first grade class ever pulled his eyes at the corners, slanted them, and ridiculed me. At Boston Latin School, at least 45 percent of the students were Asian American, which made us much more a majority than a “minority.” Extreme racial slurs and blatant prejudice are as foreign to me as soy sauce on ice cream. As a contemporary Chinese-American, I have never been hassled, unless bad pickup lines count. “Hey baby, ni hao ma?” is not an effective pickup line.