Being the oldest Chinatown in the world is not easy, it is especially hard to keep the Chinatown “look” in the face of modernization. Manila’s Chinatown is facing this situation. It is a common perception that there are a lot of well-to-do folk here in Chinatown as a result, condominiums have been rising all over the place. If one visits Manila’s Chinatown, you will see that there is hardly enough space here, the roads are small and full of people. The only way to go is up. What a surprise it was to see the number of high rises here in Chinatown itself. I doubt that the city’s infrastructure can take such a high density of people here. Not to mention the additional cars that need to go in those condominiums.
Slowly but surely, Chinatown is changing, it was only not too long ago that local fast food joints cannot be found here. This is because of the availability of good and cheap food. However, imagine my surprise to see a well known fast food joint at the corner of on of Chinatown’s major intersections. Little by little this Chinatown is losing its Chinatown-ness. Though it still remains to be seen whether it can withstand the onslaught of these fast food joints, there will always be good places to eat here in Chinatown.
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