Minghui:  所以呢，我们亚裔联合会现在在做一个Storytelling Project，就是一个故事的项目。然后呢我们希望可以采访到社区里面的这些成员来得到他们的这些信息，还有他们的声音来做这个项目。所以呢，我们会采访你，就是想问你在唐人街里面的一些故事。然后把这些东西用在我们的storytelling project的项目里。所以呢，想问你一下你的名字叫什么？怎么拼你的名字？

So Asian Americans United is working on a storytelling project, about stories. We would like to interview community members to collect their views, their voice. So we’re interviewing you to ask you some stories about Chinatown to incorporate them into our storytelling project. So could you tell me your name and how to spell it?

Steven: 我的名字叫朱枫，我的英文名字叫做Steven Zhu

my name is Feng Zhu, my English name is Steven Zhu.

Minghui:  好，然后你是做什么工作的？然后你现在住在哪里？

ok, what do you do for a living? Where do you live right now?

Steven: 现在我的工作可能稍微复杂一点。原来我自己是做这个IT的。早期我自己是Civil Engineer然后转到IT的。然后近几年我主要是在教大家做一些医学的counsulting。然后呢同时我也在做一些finance方面的relation这样的。我还有做Real Estate (房地产). 这是我目前的工作。我从2000年一直住在费城。曾经在费城市内住然后近三年搬到了Suburban，住在East Norriton。搬走的原因是因为市内的治安急剧下降。我和我太太都不怎么敢出门，总是觉得治安不好。

My work situation is a little complicated. I originally started out in IT. In the beginning I was in civil engineering, but then I went into IT. In recent years, I’ve been teaching medical consulting, and at the same time, I’ve been doing some work in finance. I also work in real estate. This is my current work. I’ve been living in Philadelphia since 2000. I used to live in Center City, but three years ago I moved to the suburbs, living in East Norristown. The reason for the move was the drastic rise in crime in Center City, making my wife and I uncomfortable going out, always feeling unsafe.

Minghui:  所以说你的家人也住在这边是吧。

So your family lives here, too, right?

Steven: 我和我太太但我的子女都住在外州。

My wife and I live here, but my children live out of state.

Minghui:  然后你说你是从2000年搬到费城来的。那你之前住在哪里？

So you mentioned that you moved to Philadelphia in 2000. Where were you before then?

Steven: 之前是住在新泽西，原来是在纽约工作也在新泽西工作。后来2000年搬来费城。

Before that we were in New Jersey; we worked in both New York and New Jersey.

Minghui:  那你为什么想要搬到费城来呢？

Why did you move to Philadelphia?

Steven: 当时就是因为费城是第五大都市，感觉这边各方面环境相对加州？比较reasonable比如说房屋价格还有人口数量啊。当时也觉得费城有大量的科技产业啊。中国城也是一个非常吸引人的。那因为我当时做IT Training的很多，一开始集中在华裔亚裔方面。

At the time Philadelphia was the 5th largest city, compared to California it seemed more reasonable, like pricing of houses and population density. Also at the time it felt like Philadelphia had a lot of tech industry. Chinatown was an attractive factor. Because at the time I was doing a lot of IT training, in the beginning it was mostly concentrated in the Asian community.

Minghui:  那我想知道那时候的费城唐人街是一个什么样的一个状况？

What was Philadelphia Chinatown like at that time?

Steven: 费城唐人街看过去是比较漂亮的而且比较完美的一个中国城。因为跟华盛顿DC相，中国城当年也曾经比较繁荣。当年其实我对这个情况不太了解，也就是经过这几年，才知道他们是建了体育中心/Arena。我不知道有没有这个事情有關的。这个体育中心建成之后大量的华裔的商业就无法营业，然后就往外移了。当时看到华盛顿觉得很亲切。但为什么选择费城是因为我喜欢这里的中国城。每一次有一个新的华裔商店开张，那里就成了一个不大不小的华人聚集地。所以对这个华人在这里创业100年的一个中国城，一个很有历史的一个文化很强厚的中国城。所以说当时觉得很喜欢这个地方。

Philadelphia Chinatown was a beautiful and more complete Chinatown. Because compared to Washington DC, back then Chinatown was a lot more prosperous. At the time I didn’t fully understand the situation, it was after a few years that I understood it’s because they built the arena [in DC]. I don’t know if it’s related to the issue. Since the arena was built, a massive amount of Chinese-owned businesses were unable to operate anymore and started to move away. At the time DC was really dear to me. But the reason why I chose Philadelphia is because of the Chinatown here.  a new Chinese owned business opens up, it becomes a gathering place for Chinese of all walks of life. So a Chinatown that was built over a hundred years ago, a Chinatown that has history and strong culture, made me really like this place.

