China Town

China Town
click photo to enlarge	We were playing tourist and took the hop on hop off bus that went to downtown Los Angeles. One of the stops was in Chinatown. This was the first time either of us had been there. It seems the original Chinatown was demolished to make room for Union Station and a new one built and opened for operation in 1938.
click photo to enlarge	In the 1930s, under the efforts of Chinese-American community leader Peter Soo Hoo Sr., the design and operational concepts for a New Chinatown evolved through a collective community process, resulting in a blend of Chinese and American architecture. The Los Angeles Chinatown saw major development, especially as a tourist attraction, throughout the 1930s, with the development of the "Central Plaza", a Hollywoodized version of Shanghai, containing names such as Bamboo Lane, Gin Ling Way and Chung King Road (named after the city of Chongqing in mainland China). Chinatown was designed by Hollywood film set designers, and a "Chinese" movie prop was subsequently donated by film director Cecil B. DeMille to give Chinatown an exotic atmosphere.
click photo to enlarge	There was of course a statue of Bruce Lee at Central Plaza. There were large groups of men playing some kind of game and they got very animated about it. We ate in the restaurant, Foo Chow, where they filmed some scenes some from Rush Hour.
click photo to enlarge	click photo to enlarge