Oakland Chinatown: Aesthetics

By Jessica, Maria, Jackie P, and Valeria

Chinatown is a really different part of Oakland. The culture and beliefs there are different. The people there seem to mostly be busy, and have something to do all the time. The food was different. It was all mostly Chinese food, and other Asian foods. The older people didn’t really speak English. Walking down those streets was different because the people seem to be so different that the people in our neighborhood, different language, appearance, jobs and shopping lists. But the streets were just as dirty in Chinatown as they are in our neighborhood. We walked by a trash can and next to it there was a mess, with the trash spilling. It seemed like there wasn’t more space for garbage in the can, so they decided to throw the garbage next to it.

While walking around we looked at what types of cars the people drove. We noticed that they were mostly Hondas and Toyotas. The cars weren’t super nice but they weren’t old and beat up either. They were still in good condition and decent. This shows that they don’t have a lot of money but they seem like they aren’t living in poverty either.

While we were walking around trying to interview people, we saw a wall that was full of different colors. Guess what it was? Tagging! (Graffiti) Yes, we thought we were not going to see tagging because the people seem to like being there, and seem to take really good care of the place, but we were wrong. It was all over the place. Something else that we saw that was surprising was that the streets were dirty and cracked -- just like our neighborhood. Some things are all the same.