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Beyond Chinatown: identifying significant Chinese cultural landmarks in the San Gabriel Valley

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Beyond Chinatown: identifying significant Chinese cultural landmarks in the San Gabriel Valley

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BEYOND CHINATOWN:

IDENTIFYING SIGNIFICANT CHINESE CULTURAL LANDMARKS

IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

by

Liangdi Shi

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HERITAGE CONSERVATION

August 2018

Copyright 2018 Liangdi Shi

ii

Dedication

For my parents and husband, whose love leads me forward.

iii
Acknowledgements

This thesis would not be realized without the generous support and help of many
individuals. I would like to express my gratitude to all of them.
First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Trudi G. Sandmeier, my
committee chair, for her generous help and support during the writing and research. Her
encouragement gave me more confidence in my topic and helped me to find a better way to
express my thoughts. I would also like to sincerely thank my other committee members:
Ted Bosley and Vinayak Bharne. Ted introduced me to relevant people as soon as he knew
my thesis topic. He also gave me lots of meticulous and valuable notes and suggestions to
make this thesis better; Vinayak provided me with a new way of thinking and broadened
my view when writing my thesis. In addition, I would like to give my thanks to Eugene W.
Moy, who was the vice president of Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, and
who recommended many valuable articles and books for my topic.
Secondly, I would like to thank the whole Master of Heritage Conservation Program.
During two years of study, I learned a lot from theory to practice, about Los Angeles and
the United States. More importantly, this program changed my opinion about heritage
conservation and I believe all of this will guide me in my future career, and my life as well.
Thirdly, I am also grateful for the endless love and support from my parents, friends
and my husband. It was their encouragement that accompanied me through every long
night of writing. It is their love that leads me forward and shines through darkness. I am the
luckiest girl in the world.
Last but not least, thanks to the generations of Chinese who lives and strives in the
City of Angels, for they have made me feel less lonely in this foreign land.

iv
Table of Contents

Dedication ................................................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. iii
List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... vi
List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... vii
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... ix
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1
Chapter 1 A Brief History of Chinese Immigration in the Greater Los Angeles Area .... 3
1.1 Pioneers at the Frontier (1848-1880s) ............................................................................................ 3
1.2 Struggle in Exclusion (1880s-1930s) ................................................................................................ 6
1.3 Wars and Hopes towards the Future (1940s-present) .............................................................. 8
Chapter 2 Historic Layers of the San Gabriel Valley (Pre WWII) ....................................... 10
2.1 Pre-Spanish and Spanish-Mexican Age (Before 1848) ............................................................ 11
2.2 The American Age (Before 1940) .................................................................................................... 16
2.2.1 Flourishing Ranches and Improving Infrastructure ........................................................ 16
2.2.2 Booming Cities with a Striving Minority............................................................................... 20
2.2.3 North of Huntington Drive: Pasadena, San Marino, and Arcadia ................................ 21
2.2.4 South of Huntington Drive: Alhambra, San Gabriel, and Monterey Park ................. 24
Chapter 3 New Growth and Chinese Concentration in the San Gabriel Valley (Post
WWII) ...................................................................................................................................................... 30
3.1 Change of Demography ........................................................................................................................ 30
3.2 North of Huntington Drive: From Sparkling Business to Cultural Exchange ................. 36
3.3 South of Huntington Drive: Towards the Future, with Bonds and Conflicts .................. 39
Chapter 4 Conservation Overview, Selected Case Studies in the San Gabriel Valley .. 45
4.1 Conservation Overview in the San Gabriel Valley ..................................................................... 45
4.2 Case Studies: What to Identify and Conserve? ........................................................................... 50
4.2.1 F. Suie One Co. ................................................................................................................................. 50
4.2.2 East West Bank ( 華美銀行) ....................................................................................................... 54
4.2.3 Chinese Garden Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, The Garden of Flowing Fragrance) ........ 58
4.2.4 Golden Age Village ( 金齡新村) ................................................................................................. 66
4.2.5 Asian Youth Center........................................................................................................................ 68
4.2.6 San Gabriel Square ........................................................................................................................ 70

v
4.2.7 Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple ( 佛光山西來寺) ................................................................ 74
Chapter 5 Significance, Challenges and Recommendations ................................................. 81
5.1 Significance in History Research and Cultural Heritage Conservation ............................. 81
5.2 Challenges in Cultural Heritage Conservation in the SGV ...................................................... 84
5.3 Recommendations on Conservation Improvement .................................................................. 85
5.3.1 Conservation Ordinance, Policy, and Commissions ......................................................... 85
5.3.2 Identification, Documentation, and Designation for Cultural Heritage Inventory88
5.3.3 Preservation Incentives and Support .................................................................................... 90
5.3.4 Education and Tourism Development ................................................................................... 94
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 97
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 99

vi
List of Tables

Table 3.1: Population by Ethnicity in Monterey Park: 1960-1990 31
Table 3.2: Asian Ethnicity in Monterey Park: 1970-1990 32
Table 3.3: Population of Selected SGV Cities: 1980-2010 33
Table 3.4: Chinese, Asian Population Percentage of Selected SGV Cities 34
Table 4.1: Conservation in Selected Cities in the San Gabriel Valley 48

vii
List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Chinese laborers on the B.C. portion of the Central Pacific Railroad, 1883 5
Figure 1.2: The Old Chinatown in Los Angeles, ca. 1935 7
Figure 2.1: Map of San Gabriel Valley 11
Figure 2.2: Painting of Mission San Gabriel in 1828 13
Figure 2.3: Maps of old ranchos in Los Angeles County, 1937 15
Figure 2.4: Detail of the map of old ranchos showing the San Gabriel Valley, 1937 16
Figure 2.5: Frank H. Heydenreich's Orange Packing House (first in Pasadena). A sign reads
“No Chinese Employed.” 1886 22
Figure 2.6: San Gabriel Winery in 1880s 25
Figure 2.7: Midwick View Estates Waterfall 28
Figure 2.8: Midwick View Estates El Encanto 28
Figure 3.1: 2010 Asian Population Distribution in Los Angeles County and San Gabriel 35
Figure 3.2: 2010 Chinese Population Distribution in Los Angeles County and San Gabriel 35
Figure 3.3: The main entrance of Lowe and Sons at 3341 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, 1960
37
Figure 3.4: Lowe’s Business Designs at 836 Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena 37
Figure 3.5: A sign of All-America City in Monterey Park, 1985 41
Figure 3.6: A business sign with Chinese, Spanish and English at Alhambra Plaza 42
Figure 4.1: F. Suie One Co. 51
Figure 4.2: The interior of F. Suie One Co. 53
Figure 4.3: East-West Federal Savings on 935 Broadway, Los Angeles, 1970s 55
Figure 4.4: East West Bank Headquarters at 135 North Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, 2006 56
Figure 4.5: Overview of Liu Fang Yuan 59

viii
Figure 4.6: Grotto and Waterfall 61
Figure 4.7: Ai Lian Xie ( 愛蓮榭, Love for the Lotus Pavilion) 63
Figure 4.8: San You Ge ( 三友閣, Three Friends Pavilion) 64
Figure 4.9: Yu Ming Tang ( 玉茗堂, Hall of the Jade Camellia) 65
Figure 4.10: The main entrance of Golden Age Village 66
Figure 4.11: The main entrance of Asian Youth Center 68
Figure 4.12: Number of Children (ages 11-13 and 14-17) in LA County, 1998-2015 70
Figure 4.13: Number of juvenile felony arrests per 1,000 youth ages 10-17 70
Figure 4.14: View of San Gabriel Square 71
Figure 4.15: Edwards San Gabriel Drive-in Theater 72
Figure 4.16: Hsi Lai Temple Gateway 75
Figure 4.17: Hsi Lai Temple Courtyard 75
Figure 4.18: People are holding banners saying, “Idols are false gods” and “The lord god is
the one and only true god” 77
Figure 4.19: The steel structure of temples 78
Figure 4.20: Hsi Lai Temple under construction 78

ix
Abstract

The San Gabriel Valley (SGV) is home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese
Americans in the United States. It is a place with colorful historic layers: witness to
Spanish-Mexican exploration and colonization, the San Gabriel Mission, American ranch
and farm businesses, booming cities and maturing infrastructure, growing cultural
richness, and demographic changes. The Chinese community now plays an increasingly
important role in many cities in the SGV, creating landmarks with high cultural value but
not necessarily long history. These significant places are also linked historically to the
established Chinatown in Los Angeles, another major Chinese enclave in the United States.
This thesis aims to identify Chinese cultural heritage landmarks in the SGV and offer
conservation recommendations, through a review of Chinese immigration history in the
greater Los Angeles area, an exploration of the evolution of the San Gabriel Valley, an
assessment of overall conservation conditions, and an analysis of the significance of
proposed cultural landmarks. The purpose of this thesis is not just to simply propose
landmarks for conservation consideration, but to try to provide a unique perspective to
address the particularity of cultural heritage conservation of more recent Chinese cultural
landmarks in the SGV, summarizing the challenges and possible solutions based on existing
practice.

1
Introduction

From 2010 to 2017, the City of Los Angeles conducted a comprehensive citywide
survey, called SurveyLA, aiming to identify and document significant historic resources.
Lead by the Department of City Planning’s Office of Historic Resources, partially funded by
Getty Trust in collaboration with professional organizations like the Getty Conservation
Institute, SurveyLA covered the entire geography of the City of Los Angeles evaluating
resources dating from the mid-nineteenth century to 1980 and including many types of
resources from buildings to cultural landscapes.
1
A Chinese American historic context was
finished as a part of SurveyLA’s citywide historic context statement in 2013.
2
In April 2018,
a revised version as part of a series historic context statements of Asian Americans in Los
Angeles was developed.
3
The resulting framework for identifying and evaluating Chinese
American-related resources now enables discussion of specific property significance and
designation eligibility for conservation.
Much scholarship and practice has been devoted to the preservation of established
Chinatowns in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, etc. However, newer Chinese enclaves
do not get enough attention. A series of new suburban Chinatowns are rising east of Los
Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV). For today’s Chinese immigrants, visitors, or
students, cities in the SGV, like Monterey Park, San Gabriel, and Alhambra, have much more
attraction than the Chinatown in Los Angeles. They become the de facto center of everyday
life for the Chinese. Large scale Asian migration to the SGV began in the 1970s, and a
majority Chinese population evolved in the 1980s. Indeed, the history of Chinese
communities in the SGV is much shorter than that of Chinatown in Los Angeles, but the
cultural value brought by new generations of immigrants and shaped by new era cannot be
ignored. Much conservation work related to Chinese American history in Los Angeles has
been done, but less attention has been focused on landmarks with potential cultural

1
“Project Description,” accessed June 15, 2018, https://preservation.lacity.org/survey/description.
2
Chattel, Inc., “SurveyLA Chinese American Historic Context Statement,” September 2013,
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/2013_LAN_CityofLA_Chinese%20American%20Context.pdf.
3
“Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement Context: Chinese Americans in Los Angeles, 1850-1980,”
April 2018,
https://preservation.lacity.org/sites/default/files/SurveyLA_ChineseAmericans_LosAngeles_0.pdf.

2
significance in the aspiring “New Chinatowns” in the SGV. The cultural background in the
SGV is unique and complicated with multiple historic layers. How to develop a successful
conservation plan for heritage in the SGV, especially for Chinese cultural landmarks with a
recent history, is a big and urgent problem to be addressed.
Chapter One focuses on Chinese immigration to the greater Los Angeles area.
Although the Chinese in this area date back to the mid-nineteenth century, their greatest
influence on the SGV was a recent story. In the next two chapters, the history of the
development of the SGV is narrated in two parts: pre-World War II and post-World War II.
From Native Americans residence to Spanish-Mexican explorations and early development,
from American pioneers’ endeavor to Asian flourishing business, the SGV experienced the
evolution from mission, to ranches, orchards and farms, and to suburban residential
community and culture “melting pot”, and various patterns of development and racial
distribution in different districts. In the fourth chapter, an overall assessment of the
conservation context in the SGV is conducted, and the significance of proposed landmarks
are discussed and analyzed, including their history, cultural value, and community bonds.
In the final chapter, recommendations on four aspects are developed based on cultural
heritage conservation practices in other places.
In this thesis, a combined chronological and geographical order is adopted to
uncover the history of Chinese immigration and evolution of the SGV. Specific Chinese
cultural landmarks of exceptional importance are proposed and analyzed along with the
regional conservation particularity and conditions, and then directions of possible
recommendations on promoting conservation are raised.

3
Chapter 1
A Brief History of Chinese Immigration in the Greater Los Angeles Area

If there were no Chinese immigrants living in the Greater Los Angeles area, there
would be no Chinatown and other Chinese enclaves around, let along their cultural
heritages. In this chapter, a brief review of the history of Chinese immigration to this area
will be presented in a broad scope.
Chinese immigration to California has a long history which is similar to Chinese
immigration to the United States of America. According to historian Hubert Howe Bancroft,
there were Chinese visiting the Los Angeles area around 1781 when the city was
incorporated.
4
Two Chinese residents appeared in Los Angeles in the 1850 United States
census, which was the first census after California became a state.
5
According to the 2010
Census, the Asian population makes up to thirteen percent of the total population in Los
Angeles County, and the Chinese are the largest ethnic group among the Asians.
6
There are
more than 434,000 Chinese in Los Angeles County according to the 2015 American
Community Survey.
7
Chinese immigrants and their descendants have made great
contributions to the shaping of California, and greater Los Angeles is one of the most
diverse parts of Southern California.

