“Chicago Chinatown during COVID” Poster

#LoveYourAsianNeighbor 8×10 illustrated poster by Japanese/Taiwanese American illustrator, Cori Nakamura Lin

Chinatowns across the nation are well-known for welcoming people from all over the world to its destination – full of restaurants, culture, art, history, shops, and community. But since the nationwide stay-at-home orders of COVID-19/Coronavirus, tourism in Chinatown drastically declined causing many restaurants to close down, cut hours, switch over to curbside pickup and delivery – resulting businesses to drop down as much as 80 percent. Chicago Chinatown’s Joy Yee restaurant, which opened in 1996 and now operates seven locations, has seen sales decline to 60 percent over coronavirus fears, shared by Vincent Li, Manager of Joy Yee. Even restaurants like Strings Ramen in Chicago, try to generate income loss by working with food bloggers and posting more on social media to draw customers.

The situation worsened as xenophobic fears and anti-Asian racism caused a large portion of the general public to avoid Asian resturants due to the virus coming from Wuhan, China. Ellen Dong, whose family owned Q Ideas in Chicago Chinatown said, “this year has encapsulated the long-standing paradox of being Asian American: of both being invisible, blending in the background, and still being alien in the eyes of others.” Eric Kwok who grew up in Chicago Chinatown and family who started in the restaurant business said, “it changed the way that I think Americans viewed their fellow Chinese or Asian American because people are thinking, “Oh, we have to stay away from the Chinese food and Chinese restaurants and the people.” Vincent Chen, a server at JiangHu BBQ says, “I don’t know how the American government works cause they just say, “it is safe, don’t worry about it, it is safe,” I was very confused, Really, it’s safe? I don’t agree with that.”

Residents and businesses will face more challenges. “I think the media is not helping for businesses. So much coverage is getting people more afraid than they should be,” Geraldo Bernaldez, Assistant General Manager at Imperial Lamian said. We cannot know yet whether our Chinatown community will have resilience enough to survive this current pandemic. Our strength goes well beyond the virus, racism, xenophobia, and fear. Our strength is bonded by community and love. Let’s shift the narratives with #LoveYourAsianNeigbors by filling everyone’s newsfeed to speak up against anti-Asian racism and xenophobia.