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Issue: 939 Date: 8/21/2008
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到大學城看奧運 華埠發展再受矚目
2008京奧讓海內外中國人揚眉吐氣
Can't make it to the Olympics? Go to University City
Chinese population in St. Louis
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| 由聖路易主流社區資深媒體人所創辦的「燈塔」報，8月初製作「到大學城看奧運」專題報導，走訪大學城Olive大道中國城 |
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【時報訊】全世界關注之2008年北京奧運，8月8日下午8時8分在中國北京盛大開幕。透過電視轉播，開幕典禮盛況傳到每個人的家中，接下來的各項激烈體育項目競賽，更是各國人民注視之焦點。2008年京奧讓海內外中國人揚眉吐氣，而位在美國密蘇里州聖路易大學城之華埠(China Town)發展，再度受到美國主流媒體的重視，由聖路易資深新聞記者創立之網路主流媒體雜誌燈塔(St. Louis Beacon)報8月初製作專題報導，以「到大學城看奧運」為主題，深度採訪報導介紹聖路易大學城華埠發展現況，接受專訪之華埠人士包括金滿樓(Lu Lu Seafood Restaurant)老板娘魯麗華(Jenny Lu)，華人基督教服務中心董事主席羅彥豪(Herold Lau)博士及聖路易時報社長吳毓真(May Wu)。
位於聖路易大學城Olive大道中國城商業區之金滿樓餐廳以2008年奧運紀念品歡迎顧客。老板娘Jenny在今年初回中國大陸上海探親時，帶回來奧運吉祥物「福娃」，Jenny表示，這裏(聖路易)的人應該會喜歡，能從金滿樓買到真正的奧運紀念品。
金滿樓餐廳內的大螢幕電視放映著奧運比賽現場轉播，Jenny熱情的招呼客人，「來，讓我們坐下來，一起看奧運」，她和其它華裔商號老板一樣，都驕傲的談論著奧運，大家一致認為中國以2008年北京奧運向世界介紹自己。
在聖路易，你如果無法親自到北京看奧運，那麼請到富有中國風味的大學城Olive大道看看，這個城區的正式名稱為U-City Olive Link(大學城Olive鏈結)。金滿樓位於8224 Olive大道，六年前開張，有計劃再度擴大，老板娘Jenny說“這裏就是聖路易中國城，不過得再大些”。
事實上，聖路易版圖上的中國城，祗是市區地圖裏的一個被抹掉的小點(原布希球場旁之Hop Alley 現早已拆除改建，煙消雲散)。但是現在如果真要在聖路易找到有亞洲風味的商品和餐飲，那麼就非得到大學城Olive大道了。
在Olive大道，可以看到中國東方傢俱、服裝、中藥、針灸、燈籠、佛像，剛出爐的中式麵包、游水生猛海鮮等。除此之外，還有醫師、建築師、保險、超級市場、美容院、印刷、汽車修護、中文報紙等一應俱全。
然而，在Olive大道中國城，卻沒有很多中國人住在附近，這點使得這個中國城有別於舊金山、芝加哥、紐約等地的中國城，在那些大城市的中國城，中國人居住和工作地點都在中國城裏，位居大學城Olive大道中國城裏的聖路易基督教華人服務中心董事主席羅彥豪解釋，聖路易地區三萬餘中國人大部分分佈在整個聖路易地區。
華服中心是一個非營利組織，位於8225 Olive大道，2003年時由一群不同教會會友看到服務亞裔尤其是耆老之需要而成立。目前已退休的羅彥豪獲有華盛頓大學博士學位，曾創建Decisions and Advanced Technology Associates成功企業。他表示，「奧林匹克運動會是中國人民向世界展示成就的機會」，「奧運之後中國將更向前邁進」。
羅彥豪博士見證了聖路易中國人口的成長，由1960年代中期的600人，大多是經營洗衣店和餐廳，到現在三萬餘中國人，可以在各行業中看到，他表示，1980年代開始，Olive大道由於有廉價的房地產，亞裔的超級市場、餐廳、禮品店等開始聚集在此，進而吸引更多的行業集中到此，逐漸形成今日的Olive大道之中國城。 Photo by Rachel Heidenry
Can't make it to the Olympics? Go to University City
By Mary Delach Leonard, Beacon staff Photo by Rachel Heidenry
Official souvenirs from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China welcome customers to Lu Lu's Seafood Restaurant in the heart of the Chinatown business district that stretches along Olive Boulevard in University City.
