Chinatown, associations in peril
The Year of the Rabbit on the Chinese zodiac calendar began on Jan. 22. Traditionally in Chinese culture, this is the time to celebrate the Lunar New Year and pray for a bountiful spring harvest.
Chinese family and clan associations, throughout the spring season plan for large gatherings of hundreds for the annual New Year and spring banquets in Chinese communities across the country. These events are filled with speeches, entertainment, scholarship awards and invited local politicians, and bring attendees from across the city, the region and country.
Again, as it has for the past three years, planning for the biggest event of the year for associations comes against the backdrop of COVID pandemic concerns, anti-Asian crime and the lack of banquet restaurants in San Francisco Chinatown to hold these gatherings. Indeed, these factors along with declining interest may be the death knell for family associations in the Bay Area.
Once there were many restaurants in San Francisco Chinatown capable of holding large gatherings. Only the venerable Far East Cafe on Grant Avenue, which was on the verge of shuttering during the height of the COVID crisis, remains.
New Asia Restaurant on Pacific Street closed several years ago. Miriwa, next door to New Asia, and Four Seas and the Empress of China on Grant Avenue, have all shuttered.
Today, family association members tend to be older, monolingual immigrants and many reside in or near Chinatown. Few drive and they depend on their children to travel to venues outside of Chinatown.
The annual spring banquets are evening affairs . With increased concerns about antiAsian crime, families are reluctant to venture into Chinatown at night. The financial health of many associations depends on these events . Besides opportunities for families to get together, the event generates revenue for associations as attendees make annual donations at the dinner. For those associations that purchased their headquarters property many years ago, they depend on donations to cover operating expenses such as property taxes, deferred maintenance and utilities, as well as to fund scholarships and make charitable donations. This comes at the same time when many have lost income from their storefront rentals that closed due to the loss of tourism during the pandemic.
Adding to today’s environment, many associations are facing a membership and leadership crisis. These organizations have outlived much of their original purpose of aiding a largely newcomer bachelor society in the U.S. Today, that void has been filled by social and government assistance programs and family reunifications.
Originally formed by Chinese immigrants who shared common surnames, ancestors or places of origin, family associations provided mutual aid, protection and socialization, and have been in existence since the first waves of Chinese immigrants came to California during the late 1840s for the Gold Rush.
Today, as their meaningfulness wanes, associations that once served old-timers — headquarters where lo wah ques met to play mah-jongg or have a meal together — have gone deserted.
Most of the children of these old-timers cannot speak Chinese and are not interested in joining kinship clan associations where business is conducted in Cantonese and the Taishanese dialect in particular. They see family associations as remnants of a bygone era, valued by their parents or grandparents. These children come to the annual banquet as an obligation to their elders. They show little interest in participating in annual children’s Christmas parties or annual picnics at a local park.
With the lack of available and accessible venues for annual banquets, membership decline and lack of leadership development, the future does not bode well for many associations.
Perhaps these organizations are the victims of their own success. They were founded by early immigrants to assist newcomers and allow them to harness their potential in “Gold Mountain” and allowed the generations that followed to self-actualize and succeed in the society beyond Chinatown. Their success moved them further away from their connections in Chinatown as they prospered in the suburban communities in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
On Feb. 26, the Gin Sun Hall Benevolent Association held its annual spring banquet at the Imperial Palace restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown with 320 members, their relatives, friends and dignitaries in attendance. In past years as many nearly 900 would attend.
If the legacies of the early founders can endure, family associations must reinvent themselves with the changing times. No longer does surname, kinship identity or geographic origins attract new members. Yet these organizations formed originally for mutual support and protection may be more needed than ever today as anti-Asian hate, and anti-Chinese and anti-China fear-mongering fill the airwaves. However, to attract members, the family associations must develop programs that benefit the wider community through civic engagement, and social and political action and not just for the benefit of their dwindling membership based on kinship ties.