ABSTRACT
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries small “Chinese quarters” emerged in Western European port cities and metropolises serving as hubs for Chinese seamen and migrants and attracting great interest both by authorities and locals. In Europe the global phenomenon of Chinese migration was only marginally recognizable (Benton and Pieke 1998). Yet the history of the miniature Chinatowns in the hearts of the colonial powers elucidates important patterns of migration and racialization. Chinatowns were generally associated with the United States and the famous Chinese enclaves in San Francisco and New York City in particular. When the word “Chinatown” was coined in San Francisco around 1850, it conveyed a Western perspective. In Europe, during the first half of the twentieth century, the term “Chinatown” referred almost exclusively to Chinese migration in the United States. In contrast, the small Chinese settlements in European cities were called “Chinese quarters.” Like the highly ambivalent images of China and the Chinese in the Western world (Mackerrass 1989), American Chinatowns elicited conceptions that oscillated between racial invasion of urban space and a fascination with an unknown and foreign culture. From the very beginning, these Chinatowns had a symbolic meaning and perfectly merged the global and the local. They were consistently perceived as emblematic icons of the global city—this is the reason why many city governments would appreciate a Chinatown within their local community today—and they became popular symbols of immigration.