Minghui:  那也就是说唐人街对你来说是一个很重要的一个

In other words, Chinatown is an important place to you.

Steven: 工作，生活，需要居住的一个地方。

Work, life, and place to live.

Minghui:  那你觉得在过去十年里面唐人街有没有一些变化，或者二十年。

Do you feel like there have been changes in Chinatown within the last ten years or twenty years?

Steven: 我刚来的时候很明显感到就是说华人大部分比较相对来说isolated，就是比较自己内部资源的推滚啊，或者是对注入社会的幅度比较少。那么当然因为我的生意，冷清过后也接触了不少的政府项目，因为我们funding是从政府来的。所以在做一些再就业上岗的培训。后来我们说，IT转到这个再就业上岗为主，变成IT Training，给大家寻找新的工作机会，当然后来也有发展不同项目，从护士医护啊，还有一些木工啊各方面的。但是华裔社区，因为我跟外面接触比较多，我看到华人大部分都比较有一种闭关自守，就是说很少跟我们主流互动。那我当时参与我们每年中国的春节啊，还有节日假日的时候，不应该只跟中国人同乐，我们应该邀请各种种族的人同乐。所以后来我邀请了一些主流社会的人。比如说市议员啊，国议员啊，还有一些美国组织的各种教堂牧师啊，还有一些教育工作的，一起来中国城参加我们各种各样的宴会活动或者庆祝活动，让大家互相融合。

When I first came here, it was very obvious that most Chinese tend to isolate themselves, keeping their resources internally, or they don’t give back to their community as much. Of course because of my business after the economic downturn, we’ve been in contact with a lot of governmental programs because our funding comes from the government. We did a lot of job training. Later on we pivoted from IT to reemployment, transitioning into IT training, providing people a chance for new employment. Of course later on, we developed in other areas, ranging from nursing and health care, and some carpentry and such. But the Chinese community, because I have been more in contact with outside of the Chinese community I can see that most Chinese immigrants tend to keep to themselves, like very rarely do they connect with us. At the time I would attend our annual Chinese New Year celebration, and other holidays and festivals, we shouldn’t just celebrate amongst ourselves. We should invite a broad range of people to celebrate with us. So at the time, I would invite people from mainstream society. For example, city council members, senators, people from various American organizations and clergy from various churches, and educators, to come to Chinatown to attend our banquets or celebrations, so that people can come together.

Minghui:  让大家互相认识，还有文化交流。

To introduce people to each other, and allow cultural exchange.

Steven: 这一点非常重要的，经过几年努力以后，绝大部分社团都知道我们不光只是在自己内部欢乐，同时与其他族裔人共度。所以大量的各个协会啊，中国城变成非常希望跟主流社会有更多接触。

This is very important. After a few years of hard work, most organizations know that we don’t just celebrate amongst ourselves, we celebrate with all people and races. So the majority of the associations in Chinatown want to have more contact with mainstream society.

Minghui:  那在唐人街里面，你有没有一个喜欢去的地方？

Do you have a favorite place you like to go to in Chinatown? 

Steven: 问题主要不是最喜欢去，主要是说它的实质意义存在非常重要。对保留中国文化传统，我们在这里工作生活，除了因为很方便以外，因为毕竟我们的饮食文化多少的，这个西方饮食是多少还是有所区别。那么中国的因为长期习惯从小就吃的中国菜长大的。那么他们还是希望这个在中国城得到一个正宗的，可以说正宗也可以说自己更喜欢的这个饮食风味何止材料，特别是有中国超市啊，你去买大量的中国食物啊，你到这个Acme，你到ShopRite，你都买不到食材和原材料。所以说中国城对华裔都很重要，当然文化还有也很重要，那么文化教育这些各种各样的时候，大家很多，我加入过几个中国学校，做过他们的校长啊。当然这里面一个发展的，包括博物馆的这些监护产品的企业工作。也是希望下一代华人一代代人寻根，不光光是要从，我们毕竟是黄皮肤，是来自亚洲的中国人。那么希望他们一代一代的人，还能知道这些根在哪里，还有自己的文化是什么，因为中国的优良传统还是很伟大的中国文化，所以说让下一代子子孙孙，能接受东方文化，中国文化是以中国城一个非常重要的一个起点。 我们说到费城是美国唯一的一个非物质文化遗产城市，中国城在这里建立的有超过一百五十年了啊。特别重要的，实在旅游观光当中，中国城也是一个Hot spot，一个超级热点。 如果没有中国城了，这里就会建球场，监狱啊。但我们还在这里，因为我们反对了所以他们才移走了，不在我们这里建arena了。如果他们移走了，这对保留中国文化中国城的存在有很大关系。如果Arena在我们这里建了话，这个地方很可能很快失去我们的根了。所以中国城所以每个华人还都很重要，不光光是方便，从饮食文化方面也可以给下一代人，特别是第二代、第三代的他们可能除了美国这个大陆目里面。但是真正在他受不了中国文化，他们也许比较难于理解，那么带他们到中国城一趟，或者到各个中国节日的时候他们来这里参观，参与，对他们来说是一个极大的帮助来了解中国文化。 