Owner Jenny Lu bought the trinkets of Fuwa, the official mascot of the Games, while visiting family in Shanghai earlier this year. She thought her customers might also appreciate an opportunity to purchase authentic souvenirs, direct from China. Lu Lu's serves fresh seafood and dim sum prepared by a chef who specializes in Hong Kong and Szechuan cuisine.
Lu said the big-screen TV at the bar will be tuned to coverage from Beijing, and she talks about the Games, much as an enthusiastic host welcomes guests to an open house.
"Come by, and we'll sit together," she said.
Lu and other Chinese-American business owners are enthusiastic about China's Olympic coming-out party - an opportunity, they say, for that nation to reintroduce itself to the world.
For St. Louisans who won't be going to Beijing this summer, a little taste of China can be found in this business enclave, officially known at the U. City Olive Link.
Lu opened her restaurant at 8224 Olive six years ago and has plans to expand.
"This is St. Louis' Chinatown -- but it needs to be bigger," Lu said.
Granted, the St. Louis version of Chinatown is but a speck on the city map, but if you're looking for Asian merchandise or cuisine, chances are you'll find them on Olive Boulevard:
Chinese silks and furniture.Acupuncture and medicinal herbs.Asian lanterns and Buddhas of all sizes.Fresh-baked Chinese buns and seafood so fresh it's still swimming.
You won't, however, find a Chinese residential neighborhood here, which is what sets the St. Louis district apart from cities such as San Francisco, Chicago or New York where Chinese live and work in the same community. The majority of the more than 30,000 Chinese-American residents in the St. Louis area are dispersed throughout the region, explains Harold Law, president and CEO of the St. Louis Christian Chinese Community Service Center.
The nonprofit center at 8225 Olive was founded in 2003 by a group of area churches to serve the needs of Asian immigrants, particularly seniors.
Law, 73, is a retired engineer who was born in Shanghai. He came to St. Louis to earn a doctorate at Washington University and then stayed to found a successful business called Decisions and Advanced Technology Associates.
"I think the Olympics are good for China, an opportunity for the Chinese people to show the world that they have progressed," Law said. "I think that after the Olympics, China will go even further. They will have to."
Law has witnessed the growth of the local Chinese population, estimated at about 600 when he arrived in the mid-1960s. At that time, most Chinese in St. Louis worked in hand laundries and restaurants -- a contrast to today, when Chinese can be found in all walks of life, he said.
Law said the businesses sprang up along Olive in the 1980s, drawn by affordable building space. The Asian groceries, restaurants and gift shops have attracted other ethnic businesses to the area.
At the J & W Bakery, 8148 Olive, the sweet aroma of baking dough entices customers to buy fresh-baked buns filled with barbecue pork or coconut, or glazed with pineapple. Jeanette Zheng, who opened the little bakery four years ago, said she is proud to see China in the spotlight, and she will watch with great interest President George W. Bush's visit.
But the United States is her home now, Zheng said emphatically.
"When I go back to visit, I feel like a foreigner. This is my country," she said, her arms motioning wide. "This is my home."
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Chinese population in St. Louis
1870 - 3
1960 - 660
1980 - 2,500
2008 - more than 30,000 and the fastest growing part of the Asian population in the area
Source: St. Louis Christian Chinese Community Service Center
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| 聖路易華服中心董事主席羅彥豪博士 Dr. Harold Law heads the St. Louis Christian Chinese Community Service Center. |
環球禮品店老板娘阿蘭 |
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| 聖路易時報社長吳毓真 |
金滿樓老板娘魯麗華 Jenny Lu, the owner of Lu Lu Seafood Restaurant in the heart of the Chinatown. |
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| 百利超市內生猛海鮮 |
百利超市內新鮮蔬果 |
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| 2008年吉祥物「福娃」在聖路易大受歡迎 |
聖路易華服中心創業維艱(時報檔案相片) |
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