Chinatown, Phoenix

Last updated
Phoenix Chinatown
Neighborhood
Sun Mercantile Building - South East Corner - 2011-03-03.JPG
Sun Mercantile Building, the last remaining building in the area once called "Chinatown"
Chinatown, Phoenix
Location of the two Chinatowns of Phoenix
Coordinates: 33°26′46″N112°04′21″W / 33.4461°N 112.0725°W / 33.4461; -112.0725
CountryUnited States
State Arizona
City Phoenix
Original location1870s
Second location1890s
Dissolved1940s–1950s

A Chinatown developed in Phoenix in the 1870s as the predominantly single male Chinese population self-segregated primarily to provide cultural support to each other in a place where they faced significant discrimination. They came to dominate certain types of jobs and made an impression on the greater community with their celebrations of Chinese holidays. Other aspects of their culture, primarily gambling and the smoking of opium were viewed less favorably, and in the 1890s, they were forced to establish a new Chinatown several blocks away from the prior prime downtown location, where their community would be "less visible".

Contents

The new Chinatown grew to be much larger than the original, as the Chinese population increased and successive generations became more likely to plan to stay in the country, have families, and own and operate businesses. Chinatown was "governed" for decades by unofficial "mayor" Louie Ong, also known as "China Dick", who was given considerable "authority" by city officials. Ong represented the biggest family or clan in Phoenix, who had emigrated from the village in Hoiping county in Guangdong Province, southeast China, where most Phoenix Chinese traced their ancestry. The Chinese prospered, often as grocery merchants, and gradually became more assimilated. Through this process, they more often lived outside Chinatown to take advantages of the city's growth and to distance themselves from the seedy reputation of Chinatown's gambling and opium dens. By the 1950s, Chinatown had largely dissolved with the Chinese population scattered throughout the city and its suburbs. One grocery warehouse building remained standing after the area was redeveloped in the 1980s for a major league sports arena.

First Chinatown

The first few Chinese immigrants in the Arizona Territory came in the late 1860s, with the 1870 census registering 21 Chinese in the territory. [1] :81 The construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad brought more Chinese workers, many of whom remained after the railroad work was finished. They settled in several towns. [lower-alpha 1] By 1880, there were 164 in Maricopa County, with 110 of those in Phoenix, 4.6% of the town's population. [1] :81 Most were single men, often intending to eventually return to China. [2] :373

The Chinese in Phoenix faced racial prejudice and were relegated to working in gardening, laundries, restaurants, and performing domestic work. A Chinatown developed at First and Adams Street, in downtown Phoenix where the Chinese maintained familiar cultural traditions, including language, and the annual Chinese New Year celebration complete with firecrackers, dancing dragons, and other traditional music and entertainment. [2] :373

Chinatown extended from Monroe Street on the north to Jefferson Street on the south and from Montezuma (now First Street) to Cortez (now First Avenue). Most Chinese businesses were clustered around First St and Adams. Chinese imported goods were obtained from other Chinese firms in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Chinese vegetables were grown locally in an area south of town known as the Chinese Gardens. The farmers grew all types of vegetables and sold them from wagons throughout Phoenix.

Chinese businesses did operate outside the area as well; many Chinese-owned groceries were located in Mexican American neighborhoods. Usually living at the business instead of commuting to Chinatown, the owners' children often learned Spanish before English. [3] :216

Anti-Chinese sentiment existed, but without the violence that occurred in other places, especially California. No anti-Chinese legislation was passed in Arizona or Phoenix, and there were no lynchings or riots. Discrimination was unofficial and verbal. [1] :85 The Federal Chinese Exclusion Acts were effectively not enforced in the territory and very few Chinese were deported. [1] :86 By 1940, the Chinese population in Phoenix had increased to 431 (while the statewide number decreased to 1419. [1] :86

Arizona did attempt to prevent the use of opium, but despite periodic raids, the opium dens mostly operated figuratively and literally underground, with "secret chambers" excavated under buildings. [1] :86 There was also criticism of gambling operations, and Chinese laundries, which were said to be "public nuisances". [1] :87

Second Chinatown

Chinatown, Phoenix
Location of the two Chinatowns
1
Chinatown (c. 1870–1890)
2
Chinatown (c. 1890–1950)

Around 1890 to 1895, the community was forced to leave the prime downtown location and move several blocks south where a Chinatown would be less visible. Developers were eager to take over the old location. The new Chinatown, centered at First and Madison, developed with Chinese grocery stores, laundries, and other shops, often with the proprietors living above.