The issue is not having a favorite place, but actually having a physical meaning which is really important. To preserve the traditional Chinese culture - besides being convenient because we live and work here, to be able to have the food you’re familiar with. Because at the end of the day, western food is very different from eastern food. We’ve been eating Chinese food growing up; we want to be able to have authentic Chinese food in Chinatown, which is not limited to just the food, but also the ingredients. You can get lots of ingredients in the Chinese supermarket, which you can’t get by going to ACME or Shoprite. So Chinatown is really important to Chinese Americans. Of course, culture is really important as well. There are a variety of cultural entities. I’ve been involved in a few Chinese Schools by being the principal. I also hope that the generations that follow will look for their roots. At the end of the day, we have yellow skin, we are Chinese from Asia. I hope that each generation will still know where their roots are, what their culture is, because China has a great tradition and culture, so I would like the generations to come to accept our culture. Chinatown is an important source for Chinese culture. Philadelphia is the only Intangible Cultural Heritage City in the states, and Chinatown has been in this city for over 150 years. Most importantly in terms of tourism, Chinatown is a hot spot, a super hot spot. If we weren’t here, there would have been a baseball stadium, a prison. But we are still here, and because we voiced our opposition, they took their plan elsewhere. If they don’t build it here, this would affect Chinatown and its culture greatly. If they built it here, this community will quickly lose its roots. So this is important to Chinatown and to every Chinese American, it’s not just a convenience for us, it’s food and culture can provide the next generation, the generation after, and even after. When they don’t understand, then maybe we can bring them to Chinatown, or have them participate during festivals and celebrations, which would help them a lot to understand Chinese culture. 

Steven: 我们要将更多华人的心声呃送到你们的各种各样的新闻媒介当中，让更多的从社会人士亚裔华裔知道中国城对他们的重要性，对所有人的重要性。还有一个不应该做一些超出范围，特别是就交通，就是你不能承受的。 你从原来只是正常交通，为什么这个这里改成单行道了，那是因为交通堵塞才改的单行道。那你突然就给我们的地方增加大量的交通问题。你说在南费城有每一局球赛有七千两百部车子。我们不要说将来是七千吧，我们少数六千五千吧，你一旦涌进来这地方能承受吗？我觉得他们都没有做impact study，他们不提这些不利的东西，只讲我们创造了某些就业机会，这个就业机会原来就存在。只是你去建的这个短期内你增加了一些建筑功能，还有购物材料工厂给增加一点。那么这个项目就是这么大，就是这是临时性的项目。

We need to spread the voice of Chinese Americans to the various media, so that people know how important Chinatown is to the Asian community and everyone. Another thing is not doing something that is beyond common sense, especially traffic wise, which is unacceptable. They have changed what was normal traffic to one way streets, why did they do that? Because traffic was getting bad. So all of the sudden you’re amplifying traffic issues. Currently in South Philly, there are 7,200 vehicles for each game. Let's say in the future it’ll be less than 7,000, we’ll lower the number to 6,500; once they all arrive, will we be able to support this traffic? I feel like they didn’t do any impact study, didn’t mention any negative effects, only mentioned job creation, but the jobs are already here. Short term wise, you’ve created jobs related to construction and purchasing of building materials. This is a set amount, and only temporary. 

Minghui:  确实是这样子的。很感谢你就是能说出那么多自己的想法。

Indeed. I really appreciate you sharing so much of your thoughts.