1.1 Pioneers at the Frontier (1848-1880s)
The Chinese immigration story is a story of struggle. What forced the first group of
Chinese to leave their homeland, and what drew them to the land of the free to make a new
life, is clearer through research. In the mid-nineteenth century, China was an imperial

4
Hubert H. Bancroft, The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. 24, History of California (San Francisco: History
Co., 1890), 335.
5
William D. Estrada, The Los Angeles Plaza Sacred and Contested Space (Austin: University of Texas Press,
2008), 72.
6
"PCT5 Asian Alone with One Asian Category for Selected Groups, 2010 Census Summary File 1," United
States Census Bureau, accessed October 15, 2017,
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview
.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_PCT5&prodType=table.
7
"B02018 Asian Alone or In Any Combination by Selected Groups, 2011-2015 American Community Survey
5-Year Estimates," United States Census Bureau, accessed October 15, 2017.
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/
tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_B02018&prodType=table.

4
country under the rule of the Qing dynasty which was facing a series of foreign and
domestic problems. The government adopted isolationism more specifically a “Sea Ban”
(haijin, 海禁), which means Chinese could not travel outside the country by sea, inhibiting
access to the science and technology developments in Europe and leading to intellectual
decline. The Imperial Examination System (keju, 科举), used by rulers as civil service
selection, strangled talented people with ancient traditional Chinese literature and
philosophy and made them embrace the bureaucracy.
8
Moreover, high taxes and corrupt
government together with natural disasters and low productivity led to more severe
conflict between the wealthy and the poor, the officials and the people (most peasants).
The Taiping Rebellion broke out in 1850 and the civil war lasted for fifteen years. An
estimated 20 to 30 million died, which devastated China.
9
Externally, China lost the first
Opium War to the United Kingdom in 1842 and was also defeated in the second Opium War
in 1860, this time by both the United Kingdom and France. A series of unequal treaties
were signed and led to severe damage to the sovereignty and economy of China.

Meanwhile, in 1848, gold was found at Sutter’s Mill, setting off the California Gold
Rush, which drew people from all over the world. During this time, “Gold Mountain,” or
“Gum Saan” in Cantonese, “Jin Shan” in Mandarin, became a name for San Francisco,
California, or even the whole of the United States. The tale soon reached one of the only
ports of China, Canton (Guangzhou) in Guangdong Province. With hope of finding gold and
wishes of coming back home with pride, tens of thousands of Chinese sailed across the
Pacific Ocean to California and entered the United States through San Francisco. In addition
to those who joined gold mining, most Chinese laborers were hired by the Central Pacific
Railroad Company and took part in the construction of western part of the first
Transcontinental Railroad. (Figure 1.1) The arrival of the Chinese met the needs of

8
Iris Chang, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (New York: Viking, 2003), 7-8.
9
Ho Ping-ti, Studies in the Population of China, 1368–1953 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), 231-
232.
https://www-degruyter-com.libproxy1.usc.edu/downloadpdf/books/harvard.9780674184510/harvard.
9780674184510.c14/harvard.9780674184510.c14.pdf.

5
laborers, cooks, and servants when workforce was scarce, and they were welcomed at
first.
10

Figure 1.1: Chinese laborers on the B.C. portion of the Central Pacific Railroad, 1883. Source: Royal B.C.
Museum.

The Burlingame Treaty signed by the United States in 1868 with the Qing
government of China opened an official gate for Chinese immigration. In the 1870s, Chinese
immigrants rushed into Southern California with railroads that they helped to build.
11
The
Southern Pacific Railroad finally linked San Francisco to Los Angeles in September 1876.
Chinese communities began to emerge near stations, and Chinese began to engage in
farming, fishing, construction, and small businesses like laundries and restaurants.
However, when California began to boom with expansion of the railroads and Chinese filled
the labor market, Chinese immigrants suffered discrimination and hostility.
12
Multiple anti-

10
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in Southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 14; Iris Chang, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (New York:
Viking, 2003), 17; Lisa See, On Gold Mountain: The One-hundred-year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family
(New York: Vintage Books, 2012), xvii; Iris Chang, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (New York:
Viking, 2003), 18-19; Marry R. Coolidge, Chinese Immigration (New York: Holt, 1909), 21.
11
Marry R. Coolidge, Chinese Immigration (New York: Holt, 1909), 503.
12
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in Southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 14.

6
Chinese laws were enacted by the California state legislatures and were in effect for years
before they were repealed by the Supreme Court.
13
The Chinese massacre of 1871 in the
Old Chinatown area of Los Angeles, is the most notorious anti-Chinese event in the region’s
history. The growing racial hatred for the Chinese resulted from the perceived harming of
white people’s interests. The increase of the Chinese population in the labor market was
the powder keg, and the killing of local rancher Robert Thompson--ascribed to Chinese, --
was the fire that lit the fuse. A furious mob of around 500 people, mostly white, joined the
massacre. They entered Chinatown, robbing stores and killing Chinese residents. While
only 172 Chinese lived in Los Angeles in 1870, approximately twenty Chinese immigrants
were killed in this incident, being nearly ten percent of the Chinese population of Los
Angeles.
14
Many businesses run by Chinese were also destroyed.

1.2 Struggle in Exclusion (1880s-1930s)
In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into federal law, and the Chinese
became the first group in the history of the United States to be forbidden from entering the
country. It would be neither the first nor the last law to target Chinese immigration.
15

Anti-Chinese activities flourished all around the United States, mostly incited by
labor unions and organizations. For example, the Workingmen’s Club founded in March
1885 in Los Angeles, finally changed its name to the Anti-Chinese Union, with the aim of
trying to dispel Chinese in the City of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Chinese immigrants and
their descendants formed bachelor societies, family associations, and other organizations
to defend their civil rights and seek cultural comfort.
16
The Wai Liang Association
established in 1889 in Los Angeles, later renamed to the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent
Association (CCBA), and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A) formed in 1895 in
San Francisco, are the most representative.

13
Thomas W. Chinn, H. Mark Lai, Philip P. Choy, A History of the Chinese in California: A Syllabus (San
Francisco: Chinese Historical Society of America, 1969), 24.
14
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in Southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 16; Paul M. de Falla, "Lantern in the Western Sky," The Historical Society
of Southern California Quarterly, 1960, 58.
15
Thomas W. Chinn, H. Mark Lai, Philip P. Choy, A History of the Chinese in California: A Syllabus (San
Francisco: Chinese Historical Society of America, 1969), 24-25.
16
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 15.

7
The Chinese population in both Los Angeles County and City declined after the
Exclusion Act.
17
However, although faced with discrimination and boycotts, the Chinese
continued to be an active part of the economy of Southern California. They opened
restaurants, laundry houses, grocery stores, and gift shops in cities, worked as farmers and
fishermen in rural areas, and worked as servants and cooks. (Figure 1.2) “During the 1930s
and ‘40s, more than three thousand Chinese Americans resided in five areas of Los Angeles:
Old Chinatown, the City Market at Ninth Street, China City, New Chinatown, and the Adams
and San Pedro neighborhoods. In 1933, the building of Union Station in Old Chinatown
displaced many Chinese, who relocated to other Chinese communities.”
18

Figure 1.2: The Old Chinatown in Los Angeles, ca. 1935. Source: USC Digital Library Photo Collection,
"Looking east along Marchesseault Street at the intersection of Alameda Street in the Old Chinatown
with signs for Chop Suey." Record ID: chs-m2159; USC-1-1-1-2219.

17
Raymond Lou. The Chinese American Community of Los Angeles, 1870-1900: A Case of Resistance,
Organization, and Participation (Michigan: UMI, 1982), 16-17.
18
Jenny Cho, “Revisiting East Adams,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2005), 2.

8
1.3 Wars and Hopes towards the Future (1940s-present)
World War II brought disaster to mankind. China served as one of the most
important allies of the United States in Asia, and Chinese Americans supported war actively
by joining the military or through other efforts. The Chinese Exclusion Act was finally
repealed at the end of 1943, allowing a quota of 105 immigrants per year. The 1945 War
Brides Act permitted veterans to bring back their foreign wives back to the United States,
which also benefitted the Chinese.
19

After WWII, the Cold War began in 1947 with the announcement of the Truman
Doctrine, and anti-communist McCarthyism dominated the U.S. in the early 1950s. On the
other side of the world, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) led by the Communist Party of
China was founded in 1949 on the Mainland, after the Nationalist Party of China lost the
Chinese Civil War and withdrew to Taiwan. The Korean War from 1950 to 1953 put the U.S.
and the PRC in a hostile relationship that lasted for almost thirty years until 1979. A series
of political movements in mainland China in this period caused serious damage to the
economy, education, and civil rights, like the Anti-Rightist Movement from 1957 to 1959,
the “Great Leap Forward” in 1958, and the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. Many
refugees from mainland China tried to emigrate to the U.S., especially through Hong Kong,
which was still a British territory. Approximately fifteen thousand Chinese immigrated to
the United States by 1965.
20

Meanwhile, the Mainland-Taiwan relationship remained in almost a state of war.
Refugees of the Nationalist regime-in-exile in Taiwan were desperately seeking a future
outside rather than stay there permanently. Chinese immigration changed forever with the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, known as Hart-Celler Act, which abolished the
quota system according to national origin and eliminated racial and national barriers. In
the next two decades, a new wave of Chinese immigrants sought higher education, fortune,
and a future in the U.S., mostly from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Many of them became
professionals, such as engineers. The number of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. grew

19
Iris Chang, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (New York: Viking, 2003), 234.
20
Ibid, 254-255.

9
rapidly, reaching 110,000 in the 1960s and almost 240,000 in 1970s.
21
The Chinese ethnic
enclave in the San Gabriel Valley emerged during this period.
When it comes to why Chinese immigrants were fascinated with the San Gabriel
Valley, the answer is complicated. The initial wave of Chinese Americans to move to the San
Gabriel Valley were from Chinatowns in Los Angeles and they wanted to embrace a new,
integrated suburban life rather than remain in segregate enclaves.
22
When large numbers
of immigrants kept coming to the U.S. after the 1960s, it was Frederic Hsieh, a real estate
businessman that contributed to leading those newcomers to the San Gabriel Valley,
especially Monterey Park. With his sensitive vision, insightful development in this area and
years of advertising promotion in Greater China, fame equal to the Chinatowns in San
Francisco and New York was ultimately earned.
23

After diplomatic relations were normalized between the US and the PRC in 1979,
another wave of Chinese immigrants with different backgrounds filled the newly created
ethnic enclaves, or “Suburban Chinatowns.” Within a decade, the San Gabriel Valley in
Southern California became the area with the largest concentration of ethnic Chinese in the
United States. Faced with an influx of Chinese and a changing urban environment, the local
residents showed worries and hostility.
24
These newcomers were better educated and
wealthier than their predecessors; they were no longer the oppressed laborers of the mid-
nineteenth century.
25
Although the San Gabriel Valley is filled with mission-era heritage, a
new culture has emerged in this area, making this place a destination for Chinese
immigrants, students and visitors.

21
Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1989 Statistical Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1990), 2-4.
22
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 25.
23
Ibid, 31.
24
Iris Chang, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (New York: Viking, 2003), 324-326.
25
Harriet Orcutt Duleep and U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, The Economic Status of Americans of Asian
Descent: An Exploratory Investigation (Washington, DC.: Clearinghouse, 1988), 109.

10
Chapter 2
Historic Layers of the San Gabriel Valley (Pre WWII)

In the last chapter, a trend of Chinese immigration to the greater Los Angeles area is
clear, when the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) becomes a top destination and a new center of
living beyond Chinatown in Los Angeles. To better understand what the SGV is and the
cultural uniqueness and diversity here, in this chapter the historic layers before World War
II of the San Gabriel Valley will be uncovered, presenting the unique evolution of the San
Gabriel Valley in a chronological and geographic order. It is divided into two parts, the pre-
Spanish and Spanish-Mexican age, and the American age before the 1940s.
The San Gabriel Valley is an area in Southern California, bounded by the San Gabriel
Mountains on the north, the San Rafael Hills on the west, the Puente and Repetto Hills on
the south, and the Chino Hills and San Jose Hills to the east.
26
Today, it is an area of 374
square miles linked by economy and development, in which there are thirty-one cities and
two million people.
27
Prior to becoming a place with one of the largest Chinese ethnic
concentrations, it has a long history with various residents and cultures. It continues to be
a place with diverse cultural elements. In this chapter, the historic layers of the San Gabriel
Valley will be discussed in chronological order to reveal the development process and
important changes in recent decades in this area. (Figure 2.1)

26
"Feature Detail Report for: San Gabriel Valley," U.S. Geological Survey, October 11, 2001,
https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1940052; David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for
History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena, Calif.: Pasadena City College, 1985), 2.
27
"About us," San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, accessed February 18, 2018,
https://www.sgvcog.org.

11

Figure 2.1: Map of San Gabriel Valley. Source: LA San Gabriel Valley Wikivoyage Map.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/San_Gabriel_Valley#/media/File:La_sangabrielvalley_wikivoyage_map.png.

