Chinese Paintings Store Question

I have a question about Chinese Paintings Store . Where can I find a place to purchase authentic, hand-painted, traditional Chinese paintings?

Hi, thank you for your question. I would suggest you visit our Authentic Traditional Chinese Paintings Store page and there you can purchase local artist paintings. They are all hand painted and one-of-a-kind. Go visit http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese-watercolor-paintings.htm and see for your self.

Great article on Houston Chinatown

There was a great articles posted by the Miami Hearld Newspapers discussing Houston New Chinatown. It discussed the booming Asian population in Houston and the growing businesses along Bellaire Blvd.. Also, there are a number of things to do in Houston New Chinatown which can be found at Houston Attractions. And of course, there are the Chinese food which can be found at Chinese Restaurant in Houston Guide.

Houston Chinese and Korean Communities

I don't often join forum message boards, but you guys really got to me XD!!Hi, I'm Esther, and I was trying to do some research on the Korean and Chinese communities of Houston. Although I am not Asian myself, I'm really facinated with much of the langauge and culture. I've taken Japanese for 2 years, and I'm starting on Chinese next year. (I'd really like to learn Korean though )Well anyways, what I was going to say was. I have lived here in Houston for 9 years, and I have never once been able to visit China Town...my mom just downright won't take me. She's a little paranoid and especially afraid of things she doesn't understand. (i.e. Chinese Signs=ohmehgoshwhatdoesthatmean). Anyways, I'm finally going to be visiting Houston Chinatown soon this summer, for the first time, when my Taiwanese friend will go out and take me. I was wondering how I could make the most of my visit there by going to places that would most interest me. I'm looking for a place where I can go sing Houston Asian Karaoke. (would Chinese karaoke machines have Japanese songs on them?...the more current the songs the better.)I'm also looking for a place where I might be able to aquire Chinese/Taiwanese/Japanese/Korean Dramas/Movies on DVD. (some place that would have a good variety and section.)Any kind of gaming/electronic store that would sell imported games in Japanese?Are there any stores that I could aquire traditional clothings, such as Cheongsam/Kimono/Hanbok. (please list all that apply or places for outfits that are not listed in my list. And lastly, I am looking for a large bookstore that would sell a good variety of books in Japanese for me to read.I'm pretty sure thats all I was wanting to ask. If anything else comes to my mind, I'll post again in a thread below.Thank you for taking the time to answer any of my questions.

New on ChinatownConnection.com

Visit our Victoria, British Columbia Travel Page to see the beautiful city of Victoria, B.C. Users submitted photos and a short review of this beautiful city.

ChinatownConnection.com News

ChinatownConnection.com today announced the revamp and face-lift of its website, Houston Chinatown Web Portal. The end result is a cleaner look, easier navigation, and more information. Users will notice the ease of use and faster load time.

Houston Chinese News Release

2/3/2006 Houston News Release - Today the Houston Asian American Business Council had their monthly meeting to discuss crime, security, beautification of Houston Chinatown, and other issues on hand. Their press release and photos is at Houston Asian American Business Council News.

Houston Chinese New Year Festival

January 28, 2006 - This year's Houston Chinese Community Center's Chinese New Year Festival was a great success. Thousands of people came to the community center to celebrate the year of the dog.

Miya Shay of Houston ABC13 News was the Master of Ceremonies and began the day off with a spirited introduction. The Chinese New Year festival brought people of all ages and race for a day of celebration. Some people even wore traditional Chinese New Year gowns. Kids wore Chinese "shi pao" on stage when they performed. Houston Mayor, Bill White, was also in attendance at the opening ceremonies and made a keynote speech.
Performances were plentiful at the festival. Performances included Lion Dances, Mitsi School of Dance, Shaolin Kung Fu, Dragon Dance, Houston Rockets Power Dancers, and many more. Guest speakers included Mayor Bill White, City Councilman Gordon Quan, and State Representative Hubert Vo.

Chinese food was abundant as well. Over 10 booths served food that included Chinese lo mein, egg rolls, bubble tea, Chinese kabobs, and other ethnic foods as well.

Many company booths were on hand to promote their products or services. Companies include HEB, Walmart, Houston Chinatown ChinatownConnection.com, Fiesta, NDTV, ChineseBookOnline.com, and World Journal Newspaper. There were also plenty of booths that were selling Chinese jewelry, paper lantern, books, and unique Chinese merchandises.

