In the Chinese New Year of the Ox, Chinatown across the United States is decorated with lights as in previous years, but the streets underneath the big red lanterns and bunting are cold and empty, with many restaurants and stores closed and some already closed. The sight of Chinese families going to Chinatown restaurants for New Year’s Eve dinner on New Year’s Eve no longer exists. In the San Francisco Bay Area, there were hardly any pedestrians on the streets of Chinatown at night during the Chinese New Year, as people stayed Home for safety due to the spate of violent attacks on Chinese before the festival.
Due to the impact of the new crown Epidemic, the Chinese New Year flower market in Chinatown was cancelled and the Chinese New Year street fair was stopped this year. Only Chinese supermarkets are booming, and people are quietly buying festive Food with masks on, planning to cook all three meals at home during the Chinese New Year. The Chinese-language World Journal reported that in the Chinese neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the lines at Chinese supermarkets waiting to check out for Chinese New Year goods were longer than usual, and some Chinese New Year goods were particularly sought-after and sold out of stock.
As the government banned restaurants from dining indoors, some restaurants in the Chinese neighborhoods of Los Angeles are offering New Year’s pots of food for take-out, with one for 5, one for 8 and one for 10 people, ranging from more than 100 to more than 300 per pot.
There are many people who can’t even afford to eat ponzu. The Chinese homestay in Los Angeles is home to many new immigrants from mainland China who cannot return to China because of the new crown epidemic. On New Year’s Eve, some people order a take-out to eat alone, even if it is the New Year’s Eve dinner. Due to the New Year’s epidemic, many of them are unemployed and have no income. In previous years, they would get together with three or two friends at a restaurant for the Chinese New Year, but this year, they can only stay alone in the homestay and are in a bad mood, not to mention the Chinese New Year.
The U.S. mainstream media, which has always been less likely to cover the Chinese community, has paid rare attention this year to the situation in Chinatown around China during the Chinese New Year. NBC reports that businesses in New York’s Manhattan Chinatown, which has lost 50 to 70 percent of its revenue since the new crown epidemic spread across the U.S. in January 2020, have been hit extra hard, and Chinese are also hurting from xenophobia.
The Washington Post reported on the eve of Chinese New Year’s Eve that since the outbreak, more and more Chinese in the U.S. have been the target of hate, with rights activists, including Hollywood stars, coming forward to denounce violence against Chinese and demand justice.
Within a week before the Chinese New Year, violent attacks on Chinese occurred in Chinatown in several large cities: a gift store was robbed during the holiday in Oakland Chinatown in the San Francisco Bay Area, a 91-year-old man was pushed for no apparent reason while walking down the street, and a 70-year-old woman was pushed to the ground; a 64-year-old Chinese woman was violently robbed and beaten in San Jose, California; a Chinese woman was attacked on the streets of Queens, New York, by A man pursued her about why Chinese people eat dog meat, and the other man then became increasingly aggressive, tailing her to the entrance of a subway station. Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce President Chen Xipeng said he has recently been interviewed by about 100 media outlets, including ABC’s Good Morning America, and NBC and CBS networks, etc. Chen told the media that he has never seen so much violent crime in Chinatown.
San Francisco Mayor Bridle (London Breed) to Chinatown before the Chinese New Year, she said never allow violence against Chinese, he said: “I know that in addition to the elderly, even their families are living in fear, whenever Parents or grandparents go out during the Chinese New Year, the Family can not help but worry about them. ” But Mayor Bridle, in support of the “Black Lives Matter” campaign, cut the SFPD budget by $120 million over the next two years.
The violence against the Chinese even alarmed the White House. President Biden and his First Lady filmed a video congratulating Chinese Americans on the Lunar New Year of the Ox on New Year’s Day. Biden said it was a tragedy that the Asian Pacific Islander community had recently fallen victim to ethnic discrimination and hate crimes, and that it was a stain on the image of the United States as a nation; Biden said he had signed an executive order protecting the Asian Pacific Islander community and condemning any form of ethnic discrimination.
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