2.1 Pre-Spanish and Spanish-Mexican Age (Before 1848)
Long before Spanish explorers set foot on this land, there were native settlers living
here--Native Americans called Tongva, also known later as Gabrielino (or Gabrieleño in
Spanish) due to their association with the San Gabriel Mission.
28

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521, a Viceroyalty of New Spain
was established and continued to expand. Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed
northward to explore on behalf of the Spanish Empire and reached San Diego in 1542.
However, it was not until two centuries later that the Alta California was settled by Spanish
explorers.
In 1769, Gaspar de Portolá , a former military officer and governor of Baja California
at the time, was appointed by inspector general José de Gá lvez, to lead an expedition to Alta

28
Michael Eugene Harkin and American Anthropological Association, Meeting 1999: Chicago, III. Reassessing
Revitalization Movements: Perspectives from North America and the Pacific Islands (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 2004), 1-61.

12
California.
29
The purpose was to occupy the land and to convert native Americans to
Christianity by creating permanent settlements, presidios (military posts), and Roman
Catholic missions.
30
This first land-based exploration led by Europeans laid solid
foundations for the expansion of New Spain and the establishment of the Franciscan
Catholic missions, which were centers of residence settlement and ranch economy.
31
They
served as crucial outposts of the Spanish colonial system in America, and eventually
twenty-one missions were established in California. The San Gabriel mission is the third
oldest among them.
On September 8, 1771, Mission San Gabriel Arcá ngel was founded on the Whittier
Narrows by Franciscan Father Angel Somera and Father Pedro Cambon. In 1775, the
mission moved to its current location in pursuit of better water distribution and
agricultural environment.
32
In September 1781, a group of forty-four people from Mission
San Gabriel Arcá ngel founded the City of Los Angeles, and they were known as “Los Angeles
Pobladores” meaning “The townspeople of Los Angeles.” Therefore, the San Gabriel mission
is called the “birthplace of Los Angeles.” The priests themselves at the mission served as
architects and engineers. Father Antonio Cruzado, who stayed at the mission from 1772 to
the end of his life in 1804, designed the magnificent church we see today, reflecting the
style of the Great Mosque of Có rdoba that was in his hometown in Andalucí a, Spain. Father
Jose Maria Zalvidea, who built the belfry and “El Molino Viejo” (The Old Mill) in today’s city
of San Marino, introduced water power to the San Gabriel Valley for the first time.
33

While the missions were struggling through hardships on a new frontier, conflict
escalated between the Spanish colony in North America (New Spain or Mexico) and Spain.
Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla led the Mexican Independence War against Spain in
September 1810. Finally, in 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spanish Empire.
34
In

29
David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena: Pasadena City
College, 1985), 4-6.
30
Una B. Cameron, The History of San Gabriel Valley (Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1938),
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll37/id/449434, 8.
31
Richard L. Carrico, "Portolá 's 1769 Expedition and Coastal Native Villages of San Diego County," The Journal
of California Anthropology, no. 4 (1977): 30–41.
32
Val Ramon, Mission San Gabriel Arcá ngel (Yucaipa: Photografx Worldwide, 2014), 4-5.
33
David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena: Pasadena City
College, 1985), 6.
34
Ibid, 12.

13
the decade of 1820 to 1830, the San Gabriel Mission achieved its peak success. In a report
to the territorial government by Friar Jose Sanchez in 1827, he said:
It is to be observed that in 1815 Don Jose Arguello the temporary Governor granted
the whole valley of the Rio San Gabriel, besides Canada Verde with Los Coyotes, to
the Mission. This district is occupied by the cattle, and at certain times by the sheep
and even by the pigs. Likewise, it is to be observed that by permission of the
ranchero, Juan Jose Nieto, the Mission uses for cattle the localities called Serritos
and Bolsa, belonging to said rancho.
35

Although the exact land area figure was not given in the report, as the boundaries
were inaccurate, the number of animals that the San Gabriel mission possessed that year
was clearly documented: all livestocks of 18,400 head, 14,000 sheep, 2,400 horses...
36
In
1829, the mission owned 28,000 cattle and the 29,000 bushels of grain crop ranked first
among all missions.
37
(Figure 2.2)

Figure 2.2: Painting of Mission San Gabriel in 1828. Source: USC Digital Library Photo Collection, "Painting by
Ferdinand Deppe depicting Mission San Gabriel as it looked in 1828; 1832 (painting); 1900-1910
(photograph)." Record ID: chs-m8002; USC-0-1-1-8134.

35
Zephyrin Engelhardt, San Gabriel Mission and the Beginnings of Los Angeles (San Gabriel: Mission San
Gabriel, 1927), 141.
36
Ibid.
37
Una B. Cameron, The History of San Gabriel Valley (Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1938),
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll37/id/449434, 41.

14
Chaos followed the independence of Mexico. In 1833, “secularization”
(disestablishment) began. In fear of the missions’ loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church in
Spain, mission property was confiscated and sold or given away by the Mexican
government, and secular administrators were appointed to supervise the mission
management. The San Gabriel Mission was no exception. Much of the land was granted to
individuals, called ranchos, such as Rancho San Pascual, Rancho Santa Anita, and Rancho La
Puente. This marked the beginning of the rancho era of the San Gabriel Valley, or more
broadly, of California. (Figure 2.3) The land became secular property and was mainly used
for ranching, and the number of rancho grants boomed in Mexican era.
38
Rancho owners’
names can be seen in many places today, such as Rowland Heights named for John Rowland
and Workman Avenue in Temple City that is named after William Workman.
39

38
David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena: Pasadena City
College, 1985), 13.
39
Wendy Cheng, "A Brief History (and Geography) of the San Gabriel Valley" last modified August 4, 2014.
https://www.kcet.org/history-society/a-brief-history-and-geography-of-the-san-gabriel-valley.

15

Figure 2.3: Maps of old ranchos in Los Angeles County, 1937. Source: USC Digital Library Photo Collection, “2
maps of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County, 1919 & 1937.” Record ID: chs-m13246; USC-
0-1-1-13399. The red area covers the San Gabriel Valley, which is shown in detail in Figure 2.4.

In 1846, a war between the United States and Mexico broke out. It ended with The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, when a large part of the Mexican territory of Alta
California was ceded to the United States, which included California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah,
and parts of several other states.
40

40
David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena: Pasadena City
College, 1985), 22.

16
2.2 The American Age (Before 1940)
Just after California became a part of the United States, the Gold Rush began with the
discovery of gold in Northern California. The southern part of the state, especially the San
Gabriel Valley, was relatively peaceful, with vast land ownerships, a significant
development of an agricultural economy, and transportation infrastructure like railroads.
(Figure 2.4) In great need of a workforce, this is also the era that laborers of Mexican,
Chinese, and other races or ethnicities began to migrate to the San Gabriel Valley.

Figure 2.4: Detail of the map of old ranchos showing the San Gabriel Valley, 1937. Source: USC Digital Library
Photo Collection, “2 maps of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County, 1919 & 1937.” Record
ID: chs-m13246; USC-0-1-1-13399.

2.2.1 Flourishing Ranches and Improving Infrastructure
The ranches, orchards, and vineyards with maturing infrastructure are the most
characteristic elements in the San Gabriel Valley during this period. Agriculture was the
economic pillar of the area, especially the planting of citrus, walnuts, and grapes. Railroads
helped to transport the perishable produce around the country. The San Gabriel Valley
from Pasadena to Pomona had become a part of the Citrus Belt where citrus was grown on
a large scale and transported east by rail.
41
In 1887, the Los Angeles Times said:

41
Matt Garcia, A World of Its Own: Race, Labor, and Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1970
(Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2001).

17
The real strength of San Gabriel lies in the magnificent ranches of Rose, Titus,
Mayberry, Stoneman, Shorb, Chapman, and Baldwin, which join each other and
stretch along the valley. These ranches range in extent from 1,000 to 1,200 acres
each and are in the highest state of cultivation.
42

The names mentioned above are the people who laid the foundation of development
of the San Gabriel Valley. Santa Anita Ranch, of which 8,000 acres was purchased by Elias J.
“Lucky” Baldwin in 1875, gradually became a formidable “empire,” gradually increasing to
approximately 50,000 acres. It had 16,000 citrus trees, thousands of sheep and cattle,
hundreds of horses, and a winery with an annual production of 100,000 gallons of wine and
30,000 gallons of brandy at its peak. Moreover, a boarding house, a general store, and even
a school were there serving the owner’s family and employees. Many cities were carved out
of this land, such as Arcadia of which Baldwin was the first mayor, Sierra Madre which he
sold to Nathaniel C. Carter, Monrovia, and part of Pasadena.
43
Baldwin hired around sixty
Asian workers, while Rose, another pioneer, employed more.
44

Leonard J. Rose was the founder of another famous ranch called Sunny Slope that
was located in today’s east Pasadena. He was born in Germany and arrived in the San
Gabriel Valley late in 1860. He purchased 2000 acres land of the old Rancho Santa Anita to
grow various kinds of fruit and nuts, like oranges, grapes, and walnuts. More than a
hundred Chinese, thirty Mexicans and twenty Whites were employed in 1887 when the
Sunny Slope was sold.
45
He also raised and trained horses as a business interest at his
ranch with 500 to 700 acres of land that he called “Rose’s Meadow” from which the City of
Rosemead gets its name.
46

Another pioneer whose life was in the transition era of California from Mexican to
United States control is Benjamin Davis Wilson. Born in Tennessee, he came to California

42
Midge Sherwood, Days of Vintage, Years of Vision, Volume 2 (San Marino: Orizaba Publications, 1987), 378.
43
David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena: Pasadena City
College, 1985), 25.
44
Susie Ling, “The Early History of Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume
28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2005), 25.
45
Ann Scheid, Pasadena: Crown of the Valley: An Illustrated History (Northridge: Windsor Publications, 1986),
20-21.
46
David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena: Pasadena City
College, 1985), 24; “Rosemead History,” accessed March 25, 2018,
http://www.cityofrosemead.org/visitors/about_rosemead.

18
from New Mexico with John Rowland and William Workman (known as the Rowland-
Workman party) in 1841. In the next year, he bought a key portion of Rancho Jurupa that is
now Riverside County.
47
He married his first wife Ramona Yorba whose father was
Bernardo Yorba, a famous native Mexican landowner.
Yorba served as the second elected mayor of Los Angeles from 1851 to 1852 after
California became a U.S. territory. After his wife, Ramona died in 1849, he married his
second wife Margaret Hereford in 1853. He established the Lake Vineyard Ranch in 1854, a
tract of 128 acres of land centered in today’s San Marino. In 1859, Wilson and another
landowner known as “the father of East Los Angeles” John Strother Griffin, repossessed the
whole 14,000-acre Rancho San Pascual from Manuel Garfias who could not pay his loan to
them.
48
The rancho covered present cities and communities like Alhambra, Pasadena,
South Pasadena and Altadena.
49
In 1873, Wilson and Griffin subdivided the rancho and sold
part of it to the Indiana Colony represented by Daniel M. Berry, which was the origin of the
present city of Pasadena.
50
In addition, Wilson served the public in various roles, as a
federal Indian agent, a California state senator, and an important figure for the Southern
Pacific Railroad in Los Angeles.
In 1866, an Italian businessman Alessandro Repetto bought 5,000 acres of land from
a descendant of Don Antonio Maria Lugo and opened a successful sheep ranch. In 1879, a
former U.S. Army mail carrier named Richard Garvey bought 4,000 acres of land along his
mail route after he sold his quartz mines in Arizona and California. He established the first
road (Garvey Avenue) and developed the first water and irrigation system. Later in 1906,
the part of the Repetto Ranch north of Garvey Avenue and east of Garfield Avenue, was
developed into Ramona Acres and sold by Garvey.
51
Ramona Acres was advertised as “the

47
Tom Patterson, "Landmarks of Riverside, and the Stories Behind Them," The Press-Enterprise (Riverside,
CA), 1964, 19.
48
H. D. Barrows, Memorial Sketch of Dr. John S. Griffin, Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern
California and Pioneer Register, Los Angeles, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1898, 183-185; "Heritage: A Short History of
Pasadena," accessed March 25, 2018, https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/main/visitors/about/history-of-
pasadena/.
49
USGS, UNIS "Feature Detail Report for: San Pascual," accessed March 26, 2018,
https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:248942.
50
Ann Scheid, Pasadena: Crown of the Valley: An Illustrated History (Northridge: Windsor Publications, 1986),
26-30.
51
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 16.

19
most healthful place in America, where fruit trees and flowers grow abundantly, where
one’s dreams are met by the fragrance of orange blossoms, where almost perpetual balmy
sunshine and gentle breezes serve at nature’s behest.”
52
Janss Investment Company of Los
Angeles developed this area south of the San Gabriel Mountains and east of Los Angeles as
Monterey Park.
Successful ranches, orchards and vineyards caused infrastructure like the water
supply and railroad transportation to improve. Growing oranges, lemons, grapes, and
raising livestock in the San Gabriel Valley, where a semi-arid climate dominates, made
water supply a critical issue. Therefore, several private suppliers were established along
with large ranches, such as Wilson’s Lake Vineyard Land and Water Company founded in
1874. Public water suppliers formed along with the incorporation of cities gradually in the
transitional period from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, like Azusa, Pasadena, and
South Pasadena.
53

Railroads were symbols of success in the late nineteenth century, not only across
the United States, but also in Southern California. In 1868, the Southern Pacific Company
built a railroad from San Francisco to Southern California.
54
By the end of the nineteenth
century, dozens of small railway companies were operating in the Los Angeles area.
55

Three railroads crossed the San Gabriel Valley. The first one was the Southern Pacific
Railroad in 1874 that connected Los Angeles, San Gabriel, Rosemead, and El Monte to San
Bernardino County in the south. The second one, built in 1885, was the Los Angeles and
San Gabriel Valley Railroad in the north that went through Pasadena, Arcadia, and Duarte
and connected to the Santa Fe Railroad. It was bought by the Central California Railway,
and later the Southern California Railway, and finally became the Pasadena division of the
Santa Fe Railway. The last one was the San Gabriel Valley Transit Railroad through the
middle of the valley that connected Los Angeles, Alhambra, and Arcadia to Monrovia in

52
“Ramona Acres: Where Located,” Ramona Acres Progress, August 8, 1919.
53
David Thomas Leary, A Syllabus for History 26: "History of the San Gabriel Valley" (Pasadena: Pasadena City
College, 1985), 36.
54
The "Big Four" was Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker.
55
"The Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California," accessed March 26, 2018,
http://www.erha.org.