The new Chinatown extended from Madison Street on the north one block south to Jackson Street between First and Third streets, with a concentration between First and Second from Madison south one half block to the "Chinese Alley". [1] :90 An "impressive" joss house (temple) was constructed, and as before, opium and gambling dens could be found. [1] :90

Although Congress had prohibited Chinese nationals from owning property, real estate transactions occurred anyway without regard to the law or with property deeds recorded in the name of American-born children who were citizens by birth and thus eligible to own property. [1] :94

Most early Chinese in Phoenix emigrated from one village in Hoiping in Guangdong Province in southeast China. [1] :93 Many Chinese were from the extended Ong family, whose Phoenix clan, led by Louie Ong ("China Dick") grew with additional relatives from both San Francisco and Guangdong. Louie was known as the "unofficial" mayor of Chinatown. Ong and other prominent Chinese effectively policed Chinatown, leading one Phoenix judge to declare in 1911 that "the Chinese are the most orderly of all the people in Phoenix". Ong was asked by Booker T. Washington how he became "mayor", he explained that over 30 years he had learned American "customs and manners" allowing him to bridge both communities. Washington noted that Phoenix police would hand any petty Chinese criminal over to "Mayor Dick" for justice rather than using the official court system. [1] :96

When it came to the gambling and opium activities, Ong and other Chinese viewed these as traditions not to be bothered. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Phoenix police and federal narcotics officers continued raids on both. An August 1923 raid netted "large quantities" of opium and cocaine hidden in a Chinatown restaurant. [1] :100

Over time, families became more common and the community was supported by organizations such as the Chinese Baptist Church, Chinese Boy Scouts, Chinese Salvation Society, and Chinese Chamber of Commerce. [2] :373 During an archaeological excavation, a Chinese liquor bottle was found which matched ceramic fragments found at the site of Roosevelt Dam, suggest some Chinese workers participated in its construction c.1905–1910. [4]

Revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, also a native of Canton, the capital of Guandgong Province, visited Phoenix's Chinatown in early 1911 to solicit contributions for his fight to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, China's last imperial government. Louie Ong flew the flag of the new Republic of China outside his store at First Street in Madison in October 1911 upon Sun's victory. [1] :101 Further efforts to aid the Republic occurred in 1922 when Kerman L. Wong, leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party in the United States came to Phoenix to establish a branch of the San Francisco-headquartered organization. Within a month, the branch had 100 members and an office at 221 E. Madison. Phoenix held Double Ten Day celebrations honoring the founding of the republic for years. [1] :101

As the Chinese became more prosperous, there was more assimilation into the community at large. Louie Ong and others participated in the 1918 July 4 parade with a float, characterized as "one of the most beautiful ever exhibited in Phoenix". In July 1922, the community donated $1,000 towards the construction of the first permanent building for Phoenix's first hospital, Arizona Deaconess Hospital at 10th Street and McDowell (about two mi (3.2 km) north of Chinatown). [1] :103

Chinese opened businesses outside of Chinatown, 53 by 1929. Such relocation continued and this Chinatown started to dissolve by the early 1940s, [2] :374 with the Chinese population dispersed throughout the city and its suburbs. [5] Some Chinese leaders encouraged Chinese to leave Chinatown to minimize the "attention and conflict" that was occurring in "high-profile" Chinatowns like San Francisco and New York. [1] :103 The gambling and illegal drugs continued through the 1930s giving Chinatown "a bad image" with which successful Chinese wanted to disassociate. They led the way in relocating to other areas of the city. [1] :111 During World War II, in which China allied with the U.S., anti-Chinese laws were repealed and Chinese faced less prejudice. Greater "Americanization" fueled the collapse of small Chinatowns throughout the country.

