April 25, 2025 | Vol. 54, Issue 8

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

Boston

Chinatown Residents Strike back against the Opening of Cannabis Shop

With over 250 cannabis stores in Massachusetts accumulating over 4 billion dollars in gross profits, it has been no surprise that Cannabis shops are aiming for Chinatown, a culture hub for a diverse group as their next target location to open their new store. In the past, there have been many attempts to open a cannabis store, with companies such as Sanctuary Medical, Royalty Group, and its latest attempt, Dragon Buds proposing ideas to the Boston Cannabis Board about opening […]

Residents Voice Concern Over Chinatown’s Future as New Zoning Proposals Unveiled

Boston Chinatown is at another crossroads. The historical neighborhood, long celebrated as a sanctuary for Chinese immigrants and a hub of cultural diversity and heritage, is facing an unprecedented transformation as gentrification takes hold. Threatened by rising rents, luxury developments, and a changing demographic landscape, the Chinatown residents speak up about their experiences and make their voices heard. Community leaders and advocates are working to address these challenges. They are calling for affordable housing initiatives, stronger rent control measures, and […]

Little Amal Begins Her US Walk in Boston

A 10-year-old Syrian girl stepped off a boat in Boston Harbor on September 7th—a beacon of hope encountering a new land. Her name is Amal, and she was without parents, a stranger in a strange place, displaced from her home and everything she knew. But Little Amal was not alone; observing closely, she was surrounded by a sea of people who came to greet the 12-foot-tall puppet along with her three puppeteers. Two of the puppeteers were operating her arms […]

Tufts Medical Center and Transformative Organizations Shaping Boston Communities

Last summer, Tufts Medical Center conducted a comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), revealing three essential health priorities: behavioral health, financial security and mobility, and access to care and services. In response, a coalition of 20 organizations, carefully selected through an RFP process, emerged with a collective goal of driving positive change across Boston’s diverse neighborhoods. “In the wake of the CHNA, we strategically harnessed the findings to address pressing health needs through targeted interventions,” states Sherry Dong, Executive Director […]

See Say App Gives Direct Access to Transit Police to Report Violence

MBTA Chief Safety Officer, Ron Ester, left at the end of August after years of work with federal agencies regarding MBTA safety. This lack of leadership during a time when numerous incidents of violence have been reported on the MBTA concerns many riders. This past July, Transit Police at Andrew Station arrested two men on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. In May, 2 teens were charged for unprovoked attacks on a woman in South Boston […]

September 2023 Service Changes On the MBTA

As we start a new month, go back to school, and soon welcome a new season, more changes to public transit are coming to city commuters. In an effort to keep our readers informed, Sampan will publish regular updates. September service changes will happen on the Red Line Braintree Branch for MBTA crews to perform critical rail and tie replacement work. Accessible shuttle bus service will replace Red Line trains between North Quincy and Braintree Stations on the following dates:  […]

Igniting Promise and Hope: Boston’s SPARK Council

For many of us, Labor Day marks the unofficial beginning of the year. Whether we’re many years from having finished high school or college, and whether or not we have children of our own we need to help prepare for the new school year, the promise of starting fresh is as much in the air as the gradual changing from summer to fall. The sun will rise later in the morning, new schedules will start surfacing for everything from day […]

‘Realm of Appearances’ at MFA Gives Window Into Brief Life of Artist Matthew Wong

The Matthew Wong retrospective, The Realm of Appearances is on display now at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It is a moving exhibit with around 40 examples of the self-taught contemporary artist’s work. The retrospective spans the 6 short years of Wong’s career as an outsider artist after he began to paint and draw steadily until he took his life at the age of 35 in 2019. In the exhibit are some rare examples of his early work and a […]

Letter from Mayor Wu’s Chinatown Liaison

Hello Sampan readers! I hope you all are having a wonderful summer. It’s hard to believe that we’re already almost at the end of August. I’m personally looking forward to the fall, which is my favorite season in Boston. The weather is starting to cool down, the leaves are changing color, and there are always so many great things to do in the city. Oh and of course, I am all too excited to celebrate the August Moon Festival! In […]

Organizers Give Update on Chinatown Master Plan

The Chinatown Master Plan was first developed in 1990 to respond to residential concerns about competing demands for affordable housing and institutional expansion in Chinatown. As we reach nearly three and a half years since the start of COVID, and the release of the 2020 version of the report, Sampan convened a discussion with Chinatown Community Land Trust Executive Director Lydia Lowe, Pao Arts Center Director Cynthia Woo, and Asian Community Development Corporation Executive Director Angie Liou to discuss successes, […]

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