20
1888 and became a part of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1893.
56
Railroads facilitated
fruit transportation and brought tourists and settlers to the San Gabriel Valley. “Cities and
towns sprang into being overnight,” exactly describes what happened across the San
Gabriel Valley after the 1880s.
57

2.2.2 Booming Cities with a Striving Minority
The development of cities in the San Gabriel Valley showed a clear spatial, racial,
and cultural pattern. Huntington Drive, named after Henry Edwards Huntington (who was
the nephew of railroad baron Collis Potter Huntington), cut the valley into two parts. Take
those cities with high Chinese population percentages in the San Gabriel Valley for
example, the northern part contains San Marino, Arcadia and South Pasadena, while the
southern part contains Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Temple City,
Walnut, etc. Historically, the northern San Gabriel Valley was shaped by booming leisure
cities like Pasadena and cities with mansions like San Marino, characterized by the white,
wealthy upper class, while the southern part was occupied by poorer cities with more
ethnic and racial diversity.
58
Census records did not show that there were any Asians in the
San Gabriel Valley in 1860 and 1870, but many Chinese names and occupations were listed
in the 1880 census in Pasadena, San Gabriel, and El Monte. There was no documented
evidence of Chinese workers joining the construction of the railroads in the San Gabriel
Valley, probably because the railroad entrepreneurs were in fear of the power of the Anti-
Chinese movement and organizations and tried to avoid political and public problems.
59

However, orchards, vineyards, and even the booming cities became working sanctuaries
for minority workers, especially the Chinese.
60

56
Susie Ling, “The Early History of Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume
28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2005), 27.
57
Una B. Cameron, The History of San Gabriel Valley (Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1938),
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll37/id/449434, 81.
58
Wendy Cheng, "A Brief History (and Geography) of the San Gabriel Valley" last modified August 4, 2014.
https://www.kcet.org/history-society/a-brief-history-and-geography-of-the-san-gabriel-valley.
59
Susie Ling, “The Early History of Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume
28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2005), 27.
60
Ibid, 28.

21
2.2.3 North of Huntington Drive: Pasadena, San Marino, and Arcadia
Pasadena is derived from a part of the old San Pasqual Rancho. At first it was
purchased by a group of residents from Indiana represented by Daniel M. Berry and
organized as The Indiana Colony in 1872. Later it was known as the San Gabriel Orange
Grove Association and at last was incorporated in 1886 with the name Pasadena.
61
As “the
Crown of the Valley,” Pasadena is a city full of wealth and culture. Mansions lined Orange
Grove Avenue, residential districts stretched along the Arroyo Seco with beautiful gardens
and groves, and business flourished. The city owned their municipal infrastructure (light,
power, and water), and businesses grew quickly. Colleges, schools, and parks sprang up
around the city. The first school in Pasadena was built on Orange Grove Avenue in 1874.
62

The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) was established in 1891 by Amos Troop as
a vocational school named Troop College, but later turned into one of the top scientific and
engineering universities in the United States. Hsue-Shen Tsien, known as “the Father of
Chinese Rocketry”, earned his Ph.D. degree here in 1939 and worked on the development
of rocket technology at his alma mater through World War II, as one of the founders of the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
63

Early on, the Chinese in Pasadena typically worked as laborers, laundrymen, cooks,
and servants. Although they were faced with hostility from local residents and competition
from Mexican workers, “the gardeners and servants are Chinese, as they usually are in this
State and very good men they are--civil, obliging, and competent.”
64
Chinese workers
accounted for one third of California’s agricultural workforce by 1880.
65
Pasadena’s
Methodist Episcopal and First Congregational Churches started mission schools and offered
evening English classes for Chinese by 1885. Artist Charles Walter Stetson, who later
settled down in Pasadena, gave us a vivid description of the scene on an April morning in
1889 at a citrus farm:

61
Una B. Cameron, The History of San Gabriel Valley (Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1938),
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll37/id/449434, 99.
62
Ibid, 106.
63
NASA History Division, Biographies of Aerospace Officials and Policymakers, T-Z,
https://history.nasa.gov/biost-z.html.
64
Kevin Starr, Inventing the Dream, California Through the Progressive Era (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996), 26.
65
Ibid, 112.

22
Early this morning the gang of Chinese and Mexicans came here to pick the oranges.
It was wonderful to see the Chinamen pack them. The Mexicans picked and carried
them in bags to the Chinese. A boxer made the boxes in the grove and the Chinamen
took each orange and wrapped in tissue paper and put it in the box. The rapidity
with which they did it was something wonderful.
66

Figure 2.5: Frank H. Heydenreich's Orange Packing House (first in Pasadena). A sign reads “No Chinese
Employed.” 1886. Source: http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_Pasadena.html.

According to a description from Benjamin McAdoo, who came from the first African
American family that opened a restaurant and grocery store in Pasadena, “There were
quite a few Chinese here in [the] 1890s. The Chinese were employed as domestic servants
so often. Up and down Orange Grove Avenue, they had Chinese for cooks...The Chinese used
to have a small Chinatown here, at the corner of Pico Street and Raymond Avenue.”
67

Although many Chinese had started to make a living, form communities, and send
their children to church school in Pasadena, anti-Chinese sentiment was still active in the

66
Ann Scheid, Pasadena: Crown of the Valley: An Illustrated History (Northridge: Windsor Publications, 1986),
35.
67
"Talking About Pasadena, Selections from Oral Histories" (Pasadena: Pasadena Oral History Project, 1986),
28.

23
San Gabriel Valley. In the City of Pasadena 1995 Report, a statement says, “Of all the ethnic
groups who arrived in Pasadena during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
the Chinese were the least welcomed and the most isolated from the native-White
dominated mainstream.”
68
A riot against the Chinese broke out in 1885, and immediately
after that Chinese were not allowed to live within the area surrounded by Orange Grove
Avenue, Lake Avenue, California Street, and Mountain Street.
69
They were forced to move
to south of California Street between Fair Oaks and Raymond Avenue.
70
There were around
one hundred Chinese Americans in Pasadena according to the 1910 census and most of
them were cooks, servants, and ranch workers. A new Chinatown was formed in the South
Raymond district at this time, but it does not survive today.
71
By 1940, only seventy-three
Chinese were within Pasadena. However, a few Chinese people worked hard and gained
fame, and etched a mark in history. F. Suie One Company is an import goods and antique
store founded by Chinese immigrant Fong See in 1888. As one of the oldest Asian antique
stores in the U.S., it settled in Pasadena in 1981 and remains today.
72
Lowe and Sons Gift
shops, which was opened in 1939, is another established business run by Chinese
Americans in Pasadena. Their owners and families have a strong tie with local communities
and Chinese ethnicity.
Other cities in this area like San Marino and Arcadia were growing at slower rates.
One place that is worth mentioning is The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens (The Huntington) located in San Marino. Henry Edwards Huntington
bought San Marino Ranch in 1903 where “The Huntington” now is located.
73
He was a
railroad and real estate magnate who was also one of the founders of the City of San

68
Carson Anderson, Ethnic History Research Project, Pasadena, California (Pasadena: City of Pasadena, March
1996), 34.
69
Hiram A. Reid, A History of Pasadena (Pasadena: Pasadena History Co., 1895), 154.
70
Henry Markham Page, Pasadena: It’s Early Years (Los Angeles: Lorrin L. Morrison, Printing and Publishing,
1964), 124.
71
Carson Anderson, Ethnic History Research Project, Pasadena, California (Pasadena: City of Pasadena, March
1996), 36-37.
72
“Leslee Leong - Owner - F. Suie One Co,” July 1, 2010, https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/leslee-
leong-owner-f-suie-one-co; “On Gold Mountain Timeline,” accessed May 20, 2018,
http://www.lisasee.com/on-gold-mountain/on-gold-mountain-timeline/.
73
"About the Huntington," accessed May 24, 2018,
http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=56.

24
Marino, incorporated in 1913.
74
Mr. Huntington and his second wife, Arabella Huntington,
were extremely fascinated by art and books. Together they established the library and art
gallery to house their original manuscripts, rare books, and precious art collection worth
millions of dollars. The art gallery opened to the public in 1928 in accordance with Henry’s
will after they both passed away.
75
No one would foresee that the largest Chinese garden
outside of China would be established here as part of The Huntington in the beginning of
the next century.
San Marino was once known as “a bastion of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants,” a
group of upper-class wealthy and well-connected white Americans with largely British
ancestry. Although not many Chinese lived there before the WWII, things would change a
lot over the next decades.
76

2.2.4 South of Huntington Drive: Alhambra, San Gabriel, and Monterey Park
Things were different south of the Huntington Drive where there was more
diversity in the ethnicity of residents. Alhambra was originally a tract reorganized from a
subdivision of properties of Benjamin Davis Wilson, J. deBarth Shorb, and George Stoneman
in the 1870s. As the Gateway of the Valley, the city was founded by Benjamin Wilson in
1881 and named after the Alhambra of Spain with the dream of becoming the Alhambra of
New Spain. The city is mainly a residential community that was connected to Los Angeles
with transportation options like the Pacific Electric streetcar, Huntington Drive, and Valley
Boulevard. Alhambra was incorporated in 1903, and its valuation estimated in 1930 was
$28,000,000.
77
It was a place where berries, grapes, and citrus fruit such as oranges and
lemons were grown. Therefore, there was a large demand for a labor force to pick and pack
fruit by hand. “If a settler could afford to have help in the house, it was always a Chinaman.

74
"History of San Marino," accessed May 24, 2018, http://www.cityofsanmarino.org/196/History-of-San-
Marino.
75
"$50,000,000 Huntington Collection was Amassed by One Man in 17 Years," Life, January 24, 1938,
https://books.google.com/books?id=yEoEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA9&dq=life%20magazine%20jan%2024%2019
38&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q=life%20magazine%20jan%2024%201938&f=true, 33.
76
"San Marino," accessed May 26, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino,_California#
Early_history.
77
Una B. Cameron, The History of San Gabriel Valley (Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1938),
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll37/id/449434, 103.

25
Chinese laborers were the dependence of the big ranches until the exclusion act…”
78
The
data of the 1880 Census showed that there were sixty-three Chinese living in the San
Gabriel census district that was covered mostly by Alhambra. They worked as servants or
laborers. Alhambra grew fast in the city booming era. The San Gabriel Winery located at
Main Street and Palm Avenue was one of largest in the world and it converted to a felt
factory in the early twentieth century.
79
By 1920, only eight Chinese workers of the felt
factory and four farm laborers were recorded living in this city with population of 9000.

Figure 2.6: San Gabriel Winery in 1880s. Source: Susie Ling, “The Early History of Chinese Americans in the
San Gabriel Valley,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern
California, 2005), 38.

The city of San Gabriel grew up in the center of the San Gabriel Mission lands. Filled
with citrus orchards, it developed quickly, with postal service, railroads, and a depot
equipped by the 1880s. The descendants of original Spanish and Mexican families mostly
lived around the church that was still the center of their social and spiritual life.
80
Many

78
History of Alhambra, California, ed. William M. Northrup and Newton W. Thompson (Alhambra: A. H.
Cawston, 1936), 27.
79
The Historical Volume and Reference Works including Alhambra, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel,
South San Gabriel, Temple City, ed. Robert P. Studer (Los Angeles: Historical Publishers, 1962), 60.
80
Una B. Cameron, The History of San Gabriel Valley (Ann Arbor: ProQuest, 1938),
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll37/id/449434, 105.

26
more Asian Americans were living and working here, although the Chinese remained a
small part. It is certain that Chinese still made up most of the farm labors, cooks, and
laundrymen. Edwin Hays, a Station Agent who worked for Southern Pacific at the San
Gabriel Depot that was closed in 1943, once wrote an article in the San Gabriel Valley Digest
in 1930 describing the significance and change of the Chinese population from the late
nineteenth century to the early twentieth century:
Where did the Chinese come from to support this institution? Well, the answer is
that this was still the day of the Chinaman. Chinese peddlers brought the vegetables
in one-horse wagons to the back door of every city dweller and of every farm house.
Every farm employing more than one or two laborers, and every household of
wealth and leisure, had its Chinese cook. Work on the farms, and in the few
industries that then existed was divided about equally between Chinese and
Mexican labor; and the majority of the citrus packing houses of Southern California
employed Chinese help exclusively, for the grading, packing and loading. Each little
village had its Chinatown: Pasadena, Azusa, Pomona, El Monte, etc. and each
possessed an oriental quarter of more or less magnitude and indignity...As an
indication of how many of them there were, when Los Angeles has a population of
60,000, eight thousand of them were Chinese...But the Chinese Exclusion Act put the
kibosh on the Chinese. Gone is the most honest worker America ever knew; gone is
the vegetable man, the laundry man and the lottery man, and gone from Southern
California is a colorful oriental figure that can never return.
81

The census data shows that by 1900, forty-two Chinese males worked in San
Gabriel. Most Asians living here were Japanese with families by 1913 when it was
incorporated. By 1920, only three Chinese men who were over sixty years old lived in this
city. Meanwhile, over eighty Japanese families working as truck gardeners were living
here.
82
However, in the next historic period, this area would gradually become the center of
Chinese immigration.
Monterey Park is an interesting city, whose incorporation was actually the result of
protest from local residents against the annexation of several neighboring cities and
construction of a sewage treatment facility plant. In 1915, cities including Alhambra,
Pasadena, and South Pasadena began the annexation process of Ramona Acres. To deal
with the threat, the Ramona Acres committee adopted a strategy that of incorporating the

81
Susie Ling, “The Early History of Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume
28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2005), 39-40.
82
Ibid, 41-42.

