Editing Chinatown (section)

==Names==

===English===
[[File:Boston Signs.jpg|thumb|upright|Official signs in [[Boston]] pointing towards "[[Chinatown, Boston|Chinatown]]"]]
Although the term "Chinatown" was first used in Asia, it is not derived from a Chinese language.  Its earliest appearance seems to have been in connection with the [[Chinatown, Singapore|Chinese quarter]] of [[Singapore]], which by 1844 was already being called "China Town" or "Chinatown" by the British colonial government.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Simmond's Colonial Magazine and Foreign Miscellany|date=Jan–Apr 1844|page=335|url=http://www.nla.gov.au/ferg/issn/14606011.html|title=Trade and Commerce in Singapore|access-date=2011-12-20|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222220928/http://www.nla.gov.au/ferg/issn/14606011.html|archive-date=2011-12-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=1844-07-23|page= 2}}</ref> This may have been a word-for-word translation into English of the Malay name for that quarter, which in those days was probably "Kampong China" or possibly "Kota China" or "Kampong Tionghua/Chunghwa/Zhonghua".

The first appearance of a Chinatown outside Singapore may have been in 1852, in a book by the Rev. Hatfield, who applied the term to the Chinese part of the main settlement on the remote South Atlantic island of [[St. Helena]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hatfield|first=Edwin F.|title=St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope|url=https://archive.org/details/sthelenacapeofgo01hatf|year=1852|page=[https://archive.org/details/sthelenacapeofgo01hatf/page/197 197]}}</ref> The island was a regular way-station on the voyage to Europe and North America from Indian Ocean ports, including Singapore.

[[File:ChinatownSign.jpg|left|thumb|Sign inside [[Jefferson Station (Philadelphia)|Jefferson Station]] in [[Philadelphia]] pointing to "[[Chinatown, Philadelphia|Chinatown]]"]]
One of the earliest American usages dates to 1855, when San Francisco newspaper ''[[The Daily Alta California]]'' described a "pitched battle on the streets of [SF's] Chinatown".<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Alta California|date=1855-12-12|page= 1}}</ref>  Other ''Alta'' articles from the late 1850s make it clear that areas called "Chinatown" existed at that time in several other California cities, including Oroville and San Andres.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Alta California|date=1857-12-12|page= 1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Alta California|date=1858-06-04|page= 2}}</ref> By 1869, "Chinatown had acquired its full modern meaning all over the U.S. and Canada.  For instance, an Ohio newspaper wrote: "From San Diego to Sitka..., every town and hamlet has its 'Chinatown'."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Defiance Democrat|date=1869-06-12|page= 5}}</ref>

In British publications before the 1890s, "Chinatown" appeared mainly in connection with California.  At first, Australian and New Zealand journalists also regarded Chinatowns as Californian phenomena.  However, they began using the term to denote local Chinese communities as early as 1861 in Australia<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Ballarat Star|date=1861-02-16|page= 2}}</ref> and 1873 in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Tuapeka Times|date=1873-02-06|page= 4}}</ref> In most other countries, the custom of calling local Chinese communities "Chinatowns" is not older than the twentieth century.

Several alternate English names for Chinatown include '''China Town''' (generally used in [[British English|British]] and [[Australian English]]), '''The Chinese District''', '''Chinese Quarter''' and '''[[China Alley (disambiguation)|China Alley]]''' (an antiquated term used primarily in several [[rural]] towns in the [[American West|western United States]] for a Chinese community; some of these are now historical sites). In the case of Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada, China Alley was a parallel commercial street adjacent to the town's Main Street, enjoying a view over the river valley adjacent and also over the main residential part of Chinatown, which was largely of [[adobe]] construction. All traces of Chinatown and China Alley there have disappeared, despite a once large and prosperous community.

===In Chinese===
[[File:Sign for Stowell Street - geograph.org.uk - 911781.jpg|right|thumb|Street sign in [[Chinatown, Newcastle]], with {{lang|zh|唐人街}} below the street name]]
In [[Chinese language|Chinese]], Chinatown is usually called {{lang|zh|唐人街}}, in [[Cantonese]] ''Tong jan gai'', in [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin]] ''Tángrénjiē'', in [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] ''Tong ngin gai'', and in [[Taishan dialect|Toisan]] ''Hong ngin gai'', literally meaning "Tang people's street(s)". The [[Tang dynasty]] was a zenith of the Chinese civilization, after which some Chinese call themselves. Some Chinatowns are indeed just one single street, such as the relatively short [[Chinatown, Victoria, British Columbia|Fisgard Street]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], [[British Columbia]], Canada.

A more modern Chinese name is  {{lang|zh|華埠}} (Cantonese: Waa Fau, Mandarin: Huábù) meaning "Chinese City", used in the semi-official Chinese translations of some cities' documents and signs. ''Bù'', pronounced sometimes in Mandarin as ''fù'', usually means ''seaport''; but in this sense, it means ''city'' or ''town''.  ''Tong jan fau'' ({{lang|zh|唐人埠}}  "Tang people's town") is also used in Cantonese nowadays. The literal word-for-word translation of ''Chinatown''—''Zhōngguó Chéng'' ({{lang|zh|中國城}}) is also used, but more frequently by visiting Chinese nationals rather than immigrants of Chinese descent who live in various Chinatowns.

