Photos: China City, Recreating a Small Chinese Village
June 30, 2010
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Masterminded by Los Angeles' socialite and civic leader Christine Sterling, China City was the Chinese equivalent to Olvera Street, the other ethnically focused tourist spot in Los Angeles which Sterling also created. China City was built using the sets from the 1937 film The Good Earth to recreate the feel of a small Chinese village in downtown L.A. Even though it traded in obvious racial stereotypes, China City became an alternative destination in New Chinatown for the businesses of Old Chinatown that had been dislocated during the construction of Union Station. Two major fires put an end to this enterprise, and all attention turned to the development of Chinatown Plaza, as we know it today.
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