27
community as a city. The residents voted in favor of the decision on May 16, 1916 and the
city was renamed Monterey Park at the first meeting of city’s board on June 2.
83
In the
following years, only a few people owned large tracts of land and most of the city was made
up by small farms of one or two acres. Some Japanese families lived here growing fruits and
vegetables, and most of them gathered in the area called “Yokohama Village” south of the
city. Kenny Gribble, son of John Henry Gribble who owned the Gribble General Store that
was the first business in this area, opened in 1914, said “Nearly every family had a few
chickens, and we usually had a garden of some kind at home. People raised rabbits [and]
we had goats…” He also said that he had a Japanese friend at school, some Chinese truck
farmers would go through the city to get to Los Angeles and “very few” Mexican Americans
when he was young.
84

Before the 1920s, the Midwick Country Club, built in 1913 on the border of
Alhambra and Monterey Park and serving as a polo, golf and tennis club for the wealthy,
was the only eye-catching property in the city.
85
The population of Monterey Park was only
5,000 by 1919.
86
The golden age of development and home-building did not come until
years later. Loftus Land Company opened the Garvey Heights Tract in 1922 and the
Ramona Home Gardens Tract in 1923. The company launched campaigns with popular
slogans like “Boost Monterey Park” and “Ten Thousand People in 1925” to encourage local
residents to purchase property.
87
The market became very hot and construction of homes
and businesses went crazy. In June 1924, the most active half-year of construction activity
was witnessed by Monterey Park in its history.
88
However, the civic leaders and real estate
agents decided to make Monterey Park an exclusive city for the white to keep the growing
trend.
89
In fact, the city then was known as “one of the whitest spots in Southern

83
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 16.
84
Interview with Kenny Gribble by H. Russell Paine, for the Monterey Park Oral History Project sponsored by
the Monterey Park Historical Heritage Commission, March-June 1985.
85
“Midwick Country Club opens doors,” accessed May 26, 2018,
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/apr/19/local/me-a2anniversary19.
86
“Janss Investment Company Gives History of How They Started and Developed Fine Sections of Ramona
Acres,” Ramona Acres Progress, August 8, 1919.
87
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 17.
88
“Big Jump Shown in 6 Months,” Monterey Park Progress, June 27, 1924.
89
“Color Question Agitates the C. of C.,” Monterey Park Progress, May 2, 1924.

28
California’s white spot.”
90
It hosted the largest event of the Ku Klux Klan in the San Gabriel
Valley with over 25,000 people gathered on Garvey Avenue.
91

Figure 2.7: Midwick View Estates Waterfall. Source:
http://la-explorer.com/visiting-el-encanto-in-monterey-park/.

Figure 2.8: Midwick View Estates El Encanto. Source:
https://www.montereypark.ca.gov/553/Business-Resource-Partners.

The most inspiring project in this era was Midwick View Estates, which was planned
to compete against well-established communities like Bel-Air and Beverly Hills with high
priced homes and an exclusive business district on the Monterey Park hills. The project was
planned and designed by Peter Snyder, a developer of Los Angeles immigrated from
Greece. He invested two million dollars for 367 acres of land in the Monterey Park hills in

90
“Remarkable Growth of Monterey Park Told by Los Angeles Times,” Monterey Park Progress, July 18,1924.
91
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 18.

29
1928. To attract elites in Southern California, the policy with strong racial restriction that
“exclude those whose blood is not wholly of the Caucasian race” was deeply rooted in its
development.
92
Snyder had an artificial waterfall built in June 1928 as the decoration of
central importance. (Figure 2.7) Water flows along the seventy-foot structure tiled with
ceramic mosaics and decorated with colored lights under the water. The water gathers in a
pool on today’s Atlantic Boulevard. A two-story Spanish Revival building called “Jardin del
Encanto” or “El Encanto” was built across the boulevard as administrative offices and
community center for the project. (Figure 2.8) Although the grand opening was held for
this major project on October 6, 1929, the unexpected stock crisis and the following Great
Depression put an end to building. Construction stopped and only the waterfall and “El
Encanto” together known as “the City of Cascades” survives today, telling the story of
magnificent 1920s and, depressed 1930s, and little development in Monterey Park.
93

92
“Fundamental Features of Midwick View Estates Are Outlined,” Monterey Park Progress, June 15, 1928.
93
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 19.

30
Chapter 3
New Growth and Chinese Concentration in the San Gabriel Valley (Post WWII)

The Second World War brought people, industry, and investment into the San
Gabriel Valley. After the war ended, this area saw new housing developments to serve
veterans. Changed immigration policies after the 1960s and changes in the political
situation on the other side of the world brought Chinese immigrants in wave after wave.
The pace of development and good living conditions kept attracting new residents and
businessmen. In the beginning of the twenty-first century, the San Gabriel Valley is now the
area with the largest Chinese concentration and strong marks of Chinese culture, making it
the de facto new Chinatown, or as it is sometimes called, “Chinese Beverly Hills,” “Little
Taipei,” or even “Chinese Disneyland.” In this chapter, a series of changes in the San Gabriel
Valley after WWII especially Chinese concentration are introduced, presenting the context
of Chinese cultural heritage that emerged in this era.

3.1 Change of Demography
From the beginning of WWII until the 1960s, the San Gabriel Valley experienced a
shift in industry from traditional agriculture to manufacturing and technology to meet the
demand of WWII and the following Cold War. Demographically, the most obvious change in
the San Gabriel Valley was its growth as well as the relocation of Chinese, Japanese, and
Latino residents from nearby East Los Angeles or Chinatown, which is known as
suburbanization.
94
During the 1950s, returning veterans were the main force of new
housing tract development and home purchase. Meanwhile, the City of Monterey Park
attracted some residents of minority races like Latino, Japanese, and Chinese from Los
Angeles. The first wave of Chinese Americans who moved here were simply young people
with professions who wanted to run away from Chinatown and blend into life in suburbia.

94
Wendy Cheng, "A Brief History (and Geography) of the San Gabriel Valley" last modified August 4, 2014.
https://www.kcet.org/history-society/a-brief-history-and-geography-of-the-san-gabriel-valley.

31
Take Monterey Park for example: in 1940 the population was 8,500, grew to 20,000
in 1950 and nearly reached 38,000 by 1960.
95
By 1960, Monterey Park was considered to
be “a friendly and modest middle-class suburb” with its population of 85.4 percent white
and only 2.9 percent Asian.
96
The signing of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act,
and the political instability in China in the following two decades, opened the door for, and
drove another large wave of, Chinese immigrants here. Many of these immigrants came to
the United States with education, professional skills, political ideologies, and some of them
were wealthy enough to easily step into the economic mainstream. In the 1980s, Monterey
Park and neighboring cities like Alhambra and Rosemead continued to be among the top
choices of Chinese immigrants. According to the 1990 census, Asians accounted for fifty-six
percent of the total population in Monterey Park, making it an Asian-majority city.
97
(Table
3.1 and Table 3.2)

Year 1960 1970 1980 1990
Ethnicity Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
Anglo 32,306 85.4 24,476 50.5 13,552 25 7,129 1.7
Hispanic 4,391 11.6 16,477 34 21,079 38.8 19,031 31.4
Asian 1,113 2.9 7,441 15.3 19,046 35 34,022 56
Black 11 <0.1 111 0.2 661 1.2 330 0.5
Other _ _ _ _ _ _ 226 0.4
Total 37,821 100 48,505 100 54,338 100 60,738 100
Table 3.1: Population by Ethnicity in Monterey Park: 1960-1990. Source: Monterey Park Community
Development Department; Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park,
California, Asian American History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 22.
Percentages are rounded, Asian includes Other in 1960, 1970 and 1980, “Other” includes “Native American”
in 1990.

95
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 20-21;
Office of the city Manager, “Monterey Park, California, Community Profile,” August 1978, 5.
96
John Horton, The Politics of Diversity: Immigration, Resistance, and Change in Monterey Park, California
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995),12.
97
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian American
History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 21.

32

Year 1970 1980 1990
Ethnicity Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
Japanese 4,627 56.9 7,533 39.6 6,081 17.4
Chinese 2,202 27.1 8,082 42.4 21,971 63
Filipino 481 5.9 735 3.9 1,067 3.1
Korean 118 1.5 1,011 5.3 1,220 3.5
Vietnamese _ _ 731 3.8 2,736 7.8
Other/unidentified 700 8.6 954 5 1,823 5.2
Total 8,128 100 19,046 100 34,898 100
Table 3.2: Asian Ethnicity in Monterey Park: 1970-1990. Source: Monterey Park Community Development
Department; Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California,
Asian American History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 26.
Vietnamese is included under Other/unidentified in 1970, Other/unidentified includes Asian Indian,
Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Hawaiian, Samoan, Guamanian, Tongan, and for 1970 only Native
American and Vietnamese.

The situation is similar in several other cities in the San Gabriel Valley. After 1980,
the Asian population, especially Chinese, grew quickly. In the 1990s and 2000s, Chinese
become the biggest Asian ethnic group in Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Arcadia,
Rosemead and Temple City, with percentages above sixty percent. In San Marino, the ratio
of Chinese to Asian population even reached around eighty percent in 1990.
Unincorporated communities like Rowland Heights also grew. Although the absolute
number of Chinese population in all cities is growing, the percentage of Chinese to Asian
population reached its peak in 2000 in San Gabriel, Pasadena, Arcadia, Rosemead, San
Marino, Temple City and Hacienda Heights, although the numbers have dropped a little
since then. However, the ratio of Chinese population to total population in all of the cities in
the San Gabriel Valley has increased without exception. (Table 3.3 and Table 3.4)
According to the GIS map generated from the 2010 US Census data, it is easy to see
that the Asian population in Los Angeles County concentrates in the east part of Los
Angeles County, especially in the San Gabriel Valley area centered around the city of San
Gabriel. In San Marino, Arcadia, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Temple City, Monterey Park, and
Rosemead, the Asian population is usually over forty percent. South of Alhambra, it goes to
more than eighty percent. Chinese population demonstrates a similar distribution and
usually is the largest group among the Asian population with ratios over sixty percent in

33
the above cities. In part of San Marino, Temple City, Alhambra and Monterey Park, more
than eighty percent of Asian residents are Chinese. (Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2)
City Ethnic 1980 1990 2000 2010
Monterey Park Chinese 8082 21971 24758 28883
Asian 18312 34840 37125 40301
Total 54338 60738 60051 60269
Arcadia Chinese —— 7180 18041 25050
Asian —— 11282 24091 33353
Total —— 48290 53054 56364
San Marino Chinese —— 3355 5260 5773
Asian —— 4186 6286 7039
Total —— 12959 12945 13147
San Gabriel Chinese —— 7649 13376 16750
Asian —— 12009 19470 24091
Total —— 37120 39804 39718
Temple City Chinese —— 3631 9322 14892
Asian —— 6028 12980 19803
Total —— 31100 33377 35558
Rowland Heights Chinese —— 4647 14057 18839
Asian —— 12389 24432 29284
Total —— 42647 48553 48993
Alhambra Chinese 4043 21303 28437 31015
Asian 8046 31236 40520 43957
Total 64615 82106 85804 83089
Walnut Chinese —— 3522 8590 10500
Asian —— 10861 16728 18567
Total —— 29105 30004 29172
Rosemead Chinese —— 10832 15678 18794
Asian —— 17664 26090 32617
Total —— 51638 53505 53764
Diamond Bar Chinese —— 3827 10091 14602
Asian —— 13293 24066 29144
Total —— 53672 56287 55544
Hacienda Heights Chinese —— 7839 11921 13309
Asian —— 14171 19174 20065
Total —— 52354 53122 54038
South Pasadena Chinese —— 3059 3795 4022
Asian —— 5085 6456 7973
Total —— 23936 24292 25619
Pasadena Chinese 1694 3122 4393 6991
Asian 6148 10510 13399 19595
Total 118550 131591 133936 137122
Table 3.3: Population of Selected SGV Cities: 1980-2010. Source: 1990, 2000, 2010 U.S. Census.
For 1980, data is available for only cities and communities with population over 50,000. Created by author.

