What is Chinatown?
[[File:Chinatown, Ottawa.jpg|thumb|A Chinatown in [[Ottawa]], Canada.]] [[File:Friendship Gate Chinatown Philadelphia from east.jpg|thumb|[[Philadelphia]], USA.]] '''Chinatown''' is the name used for [[Neighbourhood|neighborhood]] in any [[city]] outside of [[China]] where many [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[Immigration|immigrants]] came to live together. Chinatowns became common in cities around the world after China lost the first [[Opium Wars|Opium War]] with the [[British Empire]]. After China lost, many Chinese people became poor, especially people living in [[Guangdong]] [[Political divisions of China|province]]. That was where most of the fighting took place. People from Guangdong went outside of China to look for work. They moved to places like [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[Indonesia]], and the [[United States]]. When Chinese people moved to these places, they usually lived close together in the city they were staying. These became Chinatowns. Famous Chinatowns around the world include those in [[San Francisco]], [[New York City]], [[Singapore]] and [[Kuala Lumpur]]. Most early immigrants came from [[Chinese province|provinces]] of [[Guangdong]] and [[Fujian]] in [[southeastern China]]. The common languages there are [[Taishanese|Toishanese]], [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]], [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], and [[Hokkien]]. So, these are common languages in many Chinatowns. Also, since most Chinatowns were created before the [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist Party]] took over mainland China, most Chinatowns use [[traditional Chinese characters]]. However, both [[Simplified Chinese characters|simplified]] and traditional characters are often seen in Chinatowns in Malaysia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pinyin.info/news/2009/simplified-or-traditional-characters-for-malaysian-heritage-zone-road-signs-poll/|title=Simplified or traditional characters for Malaysian heritage zone road signs: poll {{!}} Pinyin News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-03}}</ref> ==References== {{Refl