Chinatown belongs to everyone

photo: Rachel Lau

Rachel Lau

Chinatown, the place to discover Asia in Montreal.

At least, that’s what I thought until I found out that the small streets near metro Place d’Armes no longer accommodate only Chinese, but are filled with Montrealers of all backgrounds itching for an oriental experience.

“On some days there’s a half and half mix,” says Kico, an employee at Commerce Chung Fung. “But I have mostly Caucasian customers.”

They are attracted to Chinatown by the current craze in Japanese fashion and cartoons. There’s no better place to buy jewellery, clothing, books and more, directly from Japan, Taiwan and Korea.

“There are somany white Harajukus, Bishies and Otakus,” he says – Harajuku and Bishie are two styles of Japanese dress, while Otaku is a derogatory term for someone obsessed with Japanese cartoons. Outside the Japanese community people seem to be proud to call themselves Otaku. “It’s odd to see French kids wearing J-Rock outfits. Mainly they buy plushies, stickers, Japanese dramas and posters with Naruto or Final Fantasy on them.”

The first time I went to Chinatown, two of my friends took me to a small café called L2. For someone who was brought up in a traditional Chinese family, I have to say that for once in my life, I had no idea what I was eating. This is because some restaurants have had to westernize their menus to accommodate Western diners.

“They always want to eat General Tao Chicken,” notes Xiu-Lan, a waitress at Magic Idea. “Sometimes they bring their Asian friends and even they ask for General Tao. It’s funny, because we’ve westernized Asian children.”

The original dish is General Tso’s Chicken, dating back to the 1600’s Qing dynasty. The modified version is a popular dish introduced to North America in the early 70s as an example of Hunan and Szechuan-style cooking. Unlike our beloved sweet, honey-covered General Tao Chicken, traditional Hunan meals are quite spicy and not very sweet.

Xiu-Lan says that the influx of Westerners into Chinatown is good for business. “Every day I get more and more Caucasians coming in. They come here to try something different. Like bubble tea, they don’t know what it is and they come here to find out.”

One amusing result of the intermingling is the sight of non-Asians fluent in Chinese or Japanese addressing us in our “mother” tongue and getting nowhere, since some of our families haven’t spoken it in generations. Montrealers, thinks Xiu-Lan, are exceptionally open to other cultures and quick to adopt some of their features. “People who come from Asia dress like Caucasians and try to fit into the society. But people from here are trying to find something different so they can stand out. I think it’s definitely a good change.”

Today’s Chinatown, like much of the city, has become less an ethnic enclave than a multicultural marketplace. For those who haven’t been lately, it’s worth a trip to see the change firsthand.