34
City Percentage of 1980 1990 2000 2010
Monterey Park Chinese/Asian 44.13% 63.06% 66.69% 71.67%
Asian/Total 33.70% 57.36% 61.82% 66.87%
Chinese/Total 14.87% 36.17% 41.23% 47.92%
Arcadia Chinese/Asian —— 63.64% 74.89% 75.11%
Asian/Total —— 23.36% 45.41% 59.17%
Chinese/Total —— 14.87% 34.00% 44.44%
San Marino Chinese/Asian —— 80.15% 83.68% 82.01%
Asian/Total —— 32.30% 48.56% 53.54%
Chinese/Total —— 25.89% 40.63% 43.91%
San Gabriel Chinese/Asian —— 63.69% 68.70% 69.53%
Asian/Total —— 32.35% 48.91% 60.66%
Chinese/Total —— 20.61% 33.60% 42.17%
Temple City Chinese/Asian —— 60.24% 71.82% 75.20%
Asian/Total —— 19.38% 38.89% 55.69%
Chinese/Total —— 11.68% 27.93% 41.88%
Rowland Heights Chinese/Asian —— 37.51% 57.54% 64.33%
Asian/Total —— 29.05% 50.32% 59.77%
Chinese/Total —— 10.90% 28.95% 38.45%
Alhambra Chinese/Asian 50.25% 68.20% 70.18% 70.56%
Asian/Total 12.45% 38.04% 47.22% 52.90%
Chinese/Total 6.26% 25.95% 33.14% 37.33%
Walnut Chinese/Asian —— 32.43% 51.35% 56.55%
Asian/Total —— 37.32% 55.75% 63.65%
Chinese/Total —— 12.10% 28.63% 35.99%
Rosemead Chinese/Asian —— 61.32% 60.09% 57.62%
Asian/Total —— 34.21% 48.76% 60.67%
Chinese/Total —— 20.98% 29.30% 34.96%
Diamond Bar Chinese/Asian —— 28.79% 41.93% 50.10%
Asian/Total —— 24.77% 42.76% 52.47%
Chinese/Total —— 7.13% 17.93% 26.29%
Hacienda Heights Chinese/Asian —— 55.32% 62.17% 66.33%
Asian/Total —— 27.07% 36.09% 37.13%
Chinese/Total —— 14.97% 22.44% 24.63%
South Pasadena Chinese/Asian —— 60.16% 58.78% 50.45%
Asian/Total —— 21.24% 26.58% 31.12%
Chinese/Total —— 12.78% 15.62% 15.70%
Pasadena Chinese/Asian 27.55% 29.71% 32.79% 35.68%
Asian/Total 5.19% 7.99% 10.00% 14.29%
Chinese/Total 1.43% 2.37% 3.28% 5.10%
Table 3.4: Chinese, Asian Population Percentage of Selected SGV Cities: 1980-2010. Twelve cities or
communities with highest percentage of Chinese in 2010, along with Pasadena, ranked in Chinese to Total
percentages in 2010. Source: 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 U.S. Census, calculated with data in Table 3.3. Created
by author.

35

Figure 3.1: 2010 Asian Population Distribution in Los Angeles County and San Gabriel
Source: Data from 2010 US Census, census tract from US Census Bureau, city boundaries and county
boundary from Los Angeles County GIS Data Portal. Generated with ESRI ArcGIS software by author.

Figure 3.2: 2010 Chinese Population Distribution in Los Angeles County and San Gabriel
Source: Data from 2010 US Census, census tract from US Census Bureau, city boundaries and county
boundary from Los Angeles County GIS Data Portal. Generated with ESRI ArcGIS software by author.

36
3.2 North of Huntington Drive: From Sparkling Business to Cultural Exchange
There are many Chinese families who started or moved their family business to the
San Gabriel Valley, and some of those really etched a mark in history of the white-
dominated area north of Huntington Drive. Their experiences are direct reflections of the
more recent history of the community with the arrival of more affluent immigrants.
Lowe and Sons was a well-known gift shop and then a furniture and interior design
company in Pasadena. (Figure 3.3 and 3.4) The story began with the third-generation
American-Chinese, Albert Lowe Sr. and his wife, Ann Tinloy, who was in the U.S. as the
daughter of a Chinese immigrant. Albert was born in Fresno and received his education at
U.C. Berkeley.
98
He worked at the Bank of America as a loan officer for fifteen years during
the 1920s and 1930s in San Diego and Calexico. He quit the job because there was no
opportunity for promotion, as only Caucasians would be placed at the management level.
He dreamed of opening “an antique shop or museum-type store in L.A.” Taking a real estate
agent’s advice, he moved to Pasadena with his family in 1939 and settled down on El
Sereno Street, but they suffered hostility from local residents. Although there were
difficulties, in November 1939, the Lowe and Sons gift store opened at 463 E. Colorado
Boulevard in Pasadena with $75 sales on the first day.
99
Eugene Lowe, son of Albert,
described their suffering in an interview:
We rented our residence on the 1400 block of El Sereno Avenue in Pasadena. It was
north of Washington Blvd., just west of Fair Oaks. When we moved in in 1939, a
neighbor came to our door and said to my mother, “You can’t live here, Pocahontas.
You have to go to City Hall.” I was playing in the front yard. It was an all-White
neighborhood.

My dad was a very popular guy; he was in the Masonic Order, Rotary, etc. So he had
an Anglo friend who bought a house on his behalf and we moved to 121 S. Chester
Avenue, just west of City College near Holliston. We bought that near 1942. In 1947,
Mom and Dad were building a new house on 392 Constance Avenue (S. Wilson

98
Susie Ling, “The Early History of Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume
28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2005), 34.
99
“Eugene and Virginia Lowe,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 37, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of
Southern California, 2015), 15.

37
Street).
100
The street is now Caltech’s parking lot. The neighbors circulated a
petition to say we shouldn’t live there because we would lower property values.
101

Figure 3.3: The main entrance of Lowe and Sons at 3341 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, 1960. Source: “Eugene
and Virginia Lowe,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 37, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern
California, 2015), 18.

Figure 3.4: Lowe’s Business Designs at 836 Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena. Source: “Eugene and Virginia Lowe,”
Gum Saan Journal, Volume 37, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2015), 18.

100
“Eugene and Virginia Lowe,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 37, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of
Southern California, 2015),16
101
Susie Ling, “The Early History of Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume
28, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2005), 34.

38
They were surprised to see that there were so many signatures, about twenty, on
the petition, but nothing happened after they ignored it. Albert Lowe was an active member
in the Rotary Club, Scottish Rite, the Inter-Racial Commission, the Inter-Nations Club of
Caltech, and the First Baptist Church of Pasadena, until he passed away in 1952.
102
His wife
Ann continued to lead the business. She hired a Japanese woman after World War II and
employed Joann Leonard who was the first African American sales clerk on Colorado
Boulevard in 1948. She decorated the store with Christmas scenes during Christmas
instead of the ordinary furniture display in the front window to blend in. The store changed
locations eight times and the last one called Lowe’s Interiors was built at 3341 E. Colorado
Boulevard in 1960. Surrounded with window displays, the two-story store carried gifts and
furniture from around the world, and also offered interior design services. At 836 Arroyo
Parkway, there was another business called Lowe’s Business Designs which was managed
by Eugene and his wife Virginia. The last branch of Lowe and Sons was closed in 1995, but
their family members are still active in local civic affairs and descendants are in all kinds of
industries. As a Chinese American family living continuously in the San Gabriel Valley since
the 1930s, Lowes’ family do not run the small shop anymore but is filled with diversified
careers such as lawyers, accountants, medical doctors, financial analysts, etc.
103

F. Suie One Co. is another example of a long-established Chinese American retail
business in Pasadena. Today it is an antique store on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, but
was first located in Sacramento in the 1880s. It is still in business today, nearly 140 years
later. One of the descendants and co-owner of F. Suie One Co., Lisa See, told the story of her
family in the book “On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-
American Family,” which was a 1994 best-seller. See’s family can be traced back to the
1870s when Fong See, a Chinese immigrant came to the U.S. and later married a Caucasian
woman Lettice Pruett. They left their traces in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and
all the way to Pasadena.

102
Carson Anderson, Ethnic History Research Project, Pasadena, California (Pasadena: City of Pasadena, March
1996), 38-39.
103
“Eugene and Virginia Lowe,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 37, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of
Southern California, 2015), 17-19.

39
Founded in the 1970s and headquartered in Pasadena, the East West Bank is a
Chinese American banking institution helping the local Chinese community to start their
businesses or own their own homes.
104

With the change of immigrants from poor, dream-seekers who came for
opportunities to make a fortune, to well-educated, affluent professionals who arrived here
to invest for a secure future, a multi-polar pattern—the newcomers tended to gather in
multiple different cities throughout the San Gabriel Valley rather than stick to one—
gradually formed in cities such as Arcadia and San Marino.
105

With the solid economic basis, more exchange in culture was inevitable. Pasadena
City College started to teach Asian American studies in 1971 and courses like Mandarin and
other Chinese courses continue today. Pasadena signed with the Xicheng District of Beijing
to become a Sister City in 1999. In San Marino, trustees of The Huntington planned a
Chinese garden on site in the 1980s, like the Japanese garden built by Henry Huntington in
1910s. This Chinese Garden named Liu Fang Yuan, meaning Flowing Fragrance Garden
opened nearly three decades later, with the help of the local wealthy Chinese American
community. Chinese American banking institutions like the Cathay Bank, the East West
Bank, traditional foundations like Annenberg Foundation, and even companies from
Mainland China like the China Ocean Shipping Company were generous contributors.
106

3.3 South of Huntington Drive: Towards the Future, with Bonds and Conflicts
As the main area with the highest Chinese concentration, cities south of Huntington
Drive demonstrate another kind of phenomena. Their stories are strongly connected to
residential apartments, commercial areas, civic affairs, and temples, which are direct
reflections of community bonds and conflicts.
Frederic Hsieh is sometimes credited with the large influx of Chinese immigrants to
the San Gabriel Valley. He was born in Guilin, China in 1945, spent his childhood in

104
Wei Li, Gary Dymski, Yu Zhou, Maria Chee and Carolyn Aldana, Chinese-American Banking and Community
Development in Los Angeles County, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, December 2002, Vol.
92, No. 4, 777-796.
105
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in Southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 27.
106
“Dr. Cathy Wei,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 37, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern
California, 2015), 47-53.

40
Shanghai, and came to the U.S. in 1963 after he finished high school in Hong Kong. He
earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at Oregon State University and began to work as
a city engineer for the City of Los Angeles in April 1969. He successfully bought two
multiple-unit apartment buildings, lived in one unit, rented the others to tenants, and paid
the mortgage using rental income. He also earned a real estate sales license that enabled
him to sell property as part-time job. One of his customers did not take the house he
showed, so he bought it himself in 1972 and later sold it for nearly three times the original
price. That was his first investment in Monterey Park.
107
He explained the reason for
buying so much property at a gathering of the city’s Chamber of Commerce in 1977. He
thought that Monterey Park would be a “modern-day-mecca” for the new Chinese who
want to invest their money and future in the U.S. to avoid insecurity.
108
He opened up a
company called the Mandarin Realty Company to purchase property in Monterey Park,
advertising the city as the “Chinese Beverly Hills” in overseas Chinese newspapers in Hong
Kong and Taiwan.
109
The company sold land to newly arrived immigrants, and successfully
raised the attention of tens of thousands of wealthy potential Chinese immigrants in the
1970s and 1980s. Monterey Park and the San Gabriel Valley soon became one of the main
destinations for Asian immigrants, especially Chinese, next to New York and San Francisco.
In 1979, Cathay Bank, which is a Chinese American banking institution headquartered in
Chinatown, Los Angeles, opened its first branch office in Monterey Park to meet the needs
of the area's growing number of Asian immigrants.
110
Timothy P. Fong, the author of the
1994 book ''The First American Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park'' said,
Without Fred Hsieh, I think many of the Chinese would have relocated to many
more traditional areas, like the San Francisco Bay Area or New York, and may
have bypassed Los Angeles or the San Gabriel Valley completely. Moving to
Monterey Park was a sign of making it in America.
111

107
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian
American History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 29-31.
108
Mark Arax, “Nation’s 1st Suburban Chinatown,” Los Angeles Times, April 6, 1987.
109
Art Wong, “MP Ethnic Brew Gains Sweet and Sour Flavor,” Monterey Park Progress, September 21, 1977.
110
“Cathay Bank History,” https://www.cathaybank.com/about-us/cathay-bank-history.
111
Christian Berthelsen, "Frederic Hsieh Is Dead at 54; Made Asian-American Suburb," The New York Times,
August 20, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/20/us/frederic-hsieh-is-dead-at-54-made-asian-
american-suburb.html.

41
Hsieh also participated in the “Golden Age Village” project, the first Chinese housing
complex for the elderly in Monterey Park opened in 1980. Its founder, Dr. Francis Wu, has a
strong connection to the local community and the University of Southern California.
112

Figure 3.5: A sign of All-America City in Monterey Park, 1985. Source: Bridging the Centuries: History of
Chinese Americans in Southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California,
2001), 152.

The city became an important region for politicians. Many famous Chinese American
politicians came onto the stage there, including Lily Lee Chen, the first female Chinese
mayor, in office from 1983 to 1986, and the first Chinese congresswoman Judy Chu, who
also had served as mayor for three terms from 1988.
113
In 1985, Monterey Park was
awarded as “All-America City” by the National Municipal League for its creative programs

112
Francis Wu, “The Story of Golden Age Village: How it all started,” accessed May 28, 2018,
http://goldenagevillage.net/about/.
113
“Political Philosophy for Judy Chu,” accessed May 28, 2018,
http://www.smartvoter.org/2002/11/05/ca/state/vote/chu_j/philosophy.htm; Jean Merl, “Judy Chu
becomes first Chinese American woman elected to Congress,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2009,
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/16/local/me-judy-chu16.