One successful merchant was Tang Shing, who came to Phoenix from Guangdong in 1910 to visit his brother. He stayed and opened a grocery store at 622 S. 7th St which grew into Sun Mercantile Company, the largest grocery wholesaler in Phoenix. [1] :104 It opened the $80,000 Sun Mercantile Building in 1929 at 3rd & Jackson [1] :104 to support his "thriving empire" [2] :374 which is the most prominent building remaining from Chinatown. [6] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. [7] In 2005, the Phoenix Suns basketball organization proposed building a new $200 million luxury high-rise hotel and condominium tower, part of which would be atop the Sun Mercantile Building. The building's roof would be removed and the base incorporated into the tower. Despite opposition by historic preservationists and the city's Asian American community, the city council approved the project. [6] The project was later blocked by a lawsuit. [8]

Wing F Wong building, 1246 E. Jefferson St. (a mile east of Chinatown) where Wing Ong operated his store, and later law office Phoenix-Building-Wing F. Ong Grocery-1925-2.jpg
Wing F Wong building, 1246 E. Jefferson St. (a mile east of Chinatown) where Wing Ong operated his store, and later law office

Wing F. Ong became the first Chinese American elected to a state legislature. The Phoenix attorney and businessman won a seat in the Arizona State Senate in 1946. Chinese newspapers in California, Oregon, and Washington covered his election in depth as those states all had significantly larger Chinese populations than Arizona but had never elected a Chinese American to such high office. [1] :112 Graduating first in his 1943 class at the University of Arizona Law School in Tucson, he passed the Arizona Bar Exam and became the eighth Chinese American lawyer in the nation. [1] :114

From 1940 to 1960, Phoenix's Chinese population more than doubled, but still declined as a percentage of the rapidly growing city. As Phoenix grew, Chinese were moving into new affordable neighborhoods. Then Phoenix City Councilman Thomas Tang, son of Tang Shing, remarked in a 1962 hearing of the United States Commission on Civil Rights that the decentralization of Chinese throughout Phoenix helped the Chinese because "with no such place as Chinatown anymore", Chinese were living amongst their neighbors and known to them "as people, as individuals". [1] :118

The area was completely redeveloped in the 1980s with the building of American West Arena, home of the Phoenix Suns.

Sing High Chop Suey House opened 1928 and operated from 1956 to 1981 near 3rd St. and Madison. It was forced to relocate due to the development of the arena and remained in business at 27 W. Madison St. until 2018. [9]

Chinese Cultural Center

After nearly 50 years without any centralized location for Chinese business and culture, the Chinese Cultural Center opened in the late 1990s. It was a retail complex built with elements of traditional Chinese architecture. Anchored by a Chinese supermarket, there were also Chinese and other Asian restaurants and businesses. It became a venue for Chinese cultural events including Chinese New Year and Harvest Moon Festival. Developed by COFCO to enhance Phoenix as a place for international Chinese trade and share Chinese culture with the Asian and general community, it failed financially and closed after twenty years despite a fierce battle to save it, conducted primarily by the local Asian community who were unaware of the redevelopment until after COFCO had sold the building. [10]

Mesa Asian district

In the early 2000s, a two-mile (3.2 km) stretch of Dobson Road in Mesa, one of Phoenix's southeastern suburbs, had developed with, as of March 2022, over 70 Asian-themed restaurants, grocery stores, and other businesses on Dobson Road. [11]

Chinatown, Phoenix
Metro Phoenix Chinese/Asian areas
1
Chinatown (c. 1870-1890)
2
Chinatown (c. 1890-1950)
3
Chinese Cultural Center, Phoenix (1997–2017)
4
Mesa Asian district (c. 2000–present)

Notes

  1. The 1880 U.S. Census listed 1,630 Chinese in the territory, with 160 in Tucson. A newspaper reported "75 or 80" in Prescott in 1879. [1] :80

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown</span> Ethnic enclave of expatriate Chinese persons

Chinatown is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">99 Ranch Market</span> Taiwanese-American supermarket chain

99 Ranch Market is an American supermarket chain owned by Tawa Supermarket Inc., which is based in Buena Park, California. 99 Ranch has 58 stores in the U.S., primarily in California, with other stores in Nevada, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, Texas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Virginia. The company also started offering shopping via its website in 2014. In February 2021, the company also launched their mobile app for grocery delivery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, San Francisco</span> Neighborhood in California, United States

The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinese enclaves within San Francisco. Since its establishment in the early 1850s, it has been important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that has retained its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Saigon</span> Ethnic enclaves of expatriate Vietnamese in some cities

Little Saigon is a name given to ethnic enclaves of expatriate Vietnamese mainly in English-speaking countries. Alternate names include Little Vietnam and Little Hanoi, depending on the enclave's political history. To avoid political undertones due to the renaming of Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City, it is occasionally called by the neutral name Vietnamtown. Saigon is the former name of the capital of the former South Vietnam, where a large number of first-generation Vietnamese immigrants emigrating to the United States originate from, whereas Hanoi is the current capital of Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Chicago</span> Neighborhood in Armour Square, Chicago, United States

