Los Angeles Budget Car Rental and LA Chinatown
Chinatown in Los Angeles was founded in the late 1800s. There are two Chinatowns that you can visit with your Los Angeles budget car rental. The old Chinatown was located less than a mile from its current location at Union Station.
Take a step back
Chinatown originated between 1852 when the first Chinese immigrants were reported to be in Los Angeles and 1890 when there was a distinct community of over 3000 Chinese people. The original Chinatown was located between El Pueblo Plaza and Old Arcadia Street with your Los Angeles budget car rental. From 1890 until 1910, Chinatown grew to 15 streets and alleys with 200 buildings. It was large enough to hold a Chinese Opera theatre, three temples. A newspaper, and telephone exchange. But at this time there were laws prohibiting most Chinese from owning property and citizenship. In 1910, the area began to go into decline because the public learned about gambling houses, opium dens, and tong warfare reduced businesses in the area. After 30 years of decay, the Supreme Court approved condemnation of the entire area and allowed construction of the new rail terminal, Union Station. Today when you visit with your Los Angeles budget car rental, there is a narrow one-block street known as Ferguson Alley where the Buddhist temple and several business are located.
Visit Chinatown today
In the 1930s, there were efforts by Chinese community leader Peter Soo Hoo Sr to create a new Chinatown. It was seen as a tourist area with the development of a "central Plaza". It was to be a Hollywoodized version of Shanghai. Chinatown was designed by Hollywood film set designers and the prop was donated by director Cecil B. DeMille. This section of Chinatown is certainly worth a visit with your Los Angeles budget car rental, but is less frequented by ethnic Chinese, although there are several benevolent associations located here. Chinatown is bounded by Olvera Street and Dodger Stadium. Chinatown is accessible with your Los Angeles budget car rental, but it is also served by the Gold Line of the city's Metro Rail.
Explore the streets
The main streets of Chinatown are Broadway, Spring Street, and Hill Street. The area is directly north of downtown Los Angeles between Dodger Stadium and the Los Angeles Civic Center. The Broadway side of Chinatown is usually packed with tourists, restaurants, and merchants. While you are here with your Los Angeles budget car rental, you will find a number of specialized stores that sell products such as groceries, soap, toys, clothes, CDs, and more at low prices.
Explore the food
There are also a number of restaurants in the area. Most are Cantonese cuisine, but there are also other Asian restaurants such as Teochew Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai. Many of the restaurants here have been featured in the food section of the Los Angeles Times. There are also a number of barbeque delicatessens, with meat displays of roast duck and suckling pig in the windows. There are also many dim sum restaurants.
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