42
involving new immigrants and residents of all ethnic groups to solve civic problems.
114

(Figure 3.5)

Figure 3.6: A business sign with Chinese, Spanish and English at Alhambra Plaza. Source:
https://www.kcet.org/history-society/a-brief-history-and-geography-of-the-san-gabriel-valley.

However, as the population of Asian immigrants quickly rose and the white
population in the San Gabriel Valley shrank in the 1970s and 1980s, conflicts between the
new immigrants and local residents as well as between other ethnic groups arose. In the
mid-1980s, racial tension in Monterey Park upgraded to a series complaint from
established residents especially white residents and some Latino about over-development,
Chinese commercial signs without English, etc.
115
(Figure 3.6) The nativists formed the
Residents Association of Monterey Park (RAMP) calling for slow-growth development and
blaming the influx of Chinese immigrants and business for the downgrade of quality of life
in their quiet suburban town. There was even a proposal to ban Chinese-language business

114
John Horton, The Politics of Diversity: Immigration, Resistance, and Change in Monterey Park, California
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995), 80.
115
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in Southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 27.

43
signs and recognize English as the official language. The proposal failed, instead a
compromise plan requiring bilingual signs was approved.
116

The tense atmosphere spread through the San Gabriel Valley, as Chinese Americans
resided from Alhambra to Rowland Heights. The construction of Hsi Lai Temple in
Hacienda Heights encountered hostility and objections from neighborhood, which delayed
the construction severely.
117
Later, another movement Citizens for Harmony in Monterey
Park (CHAMP) united city council candidates with different cultural backgrounds and
established the cooperation between Chinese immigrants and the established whites and
Latinos. The city enacted a “managed growth” policy.
118

When Monterey Park slowed its pace of urban development over the next two
decades, energy shifted to nearby cities. San Gabriel became the new centerpiece with the
completion of San Gabriel Square, a mixed commercial project called “Chinese Disneyland,”
with the famous 99 Ranch Market and Focus department store in 1990s. Jewelry stores, the
San Gabriel Hilton Hotel, and dozens of restaurants make it a must-visit place for local
Chinese residents and tourists.
119

With its increasing Chinese population, the San Gabriel Valley increasingly reflects
Chinese culture. Monterey Park and neighboring Alhambra together held the first Chinese
New Year parade in this area in 1992.
120
This is now a regular event each Chinese New
Year. Nearby San Gabriel has a similar Lunar New Year Festival event. With generous
sponsorship from local media and other business, thousands of people of different ethnic
groups are welcomed to enjoy the lively event and delicious food, and to share the festive
atmosphere.

116
Christian Berthelsen, "Frederic Hsieh Is Dead at 54; Made Asian-American Suburb," The New York Times,
August 20, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/20/us/frederic-hsieh-is-dead-at-54-made-asian-
american-suburb.html.
117
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in Southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 27.
118
Jan Lin and Melody Chiong, “How Chinese Entrepreneurs Transformed the San Gabriel Valley” last
modified May 20, 2016. https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/how-chinese-entrepreneurs-transformed-
the-san-gabriel-valley.
119
Ibid.
120
Timothy P. Fong, The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California, Asian
American History and Culture Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), 29-31.

44
The Asian Youth Center (first called the Asian Youth Project), which provides critical
services for youth and their families, was founded in 1989 in San Gabriel under the help of
San Gabriel Valley United Way’s Asian Task Force, of which two prominent members were
Dr. Judy Chu and May To. Meanwhile, the largest Buddhist institution in America, Hsi Lai
Temple was inaugurated in 1988 in Hacienda Heights after twelve years of preparing and
construction. Serving as the branch of Taiwan’s Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order and
incorporated with the name “International Buddhist Progress Society,” it is dedicated to
spreading Buddhism through cultural activities, education, and Buddhist practices, to serve
the local communities and bring people confidence and joy, and it is indicative of a force of
harmony that unites the place and the people who live here.
Indeed, for Chinese Americans, the west part of the San Gabriel Valley is not the end.
Monterey Park, Alhambra, and San Gabriel, are more like transfer stations on the way to
San Marino, Arcadia, Rowland Heights, and Hacienda Heights, places that are becoming
more favorable destinations for established residents. The San Gabriel Valley has played
and seems destined to continue to play a role of vital importance to the history and future
development of the Southern California Chinese community.

45
Chapter 4
Conservation Overview, Selected Case Studies in the San Gabriel Valley

In this chapter, a technical overview on conservation in the San Gabriel Valley will
be given first. The focus is on the cities and communities that have a relatively large
Chinese population or a strong historic connection to the Chinese community. Then, several
cases with high cultural value in the San Gabriel Valley will be identified. The history,
cultural significance and community links to these proposed landmarks will be addressed
to show their unique value for conservation.

4.1 Conservation Overview in the San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley is an area with abundant historic resources. From Native
American settlement and Spanish exploration to modern American development and the
recent Asian influx and Chinese concentration, each historic era has its own heritage left on
this land, creating an extraordinary diversity. With the modern development of this area,
the conservation of valuable historic heritage is of vital importance. However, except for a
few cities such as Pasadena and San Gabriel, most cities have done little to understand,
recognize, and protect their heritage. (Table 4.1)
Year
Incorporated
City Report
Card
Grade
Condition Example of Historic District
or Places
1886 Pasadena A+ Has been a Certified Local Government
since 1986.
Updated historic preservation
ordinance, first adopted in 1969.
Design & Historic Preservation Section
works with the dedicated Historic
Preservation Commission (HPC) in
historic preservation program.
Thorough survey throughout the city
on historic resources.
Over 3500 historic properties in
different categories and several
historic districts are designated.
Extend preservation to those in NRHP.
Many incentives include tax abatement
and parking requirement waivers.
Pasadena City Hall (1927)
Pasadena Playhouse (1925)
The Gamble House (1908)
Beckman Auditorium,
Caltech (1963)
Ambassador College (1965,
1967, 1974)

46
Year
Incorporated
City Report
Card
Grade
Condition Example of Historic District
or Places
1888 South
Pasadena
A+ Has been a Certified Local Government
since 2001.
Updated historic preservation
ordinance, first adopted in 1992.
Plans to prepare a historic context
statement and update citywide historic
resource survey.
Designated over fifty landmarks and
five historic districts.
Various incentives including Mills Acts
tax abatement program and parking
requirements waivers.
Comerica Bank (1922)
Rialto Theatre (1925)
1414 Fair Oaks Building
(1959)
Cox House (1959)
1903 Alhambra F Lacking historic preservation
ordinance or rules.
Lacking a dedicated commission or
preservation staff.
Lacking citywide historic resource
survey or designated historic districts
or landmarks.
Lacking historic preservation plan or
incentives.
Sears, Roebuck and
Company, Pacific Coast
Territory Administrative
Offices (1971)
Bun 'n Burger (1949)
1903 Arcadia F Lacking historic preservation
ordinance or rules.
Lacking a dedicated commission or
preservation staff.
Completed citywide survey by
Architectural Resources Group in 2016.
Denny's (1967)
Santa Anita Park (1934)
1913 San
Gabriel
B Recently updated historic preservation
ordinance in August 2017.
Plan to establish a historic preservation
commission and complete citywide
historic resources survey.
Completed partial city survey and
designated local historic places which
does not require owner consent.
Offers incentives with tax abatement
program, fee reductions and annual
Martin E. Weil Award to honor notable
projects, organizations or individuals.
San Gabriel Mission District
Mission San Gabriel
Archangel (1771)
Bovard-Wilson-Hayes
House and Jail (1887)
San Gabriel Mission
Playhouse (1927)
1913 San
Marino
D Recently passed historic preservation
ordinance in April 2018.
No dedicated Historic Preservation
Commission will be established; the
Planning Commission will serve in that
capacity.
Owner's consent is required for
historic place designation.
A citywide survey and designating
landmarks are still needed.
The Japanese House at The
Huntington (1903)
Michael White Adobe
(1843-1845)

47
Year
Incorporated
City Report
Card
Grade
Condition Example of Historic District
or Places
1916 Monterey
Park
F Lacking historic preservation
ordinance or rules.
Lacking a dedicated commission or
preservation staff.
Lacking citywide historic resource
survey and no historic districts or
landmarks designated.
Lacking historic preservation plan or
incentives.
Midwick View Estate
waterfall and Jardin El
Encanto (1929)
1959 Rosemead F Lacking historic preservation
ordinance or rules.
Lacking a dedicated commission or
preservation staff.
Lacking citywide historic resource
survey and no historic districts or
landmarks designated.
Lacking historic preservation plan or
incentives.
Dinsmoor Heritage House
Cultural Museum (1929)
1959 Walnut C+ Has historic preservation ordinance.
Has a dedicated historic preservation
commission, the city Assistant Planner
handles the preservation review
although no staff is dedicated solely to
historic preservation.
Partial survey of the city has been done
and ten historic sites has been
identified.
Incentives like Mills Act and reduced or
waived processing fee of appropriate
rehabilitation of designated historic
sites.
Suzanne Park (1959)
Brookside Equestrian
Center (1930s)
W. R. Rowland Adobe
Redwood Ranch House
(1883)
Carrey Home (1920s)
Wild Life Sanctuary, Mt.SAC
(1964)
1960 Temple
City
F Lacking historic preservation
ordinance or rules.
Lacking a dedicated commission or
preservation staff.
Partial citywide historic resource
survey has been done by Historic
Resources Group in May 2012.
Lacking historic preservation plan or
incentives.
Temple City Park (1923)
City Hall (1956)
Cleminson School (1940)
1989 Diamond
Bar
F Lacking historic preservation
ordinance or rules.
Lacking a dedicated commission or
preservation staff.
Lacking citywide historic resource
survey and no designated historic
districts or landmarks.
Lacking historic preservation plan or
incentives.

48
Year
Incorporated
City Report
Card
Grade
Condition Example of Historic District
or Places
Unincorporated Rowland
Heights
_ Covered by Los Angeles County’s
Historic Preservation Program.
LA County’s Historic Preservation
Ordinance adopted in September 2015.
Relies mainly on owner’s self-report
for designation proposal and no sites
have been documented by County of
Los Angeles Register of Landmarks and
Historic Districts yet.

Unincorporated Hacienda
Heights
_ Covered by Los Angeles County’s
Historic Preservation Program.
LA County’s Historic Preservation
Ordinance adopted in September 2015.
Relies mainly on owner’s self-report
for designation proposal and no sites
have been documented by County of
Los Angeles Register of Landmarks and
Historic Districts yet.

Table 4.1: Conservation in Selected Cities in the San Gabriel Valley. Source: Information gathered from Los
Angeles Conservancy and related city survey reports, Los Angeles County Historic Preservation Program.
Created by author.

Pasadena and San Gabriel both have long-standing preservation traditions and good
practices. Pasadena adopted its first ordinance in 1969 and began to survey and document
historic properties. In 1986, Pasadena became a Certified Local Government. The Design
and Historic Preservation Section of the City’s Planning & Development Department and
the Historic Preservation Commission comprised of preservation professionals are in
charge of the historic preservation program. More than 3,500 historic properties in
Pasadena are designated in five categories according to established criteria of
significance.
121
Designation of landmarks does not require owner consent. Multiple
incentives including the Mills Act property tax abatement and parking requirement waivers
help the reuse and preservation of these properties.
In 1965, San Gabriel was the second city in Los Angeles County to adopt a
preservation ordinance following the City of Los Angeles. In 2017, a revised ordinance was
passed with the aim to make San Gabriel a Certified Local Government, establish a historic
preservation commission, and complete a citywide historic resources survey. In addition,

121
“Historic Preservation,” https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/wp-content/uploads/sites
/56/2017/09/Historic-Preservation-Brochure.pdf.

49
San Gabriel has put a lot of effort into protecting historic heritage. A survey of four portions
of the city has already been finished and incentives include a tax abatement program, fee
reductions, and the annual Martin E. Weil Award to facilitate historic preservation work.
122

However, it can be seen from the table 4.1, that most cities in the San Gabriel Valley
do not perform well in historic preservation. More than half cities received an F grade from
the Los Angeles Conservancy report card. The lack of historic preservation ordinances and
dedicated commissions means that historic places or sites with significance are vulnerable.
However, the lack of professional preservation does not mean that these cities have few
historic buildings. On the contrary, many cities in the San Gabriel Valley are full of historic
resources. For example, according to the historic resources survey of Arcadia done by
Architectural Resources Group in 2016, 188 potential historic resources were found,
including 165 individual buildings, eleven historic districts and twelve non-building
resources.
123
Cities believe that historic preservation is very important to them, and some
of them are working on preservation in different ways because of financial pressure.
Alhambra Councilman Dr. Steven Placido stated that Alhambra values historic
preservation, however, “We’re not considering right now any kind of ordinance for
preservation. But we do take steps to preserve the pride and character of our town. We still
can be very proactive in preserving what’s important.”
124

Situations in unincorporated communities are different here. They are covered by
Los Angeles County’s Preservation Program. “Los Angeles County’s Historic Preservation
Program (“Program”) is comprised of the County’s Historic Preservation Ordinance that
establishes criteria and procedures for the designation, preservation and maintenance of
landmarks and historic districts. The Program applies only to properties located in

122
“San Gabriel,” Los Angeles Conservancy, accessed May 2, 2018,
http://www.laconservancy.org/communities/san-gabriel/.
123
Architectural Resources Group, “Arcadia Historic Resources Survey,” December 1, 2016,
https://www.arcadiaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=8803.
124
Nasrin Aboulhosn, “Is Alhambra flunking historic preservation?” Alhambra Resources, March 20, 2014,
https://www.alhambrasource.org/story/is-alhambra-flunking-historic-preservation.