Chinatown is a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, along S. Wentworth Avenue between Cermak Road and W. 26th St. Over a third of Chicago's Chinese population resides in this ethnic enclave, making it one of the largest concentrations of Chinese-Americans in the United States. It formed around 1912, after settlers moved south from near the Loop, where the first enclaves were established in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Sydney</span> Place in New South Wales, Australia

Chinatown is an urban enclave situated in the southern part of the Sydney central business district, in New South Wales, Australia. It comprises the majority of the Haymarket suburb, between Central station and Darling Harbour. It is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, and is Australia's largest Chinatown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston in Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Chinatown, Boston is a neighborhood located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only surviving historic ethnic Chinese enclave in New England since the demise of the Chinatowns in Providence, Rhode Island and Portland, Maine after the 1950s. Because of the high population of Asians and Asian Americans living in this area of Boston, there is an abundance of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants located in Chinatown. It is one of the most densely populated residential areas in Boston and serves as the largest center of its East Asian and Southeast Asian cultural life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mott Street</span> Street in Manhattan, New York

Mott Street is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Bleecker Street in the north to Chatham Square in the south. It is a one-way street with southbound-running vehicular traffic only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Victoria</span> Oldest Chinatown in Canada located in Victoria, British Columbia

The Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia is the oldest Chinatown in Canada and the second oldest in North America after San Francisco. Victoria's Chinatown had its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century in the mass influx of miners from California to what is now British Columbia in 1858. It remains an actively inhabited place and continues to be popular with residents and visitors, many of whom are Chinese-Canadians. Victoria's Chinatown is now surrounded by cultural, entertainment venues as well as being a venue itself. Chinatown is now conveniently just minutes away from other sites of interests such as the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, Bay Centre, Empress Hotel, Market Square, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Winnipeg</span> Neighbourhood in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Chinatown is an neighbourhood in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that was formed in 1909 and serves as an enclave of Chinese expatriates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Melbourne</span> Neighborhood in Melbourne, Australia

Chinatown is an ethnic enclave in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Centred at the eastern end of Little Bourke Street, it extends between the corners of Swanston and Spring streets, and consists of numerous laneways, alleys and arcades. Established in the 1850s during the Victorian gold rush, it is notable for being the longest continuous ethnic Chinese settlement in the Western World and the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatowns in Brooklyn</span> Overview of Chinatowns in Brooklyn

The first Brooklyn Chinatown, was originally established in the Sunset Park area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself. Because this Chinatown is rapidly evolving into an enclave predominantly of Fuzhou immigrants from Fujian Province in China, it is now increasingly common to refer to it as the Little Fuzhou or Fuzhou Town of the Western Hemisphere; as well as the largest Fuzhou enclave of New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese Cultural Center, Phoenix</span> Defunct cultural center in Arizona (1998–2018)

The Chinese Cultural Center, now the Outlier Center, was a Chinese-themed retail complex in Phoenix, Arizona. It was developed in 1997 by BNU Corporation, a subsidiary of COFCO, a Chinese state-run enterprise and the country's largest food processor, manufacturer and trader. Although the center was developed as a for-profit investment by its owners, it was portrayed as a "cultural center" for the Chinese community in the greater Phoenix area. The developers thought the traditional Chinese architecture and landscaping, its concentration of Chinese-related businesses, and its use as a venue for celebrating Chinese holidays would attract both tourists and local Asian-Americans, and make Chinese business people feel more at home and welcome in Phoenix, thus helping Phoenix attract more foreign investment. The center opened in 1998 with visual elements imported from China and installed by Chinese craftsmen. It struggled with low occupancy, suffered further during the recession of the mid-2000s, and never recovered. In 2017, a new owner announced the property would be repurposed as a modern office building and the distinctive Chinese roof would be removed. This led to a sustained multi-year effort by the Chinese-American community to block the redevelopment and preserve the center as it was built. Despite demonstrations, petitions, lobbying, and several lawsuits, the new owner ultimately prevailed and all Chinese elements were gone by 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatowns in the United States</span> Ethnic Chinese enclaves in the United States

Chinatowns are enclaves of Chinese people outside of China. The first Chinatown in the United States was San Francisco's Chinatown in 1848, and many other Chinatowns were established in the 19th century by the Chinese diaspora on the West Coast. By 1875, Chinatowns had emerged in eastern cities such as New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese immigration to the United States, but the Magnuson Act of 1943 repealed it, and the population of Chinatowns began to rise again. In the 2010s, the downturn in the U.S. economy caused many Chinese Americans to return to China.