The fun started at 10am in the morning. As early birds woke up and headed to the festival, the ominous sky was very kind. The weather was dry and the festival was off to a terrific start. As people begin to congregate in the performance area, the atmosphere full of joy and laughter. By noon time, capacity in the auditorium was filled to the maximum. Each onstage performance was magnificent and amazing.
Around 2pm, the rain began to come down outside. Most of the booths were indoors except the food booths who were not as lucky. As it was pouring outside, people continued to enjoy the festivities and activities at various booths. From dart throwing at the Houston Chinatown ChinatownConnection.com booth to spin-the-wheel at the Fiesta booth, everyone was entertained. The Asian Houston Photographic Society had their "China is Beautiful" exhibit upstairs in the library. Their week long exhibit at the Houston Chinese Community Center portrays the magnificent magic of photography. Photographs of China captures the culture, spirit, and meaning of "China is Beautiful".
Close to the end of the festival, the Shaolin Kung-Fu Academy put on a spectacular Lion Dance performance. The thunderous clasps of drums rocked the auditorium and the lion dance was energetic. The festival was a huge success as people celebrated a new beginning; the Year of the Dog. Happy Chinese New Years!

Buy Green Tea in Houston Chinatown

Q: Can I buy green tea in Houston Chinatown?

A: Yes you can. There are alot of stores that sell green tea. Welcome Food Center in Diho Square sells them and so does Tea Source.

Chinatown

ChinatownConnection.com today announced the launch of Seattle Chinatown Web Portal. Followed by the success and footsteps Houston Chinatown Web Portal, Seattle is a great strategic market to expand to. All the neat features like a comprehensive dining guide, Seattle events and attractions, and much more will be included.

Chinese Calligraphy in Houston, Texas

I would like to know where I can get Chinese calligraphy done at here in Houston ,Tx?

Dear sir, thank you for your inquiry and using ChinatownConnection.com, Houston Chinatown web portal. There are not that many people that does Chinese calligraphy but I can refer you to a lady, Ms. Patty Yeu who does Chinese calligraphy and art. Her phone number is 281-589-1345.

Chinese Print Question

Q: We live in Kansas and need a printer who can print in Simplified Chinese and English (bilingual materials). Can you recommend some printers? Your help will be truly appreciated!
Also, can you tell us how we can get a hardcopy map of Chinatown? Ms. Huang.

A: Dear Ms. Huang,

You can use any printer to print Chinese (simplified or traditional). They are all characters. What you need is a Chinese word processing program like NJstar, http://www.njstar.com/, that you can type simplified or traditional Chinese words. Go to the website we have listed and download there program. It is shareware so it is free. Once you type what you need to type, you can print it out using that program too. If you have any more questions, feel free to email us and we will help you solve your problem. Thanks again for using Houston Chinatown Web Portal, ChinatownConnection.com and Happy Holidays!

Chinese New Year Festival in Houston, Texas

Saturday, Janurary 28, 2006 is the Chinese New Year festival in Houston. The Chinese will be celebrating the Year of the Dog. Chinese New Year festival will be held at the Chinese Community Center and will feature lots of entertainment, food, performances, and booths from all over Houston and Asian community. Don't forget to stop by the ChinatownConnection.com booth and have a chance to be on their website seen by millions of people.

Visit Houston Chinatown Web Portal today for more details.

ChinatownConnection.com Launches Million Dollar Banner Board

For Press Release 1/1/2005

Houston Chinatown Web Portal today announced the launch of the first and one of a kind "one million dollar banner board".

The idea: to sell one million banners for $1 each banner.
You can place as many banners as you wish. The banner dimensions will all be 234 x 30.

You can buy as banner space as you like, as long as there are some available (availability updated daily). We can make simple messages or slogans for you like the one above if you want. You can then display an image/ad/logo/message/slogan of your choice. You can also have the image click through to your own website. However, no obscene or offensive images, messages, or slogans are allowed!

The banners you place will be displayed on the Million Dollar Board permanently. The Million Dollar Banner Board will not change. Your banner will stay on the Million Dollar Banner Board forever and will be a part of history, literally. In the long run, these banners will offer good value and become a priceless memento.

For those who want traffic referral and exposure to your company website, personal website, or just want to display your message for the whole world to see, the Million Dollar Banner Board is the place to put it.

Asians in Houston:Christmas Day

Yesterday was Christmas Day and most Asian people head to Chinatown Houston for lunch. Christmas Day for Asians means a day of relaxation with friends and families. It also means a busy Houston Chinatown. A lot of Asian people will dine at Houston Dim Sum Restaurants where it is a great place to mingle, talk, and have delicious Chinese Food. After the busy day, people will head home and go to their relative or friends house for a long Christmas dinner.

