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China Alley Hanford

Started by Max Rockatansky, August 28, 2018, 10:34:30 PM

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Max Rockatansky

Came across the street China Alley in my photos.  Its actually a pretty interesting street that dates back to the early rail siding days on the Southern Pacific:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/08/china-alley-hanford-ca.html


sparker

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 28, 2018, 10:34:30 PM
Came across the street China Alley in my photos.  Its actually a pretty interesting street that dates back to the early rail siding days on the Southern Pacific:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/08/china-alley-hanford-ca.html

My Fresno-based ex and I used to dine pretty regularly (1980's) at the Imperial Dynasty restaurant in China Alley; her dad was one of owner-chef Richard Wing's longstanding customers.  He (Wing) was one of the first chefs to feature Chinese-French "fusion" cuisine (as a Szechuan/Hunan "hot food" aficionado, I was at first skeptical, but the results were actually very good indeed).  Unfortunately, Mr. Wing passed away early in the '00s, and according to my ex, the place closed sometime after about 2004-2005.  Apparently it had gotten 5 stars in one or another of the better-known restaurant rating guides, so it was well-known in that rarified world.     

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: sparker on August 30, 2018, 10:33:20 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 28, 2018, 10:34:30 PM
Came across the street China Alley in my photos.  Its actually a pretty interesting street that dates back to the early rail siding days on the Southern Pacific:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/08/china-alley-hanford-ca.html

My Fresno-based ex and I used to dine pretty regularly (1980's) at the Imperial Dynasty restaurant in China Alley; her dad was one of owner-chef Richard Wing's longstanding customers.  He (Wing) was one of the first chefs to feature Chinese-French "fusion" cuisine (as a Szechuan/Hunan "hot food" aficionado, I was at first skeptical, but the results were actually very good indeed).  Unfortunately, Mr. Wing passed away early in the '00s, and according to my ex, the place closed sometime after about 2004-2005.  Apparently it had gotten 5 stars in one or another of the better-known restaurant rating guides, so it was well-known in that rarified world.     

That's the one, its still talked about regularly in the area and people seem to miss it being there.  Either way its kind of a shame there isn't anything like a historical marker or placard to denote the Alley or any of it's history.

Desert Man

Interesting, Max. I'm familiar with Hanford in Kings County or the San Joaquin valley (Fresno and Bakersfield had similar old Chinese, Filipino and Japanese communities). Many towns and cities nationwide have historic old or downtowns, and they may been ethnic communities for immigrants and people of color in one time or another. In Indio, Cal. around 1930 when the city incorporated, 60% were of Spanish/Mexican/Latin American descent, but decreased in the Depression, WW2, 1950s and by the 1960s (the 1970 census it was 30%). This will double again by massive immigration in the 1980s-90s, so by the 2000 and 2010 censuses, Indio Cal. was 70-75% Latino. I came to believe when Indio was officially founded in 1905, the current statistic would be similar then. Many railroad jobs, farm labor and the local resort economy are dominated by Hispanics.

There was a 1920s-era housing tract: a 4-block square area bordered by CA SR 111 (south), Jackson st (east), Bliss Ave (north) and Oasis St (west) between 1940-70 as the sole neighborhood for Chicanos and other Hispanics. Today, the area has been mostly bulldozed - but every first weekend of Dec., the Tamale festival extended from still existing business strip old town (Miles Ave between Oasis and Fargo sts, meeting on former US 99 Indio Blvd) to that very neighborhood's vacant lots. About heritage, tradition and cultural identity, the Tamale festival is also the world's largest tamale cookoff said the Guinness Book of World Records. And the local Coachella Valley History Museum has an exhibit on how 15 nationalities and cultures (as examples), not sure they mentioned local native Cahuilla peoples, in my area settled down and made themselves at home.
Get your kicks...on Route 99! Like to turn 66 upside down. The other historic Main street of America.



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