The Tong Wars were a series of violent disputes beginning in the late 19th century among rival Chinese Tong factions centered in the Chinatowns of various American cities, in particular San Francisco. Tong wars could be triggered by a variety of inter-gang grievances, from the public besmirching of another Tong's honor, to failure to make full payment for a "slave girl", to the murder of a rival Tong member. Each Tong had salaried soldiers, known as boo how doy, who fought in Chinatown alleys and streets over the control of opium, prostitution, gambling, and territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Providence, Rhode Island</span> Neighborhood of Providence in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States

The U.S. city of Providence, Rhode Island, was once home to at least two Chinatowns, with the first on Burrill Street in the 1890s until 1901 and then around Empire Street around the late 1890s in the southern section of the city. According to another source, the Burrill Street Chinatown was burned to the ground in 1901 by a "mysterious fire" caused by a kerosene stove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Denver</span> Neighborhood of Denver in Colorado, United States

Chinatown in Denver, Colorado, was a residential and business district of Chinese Americans in what is now the LoDo section of the city. It was also referred to as "Hop Alley", based upon a slang word for opium. The first Chinese resident of Denver, Hong Lee, arrived in 1869 and lived in a shanty at Wazee and F Streets and ran a washing and ironing laundry business. More Chinese immigrants arrived in the town the following year. Men who had worked on the construction of the first transcontinental railroad or had been miners in California crossed over the Rocky Mountains after their work was completed or mines were depleted in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wing F. Ong</span> Arizona state representative (1904–1977)

Wing Foon Ong was a Chinese-born Arizona businessman, lawyer, and politician. In 1946 he was eletected to the Arizona House of Representatives, becoming the first Chinese-born person elected to a state House of Representatives in the United States. In 1966, Ong was elected to the Arizona State Senate, becoming the first Chinese-American to enter the State Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Chinatown, Toronto</span> Former neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

First Chinatown is a retronym for a former neighbourhood in Toronto, an area that once served as the city's Chinatown. The city's original Chinatown existed from the 1890s to the 1970s, along York Street and Elizabeth Street between Queen and Dundas Streets within St. John's Ward. However, more than two thirds of it was expropriated and razed starting in the late 1950s to build the new Toronto City Hall and its civic square, Nathan Phillips Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Chinatown, Los Angeles</span> Original location of settlement

Old Chinatown, or original Chinatown, is a retronym that refers to the location of a former Chinese-American ethnic enclave enforced by legal segregation that existed near downtown Los Angeles, California in the United States from the 1860s until the 1930s. Old Chinatown included the former Calle de los Negros and extended east across Alameda Street to Apablasa, Benjamin, Jeannete, Juan, Marchessault, and Macy Streets. This Chinatown was at its commercial and communal peak between 1890 and 1910.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Luckingham, Bradford (1994). Minorities in Phoenix: a profile of Mexican American, Chinese ... University of Arizona Press. ISBN   9780816514571. Archived from the original on 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Reed Ueda, ed. (21 September 2017). America's Changing Neighborhoods: An Exploration of Diversity through Places [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 374–. ISBN   978-1-4408-2865-2. OCLC   1005616452. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  3. Miyares, Ines M.; Airriess, Christopher A. (19 October 2006). Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN   9780742568501. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  4. Raising Arizona's Dams: Daily Life, Danger, and Discrimination in the Dam Construction Camps of Central Arizona, 1890s–1940s. University of Arizona Press. 1995. p. 154. ISBN   978-0-8165-1492-2. OCLC   1245757207. Archived from the original on 2022-04-10. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  5. Chinese America: History and Perspectives 1991. Chinese Historical Society. 1991. p. 47. Archived from the original on 2022-04-10. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  6. 1 2 Cara Pancrazio, Angela (January 21, 2006). "Row over Chinatown landmark stirs memories". Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012.
  7. "National Register Information System  (#85002075)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  8. Berry, Jahna (September 19, 2007). "$200 million W Hotel is dealt a killing blow by ruling". Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  9. Saria, Lauren (September 27, 2018). "After 90 years, Sing High Chop Suey House in downtown Phoenix will close Sept. 30". Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  10. Boehm, Jessica (September 24, 2018). "One year later, Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center fight rages on". Arizona Republic. Phoenix. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  11. "Asian District – Mesa, Arizona". asiandistrictmesa.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.