Houston Chinese Photographic Society Show

ChinatownConnection.com was invited to attend the Houston Chinese Photographic Society opening ceremony 12/10/05. In attendence were some of Houston Asian community finest including the President of Chinese Culture Center. Also on hand was the president of American Photographic Society, Mr. Johnson. This year marks the 15th year aniversary of the Houston Chinese Photographic Society. As part of the growing Houston Chinatown and Chinese organization, we were honored to be part of their history. More than 60 photos were on exhibit ranging from landscape to animals. The photographic exhibit runs through 12/18/2005 at the Houston Chinese Culture Center.. Please visit Houston Chinatown for more information.

Houston Chinatown Renovation Project News

The Asian American Business Council (AABC) held a news conference today to discuss the project of renovating Houston Chinatown along Bellaire Blvd. in southwest Houston. The news conference today discussed three issues that needs to be addressed to make Chinatown a tourist attraction. The three issues are:

Security
Beautification
Promotion

Security - Houston Chinatown will get increased security. A security guard in a marked vehicle will patrol the streets of Chinatown from Diho Square west to Beltway 8 and north to Harwin Rd from 10am to 9pm, 7 days a week. Property owners as well will increase their shopping center parking lot lightings and install cameras to help deter crime. The AABC will need private donations to fund this entire security section of the project. It hopes that businesses as well as Houston City Council will contribute to this project.

Beautification - Talks have begun in making Chinatown more eye pleasing and cleaner. Plants and flowers will be planted in the median of Bellaire Blvd. going east of Beltway 8. There will be remodeling of certain shopping centers, some of which have already begun. Houston Chinatown signs are also in the works to let visitors and tourists know about the area.

Promotion - Promoting Houston Chinatown and getting people to come using online and print methods. Houston Chinatown Web Portal is the main source to attracting people and promoting Houston's Chinatown. This promotional stage is still developing as the first two steps are being implemented.

We have all talked about bringing the Olympics and world events to Houston. Making Houston's Asian community a major attraction will definitely help us in the long run. Compared to cities like LA and NYC, we have a huge Asian population as well, but we lack the image and name. This is what the Asian American Business Council is trying to fix and this is why we need investments and donations to fund this project.

Kenneth Li of Century 21 Southwest, president of the Asian American Business Council, speaks about the Houston Chinatown Renovation Project. On hand were members of the business council from various Asian property owners and banks.
President of MetroBank, David Tai talks at the news conference about the need for private donations as well as from the City Council to help fund the project. Making Houston Chinatown a tourist attraction will benefit everyone involved.

About the Asian American Business Council
A group of local commercial properties owners and developers, bankers and business owners initiated a non-profit organization, with the goals to:
1. Improve the safety and coordinate the existing security;
2. Beautify the area;
3. Promote SW Chinatown/ New Chinatown to attract more businesses opportunities.
The first organization meeting was held at Hilton Garden Inn on August 30, 2005 and there were more than thirty participants from local real estate developers, real estate companies, banks, business owners and chamber of commerce to set up the goals, committees, and pledge more than $50,000 to start this program. Asian American Business Council, Inc. (AABC) was formed and the initial 9 board members were elected to serve with Mr. Dake Wang from Law Office of Lai & Associates as legal council and Anthony Choy, CPA as the accounting advisor.

The 9 board members are as follows:
Names (alphabetical order) Property/ Business/ Organization
Leeshan Birney Stone Mountain Properties
Jackson Chang Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce
Michael Chien Dun Huang Group
Michael Koo Chinese Community Center
Andy Lai Law Office of Lai & Associates, P.C.
C. K. Lee Southwestern National Bank
Kenneth Li Diho Square/ Century 21 Southwest
Shao Li Shi Wise Union
David Tai MetroBank

Houston Chinatown

In 1870 crowds of curious Houstonians gathered to see the arrival of 250 Chinese laborers who were traveling through the city on their way to work on the railroads. Not until a decade later, however, did the census report seven actual residents in the young city. All of these first citizens were in the laundry business, an activity monopolized here by the Chinese in the late nineteenth century. Most of these early residents were male. The 1880 census lists a family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. (Anna, Caucasian) Wah Yuan and son Lincoln (four months), Chinese. Lincoln Yuan was the first Chinese-American born in Houston.

