Chinatown, Las Vegas
The Chinatown of Las Vegas, Nevada is a series of vibrant large shopping centers with ethnic Chinese and other Pan-Asian businesses, with the original called Chinatown Plaza. The strip mall was conceived by Taiwanese American developer James Chih-Cheng Chen and opened in 1995. The Chinatown area has gained in such immense popularity and also received national attention in a great article by The Wall Street Journal; check below for the article and author.
Newer shopping centers developed in recent years by other developers include:
- Great China Plaza - opened in 1999
- Pacific Asian Plaza - opened in 2001
- The Center at Spring Mountain - opened in 2002
These astounding Las Vegas shopping centers contain quite unique and interesting architecture which combines traditional Chinese motifs and red gateways with modern-style strip malls found in American suburbia. However, Chinatown Plaza remains the main cultural center of Chinatown as many special events and popular restaurants are located there.
As a whole, Las Vegas's Chinatown is located west of the Las Vegas Strip on Spring Mountain Road - just a stone's throw away from the Treasure Island and Venetian casinos. Also included in Chinatown are scores of Filipino, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese American businesses as it serves a pan-Asian community, making the term Chinatown somewhat of a misnomer. Some Pacific Islanders also have some businesses here. The Chinatown also serves the local population and tourists as well. Indeed, it is generally the only place within Las Vegas to get truly authentic Chinese and Asian cuisine, such as a wonderful bowl of Vietnamese Pho noodle soup or a cup of cold boba tea on a scorching desert day. The very popular 99 Ranch Market at Chinatown Plaza is often beset by very heavy traffic and parking problems. Thus, these problems gave rise to the much larger Shun Fat Supermarket, which was opened in the 2000s.
The Las Vegas Chinatown resembles the suburban "Chinatowns" found in Southern California and Silicon Valley, with large parking lots. In contrast to most urban U.S. Chinatowns, the 99 Ranch Market chain is the key anchor to the area with other well-known businesses such as popular Sam Woo Restaurant.
During the Chinese New Year, the plaza also hosts Las Vegas's special annual Asian food festival with great energetic lion and dragon dance performances and superb Japanese taiko drum performances. They are definitely of one of the kind in Nevada.
At first, "Chinatown" was conceived for the purpose of serving Asian American tourists and business visiting from the Southern California area. At present, the population of Asian Americans in Las Vegas is 22,879 and comprise 4.8% of the total population as of the 2000 Census. Almost half of Las Vegas's Chinese American population - numbering at 2,784 residents - are from Taiwan. Some came from mainland China, Southeast Asia, and Mexico. Some segment of the Asian American population work in the casinos.
In comparison with the early 1990s when the Chinese origin population was miniscule, Las Vegas now has a Chinese-language newspapers and there is a Chinese American Chamber of Commer.