Chinatowns in Southeast Asia have unique Chinese names used by the local Chinese, as there are large populations of people who are [[Overseas Chinese]], living within the various major cities of Southeast Asia. As the population of Overseas Chinese, is widely dispersed in various enclaves, across each major Southeast Asian city, specific Chinese names are used instead.

For example, in [[Singapore]], where 2.8 million ethnic Chinese constitute a majority 74% of the resident population,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.singstat.gov.sg/-/media/files/publications/cop2010/census_2010_release1/cop2010sr1.pdf|title=Singapore Census of Population 2010, Statistical Release 1: Demographic Characteristics, Education, Language and Religion|last=Singapore|first=Department of Statistics|publisher=Ministry of Trade & Industry, Republic of Singapore|year=2011|isbn=9789810878085|location=Singapore|pages=19|access-date=2019-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213154440/https://www.singstat.gov.sg/-/media/files/publications/cop2010/census_2010_release1/cop2010sr1.pdf|archive-date=2020-02-13|url-status=dead}}</ref> the Chinese name for [[Chinatown, Singapore|Chinatown]] is ''Niúchēshǔi'' ({{lang|zh|牛車水}}, [[Hokkien]] [[Pe̍h-ōe-jī|POJ]]: ''Gû-chia-chúi''), which literally means "ox-cart water" from the Malay 'Kreta Ayer' in reference to the water carts that used to ply the area. The Chinatown in [[Kuala Lumpur]], [[Malaysia]], (where 2 million ethnic Chinese comprise 30% of the population of [[Greater Kuala Lumpur]]<ref>Department of Statistics, Malaysia. [https://www.mycensus.gov.my/banci/www/index.php?&id=3&page_id=40&filename=penerbitan&aid=12 "Migration and Population Distribution 2010"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206052225/https://www.mycensus.gov.my/banci/www/index.php |date=2020-02-06 }}, ''[[Government of Malaysia]]'', Malaysia, August 2014. Retrieved on 27 December 2019.</ref>) while officially known as [[Petaling Street]] (Malay: ''Jalan Petaling''), is referred to by Malaysian Chinese by its Cantonese name ''ci<sup>4</sup> cong<sup>2</sup> gaai<sup>1</sup>'' ({{lang|zh-hant|茨廠街}}, pinyin: ''Cíchǎng Jiē''), literally "tapioca factory street", after a [[tapioca]] starch factory that once stood in the area. In [[Manila]], [[Philippines]], the area is called Mínlúnluò Qū {{lang|zh-hant|岷倫洛區}}, literally meaning the "Mín and Luò Rivers confluence district" but is actually a [[transliteration]] of the local term ''Binondo'' and an allusion to its proximity to the [[Pasig River]].

===Other languages===
In [[Philippine Spanish]], the term used for Chinatown districts is '''''[[parián]]''''', a Spanish term derived from [[Cebuano language|Cebuano]] {{lang|ceb|[[wikt:parian|parian]]}} ("market", "bazaar", or "trading place").<ref>{{cite web |title=Information about Heritage of Cebu Monument |url=https://guidetothephilippines.ph/destinations-and-attractions/heritage-of-cebu-monument |website=Guide to the Philippines |access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref><ref name="pacs.ph"/> In the rest of the [[Spanish Empire]], the Spanish-language term is usually '''''barrio chino''''' (''Chinese neighborhood''; plural: ''barrios chinos''), used in Spain and [[Latin America]]. (However, ''barrio chino'' or its [[Catalan language|Catalan]] cognate ''barri xinès'' do not always refer to a Chinese neighborhood: these are also common terms for a disreputable district with drugs and prostitution, and often no connection to the Chinese.).

In Portuguese, Chinatown is often referred to as '''Bairro chinês''' (''the Chinese Neighbourhood''; plural: ''bairros chineses'').

In [[Francophone]] regions (such as France and [[Quebec]]), Chinatown is often referred to as '''''le quartier chinois''''' (''the Chinese Neighbourhood''; plural: ''les quartiers chinois''). The most prominent Francophone Chinatowns are located in [[Chinatown, Paris|Paris]] and [[Chinatown, Montreal|Montreal]].

The Vietnamese term for Chinatown is ''Khu người Hoa'' (Chinese district) or ''phố Tàu'' (Chinese street). Vietnamese language is prevalent in Chinatowns of Paris, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Montreal as ethnic Chinese from Vietnam have set up shop in them.

In Japanese, the term "chūkagai" (中華街, literally "Chinese Street") is the translation used for [[Yokohama Chinatown|Yokohama]] and [[Nagasaki Chinatown]].

In [[Indonesia]], chinatown is known as '''''Pecinan''''', a shortened term of ''pe-cina-an'', means everything related to the Chinese people. Most of these pecinans usually located in [[Java]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQifRGYy55sC&q=Pecinan+Chinatown&pg=PA109|title=Cleavage, Connection and Conflict in Rural, Urban and Contemporary Asia|last1=Bunnell|first1=Tim|last2=Parthasarathy|first2=D.|last3=Thompson|first3=Eric C.|date=2012-12-11|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789400754829|language=en|access-date=November 9, 2020|archive-date=February 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212165100/https://books.google.com/books?id=oQifRGYy55sC&q=Pecinan+Chinatown&pg=PA109#v=snippet&q=Pecinan%20Chinatown&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some languages have adopted the English-language term, such as [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[German language|German]].