The Houston Chinese community grew very slowly in the prewar years. Until the late 1930s there were fewer than 50 men, women, and children; by World War II they numbered only 121. During the war many people of all races come to the city, and the number of Chinese more than doubled in that period. They came from the surrounding states of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, as well as from other parts of Texas. Many had owned small stores in black neighborhoods in the South, and when they came to Houston they opened similar businesses in the predominantly black neighborhoods. These were family enterprises with everyone involved in long hours of work. Still, the community was small in total population, in spite of new laws that allowed more Asians into the United States. It was not until 1955 that the population reached 1,000.

During the past quarter of a century Houston has grown explosively, and the Chinese have more than kept up with these increases. By 1965 there were more than 2,500; by 1975, more than 10,000; and by 1980 at least 20,000 and perhaps 25,000. The composition of the Chinese population of Houston showed changes similar to those in the rest of the country. More immigrants from places other than southern China began to appear. Many came from mainland China, through Taiwan and Hong Kong; more recently new arrivals have often been from Southeast Asia. Most of the "boat people" who escaped from Vietnam have been of Chinese origin, and today Houston has the second-largest Indochinese community in the United States (after Los Angeles).

Houston has never had a traditional Chinatown similar to those in San Francisco and Los Angeles, where there are centers of both commercial and residential activities. Here, the Chinese have tended to live and work throughout the city. The first residents established themselves in the downtown area. In the 1930s and 1940s, many Chinese opened groceries in the black areas on Houston’s east side. These shops were both living and working places; the family’s living quarters would be located above the store. The lack of any Chinese ghetto in those years can be seen by the fact that the children of that early period graduated from three different high schools: San Jacinto, Austin, and Sam Houston.

The great expansion of Houston in the post—World War II era has also meant that the Chinese have moved to all parts of the city. Chinese restaurants exist from Memorial to Pasadena, and from Westbury to the area near Intercontinental Airport. Professionals now work at NASA and the University of Houston/Clear Lake City, in downtown offices, and for corporations through out the area. Chinese families today live in every part of metropolitan Houston. Houston does have a small commercial Chinatown along Chartres Street on the eastern edge of the downtown area. The first Chinatown—an area of shops, restaurants, and cultural activities, not residences—was near the present Alley Theatre location on Smith Street. The growth of Houston made expansion difficult there, however, and the Chinese Merchants’ Association decided to move to its present location in the early 1900s. A few of these businesses have been there since the beginning, while others are signs of efforts to rejuvenate the area. A new theater has been built for showing films and presenting cultural events, and it has been particularly attractive to the new Indochinese population who use it as a community center.
Chinatown is a place of good food, Chinese groceries, films, souvenirs, and the offices of the Chinese Merchants’ Association. Driving down Bellaire Blvd. between Boone and Fondren, you will see Chinese street signs, booming shopping centers and business commerce, and plenty of restaurants to feast on. This is the new Chinatown our forefathers dreamed about.

Welcome to ChinatownConnection.com Houston events calendar guide. You can find attractions, entertainment, arts, festivals, special events, Chinese events, and sports in the Greater Houston Area. Click the city on the left hand side for the event listings.
To visit the Houston Events page, just click on the link below:

Houston Events

Houston Chinese Community News

Hurricane Rita ripped through northeast Texas but spared the greater Houston area. The Chinese community in Houston sustained minor damage from the hurricane, reports the
World Journal. According to the 2000 U.S. census, about 24,000 Chinese (roughly 1.2 percent of total population) live in Houston. On the morning of Sept. 24, many Houston residents discovered that their city escaped most of the damage. With the exception of flooding in the southeast section of Houston, other areas in the city looked much like it would after heavy rain. In the heavily Chinese area of Bellaire, a suburb of Houston, there was little damage. Many Chinese residents said they felt scared but were not in real danger. At Diho supermarket, a popular Chinese market in Bellaire, several store signs were blown off by the wind. At the nearby Welcome Center, another Chinese supermarket, cars soon filled the parking lot of the market last weekend. Despite warnings from Texas Governor Rick Perry and Houston Mayor Bill White to stagger their return to the area, many Chinese residents rushed back to see if their homes were damaged. In the greater Houston area, 600,000 households were without electricity. State officials have said that classes will be cancelled until September 28.

Visit Houston Chinatown to learn more about Houston Asian community.

Come visit Chinatown Houston today. Explore the different Chinese restaurants in Houston as well as see Chinese Culture.