50
unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.”
125
This is the first time that historic buildings
and sites in unincorporated area of Los Angeles County are eligible for legal protection.
126

What’s more, despite the designated historic properties, there are few related to
Chinese culture, immigrants, and communities. Although Chinese immigration increased
after the 1970s, and Asians only became the majority race in some cities in the San Gabriel
Valley in the last thirty years, they did transform and shape this place with their own
culture and life. However, the existence and significance of Chinese historic or cultural
landmarks in the San Gabriel Valley have not yet been fully recognized.

4.2 Case Studies: What to Identify and Conserve?
In this section, several landmarks in selected cities with high historic value, or social
and cultural meaning to the local Chinese community will be analyzed. Through a brief
review of their history, and analysis of their significance, the questions of why these
landmarks should be identified and recognized will be answered, and how to better
facilitate their preservation. The selected landmarks are of different types and cover
several categories: commercial entities like a family antique store, a multifunction
shopping mall, and a banking institution; civic services like a youth center and a senior
apartment; and cultural and religious landmarks like a Chinese garden and a Buddhist
temple. They may not necessarily have a long history, but they all have special meaning to
the Chinese community and cover almost all aspects of everyday life. For Chinese living in
or visiting the San Gabriel Valley, these landmarks have greater real-life significance than
some older buildings with many years of history. These landmarks are also the witness to
the achievements and endeavors of Chinese immigrants to the United States.

4.2.1 F. Suie One Co.
1335 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena

125
“Historic Preservation Program,” accessed June 10, 2018, http://planning.lacounty.gov/preservation/.
126
Jean Merl, “Historic preservation for unincorporated L.A. County sites gets initial OK,” Los Angeles Times,
January 27, 2015, http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-county-historic-preservation-
20150128-story.html.

51
F. Suie One Co. is a family business started by Fong See in 1888 in Sacramento.
127

(Figure 4.1) Fong See often traveled between China and the United States, importing
women’s silk lingerie and antiques from China to the U.S. for sale. The business relocated to
Los Angeles Chinatown after he married Letticie Pruett in 1897. In 1910, it became the
largest Chinese store in Chinatown.
128
In 1981, the F. Suie One Company moved to its
current location in Pasadena. Current owner Leslee See Leong, Fong See’s granddaughter,
and cousin of the writer Lisa See who is the author of the bestseller On Gold Mountain: The
100-Year Odyssey of a Chinese American Family stated “F. Suie One Co. is the first Asian
antique store in the U.S. and the one has continued existing for over 120 years.”
129

Figure 4.1: F. Suie One Co. Source: https://www.google.com/maps/.

Fong See was born in Guangdong, China in 1857. After he immigrated to San
Francisco in 1871, he did not want to work for others but was determined to open his own
business. He got a permit and started his small business in Sacramento in 1874. In 1897,
Fong See married Letticie Pruett, who was a Caucasian woman. Fong and Lettice were a

127
“On Gold Mountain Timeline,” Lisa See Official Website, accessed May 28, 2018,
http://www.lisasee.com/on-gold-mountain/on-gold-mountain-timeline/. However, the current owner of F.
Suie One Co said that this company started in 1881 in a video made by KCET: “The Roots of a Family Dynasty,”
KCET video, 2:43, July 1, 2010, https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/
leslee-leong-owner-f-suie-one-co.
128
“On Gold Mountain Timeline,” Lisa See Official Website, accessed May 28, 2018,
http://www.lisasee.com/on-gold-mountain/on-gold-mountain-timeline/.
129
“A Family Affair,” KCET video, 2:46, July 1, 2010, https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/
leslee-leong-owner-f-suie-one-co.

52
“very early biracial couple and the most unusual at that time.”
130
Lettice had a gift for
business and saw the opportunity that Chinese antiques such as vases, statues of Buddha,
and wooden furniture were very popular and stylish at that time. White women loved to
decorate their family with such exotic antiques. She suggested that Fong See expand his
business to carry those antiques. Fong See was able to travel between China and the U.S. to
transport those goods, and he was also happy to talk about China and Chinese culture with
customers during their purchase. It was a success under their careful management. After
China City in Los Angeles was closed in 1949, F. Suie One Co. moved into the last remaining
building there. According to Lisa See:
As a little girl, stepping into the store was like stepping into another time and place.
Two large marble lions flanked the moon gate, where every day my grandfather
rolled a rickshaw out to the curb to attract customers. The long central hall was
edged by what had once been some of China City's little stores and kiosks. There
were upturned eaves, an old wishing well and the remnants of a goldfish pond. The
store itself was filled with Asian antiques, with separate rooms for bronzes, textiles
and ceramics. It was a beautiful place filled with extraordinary objects and redolent
of teak, moth balls and incense, but I was afraid of the warehouse, which was dark
and seemed to have shadowy things lurking in the corners. I also got nervous
whenever I had to go to the workroom with its roar of saws, gorgeous Chinese
calendar girls advertising this or that Chinatown cafe on the walls, and clouds of
sawdust.
131

The shop was like a museum to many customers, and the antiques tell the stories of
China and the magic past of Fong See’s family. “This is a store of curiosity and passion.”
132

(Figure 4.2)

130
“The Marriage of Fong See and Lettice Pruett,” KCET video, 3:27, July 1, 2010,
https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/leslee-leong-owner-f-suie-one-co.
131
“For Lisa See, Los Angeles' Chinatown was always like stepping into her past,” May 31, 2009,
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-lisa-see31-2009may31-story.html.
132
Lisa See, On Gold Mountain (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995); “On Gold Mountain Timeline,” Lisa See
Official Website, accessed May 28, 2018, http://www.lisasee.com/on-gold-mountain/on-gold-
mountain-timeline/; “Keeping the Story Alive,” KCET video, 3:10, July 1, 2010,
https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/leslee-leong-owner-f-suie-one-co.

53

Figure 4.2: The interior of F. Suie One Co. Source: Photo by Cheri A., August 13, 2009,
Source: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/f-suie-one-pasadena?select=3Y3VXp-
kFI9ms19NUXGciQ&userid=w57Yn8npGhdDHmHFGKk2jA.

In 1971, the Sylmar earthquake struck the San Fernando Valley, and damaged
buildings as far as Spring Street in Los Angeles and beyond, including the building in which
F. Suie One Co. was located.
133
In 1981, the family moved the store from its location on Ord
Street in Chinatown, Los Angeles, to 1335 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena. There is
another antique store, belonging to another branch of the family, called F. See On Co., which
is still in business today in Chinatown. They both are among the few continuously family
owned and operated companies in the Los Angeles area for over 100 years, which makes
them rare and unique.
134

Currently F. Suie One co. is located in a historic building in Pasadena built by
Architect Theodore Pletsch in 1927 and eligible to be designated as a landmark.
135

133
“For Lisa See, Los Angeles' Chinatown was always like stepping into her past,” May 31, 2009,
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-lisa-see31-2009may31-story.html.
134
Lisa See, On Gold Mountain (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995), 348.
135
Rachel Young, “Planned 7-Story Hotel Complex at Hill and Colorado Draws Fire,” November 8, 2013,
http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/planned-seven-story-hotel-complex-at-hill-and-colorado-raises-
worries/; David M. Reyes, “Planning & Community Development Department Staff Report,” July 11, 2017,
https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2017/07/2017-07-11-Design-Commission-
1336-1348-1347-1365-E.-Colorado-Blvd.-Staff-report.pdf.

54
Theodore “Ted” Pletsch was born in Iowa in 1901 and moved to Pasadena when he was
eleven years old. He graduated from Pasadena High School in 1920 and earned his Bachelor
degree at the USC School of Architecture in 1925. He designed over 1,300 buildings in his
life with most of them located in the San Gabriel Valley. Many notable local works survive
today. Finished in the 1920s when Colorado Boulevard was widened, three blocks of
storefronts, including the one that is home to F. Suie One Co., are still standing. Others
famous buildings he designed include an office building on Huntington Drive at Del Mar
Avenue in the 1950s, the classic San Marino Tribune building, and a two-story store with a
black tile facade at 609 East Green Street in Pasadena.
136

4.2.2 East West Bank ( 華美銀行)
135 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena
If there is no banking institution serving a local community, it is impossible for most
new immigrants to own houses and start businesses. The East West Bank, first called East-
West Federal Savings and Loan Association, was founded in 1973 at 935 North Broadway,
Los Angeles to serve as “the financial bridge between the United States and Greater
China.”
137
(Figure 4.3) Before that, Cathay Bank founded in 1962 by F. Chow Chan was the
only Chinese American banking institution in Los Angeles.
138
Upon its establishment, the
East West Bank focused primarily on serving the Chinese American community in Los
Angeles. There were eight original organizers and founders: F. Chow Chan, Betty Tom Chu,
Richard K. Quan, Gilbert L. Leong, Philip Chow, John A Nuccio, Christopher L. Pocino, and

136
Mary Barber, “Architect's Works Were Built to Last--So Was He,” April 24, 1986,
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-04-24/news/ga-2077_1_local-works; “An Architect Who Helped Build San
Marino Theodore “Ted” Pletsch,” The Grapevine, ed. Mitchell Gould, The San Marino Historic Society, August
1993, http://sanmarinohistoricalsociety.org/grapevine/aug93.pdf.
137
“East West Bancorp Reports Net Income for First Quarter 2018 of $187 Million and Diluted Earnings Per
Share of $1.28, Both Up By 120% From the Prior Quarter,” accessed April 24, 2018,
http://investor.eastwestbank.com/Cache/1500109764.PDF?O=PDF&T=&Y=&D
=&FID=1500109764&iid=4040606, 1; “Institution History for East West Bank (197478),” accessed April 24,
2018, https://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/InstitutionHistory.aspx?parID_RSSD=
197478&parDT_END=99991231.
138
Wei Li, Gary Dymski, Yu Zhou, Maria Chee, Carolyn Aldana, “Chinese-American Banking and Community
Development in Los Angeles County,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 92, No. 4
(December 2002), accessed April 24, 2018, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1515300, 787.

55
John M. Lee.
139
In 1983, it changed its name to the East-West Federal Bank and became a
federally chartered savings bank.
140
In the 1980s, the “United Commercial Bank in San
Francisco, Cathay Bank, and East-West Federal Bank were the three largest minority-
owned financial institutions in the United States.”
141
Since 1991, East-West Federal Bank
acquired fourteen financial institutions including Pacific Coast Savings, First Central Bank,
United National Bank, and United Commercial Bank, and several local Chinese American
banks like Trust Bank and Standard Bank, headquartered in Monterey Park, gradually
making it the largest Chinese American Bank in the U.S.
142
In 1995, it changed its name to
East-West Bank and moved to 415 Huntington Drive in San Marino. Finally, in 2006 it
settled at its present location, at 135 North Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, and simplified
its name to East West Bank. (Figure 4.4)

Figure 4.3: East-West Federal Savings on 935 Broadway, Los Angeles, 1970s,
Source: https://www.eastwestbank.com/en/company/our-story.

139
“East West Bank,” accessed April 24, 2018,
http://www.chssc.org/History/Honorees/Honorees2007d.aspx.
140
“Institution History for East West Bank (197478),” accessed April 24, 2018,
https://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/InstitutionHistory.aspx?parID_RSSD=197478&parDT_END=9999
1231.
141
“A History of Chinese American Banking in Los Angeles,” accessed April 24, 2018,
http://imdiversity.com/villages/asian/a-history-of-chinese-american-banking-in-los-angeles/.
142
“Institutions Acquired by East West Bank (197478),” accessed April 24, 2018,
https://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/AcquisitionForm.aspx?parID_RSSD=197478&parDT_END=99991
231; “Bank Failure Leads to Largest Chinese-American Bank,” November 11, 2009,
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120300313.

56
With more than forty years of development and acquisition, East West Bank now is
a premier bank with total assets over thirty-six billion dollars focused exclusively on the
United States and Greater China markets and operates over 130 locations worldwide. It has
110 branches in the United States and eighty-two of them in California, along with full
service branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Shantou and representative
offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Taipei, and Xiamen in China.
143
It ranked fifth on
the 2018 Forbes 100 Best Banks in America in 2018 and has remained on the list since
2010.
144

Figure 4.4: East West Bank Headquarters at 135 North Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, 2006,
Source: https://www.eastwestbank.com/en/company/our-story.

The Chinese name of East West Bank is hua mei ( 華美), which literally can be
interpreted as “China is beautiful,” “Chinese in America,” “Sino-American,” or in a broader

143
“East West Bancorp Reports Net Income for First Quarter 2018 of $187 Million and Diluted Earnings Per
Share of $1.28, Both Up By 120% From the Prior Quarter,” accessed April 24, 2018,
http://investor.eastwestbank.com/Cache/1500109764.PDF?O=PDF&T=&Y=&D=&FID=1500109764&iid=40
40606; “Branch(es) of East West Bank (197478),” accessed April 24, 2018,
https://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/BranchLocator.aspx?parID_RSSD=197478&HOName=EAST+WES
T+BANK&parCity=&parState_CD=&parCntry_CD=(1007)&parFormat=1.
144
“Forbes 2018 Best Banks in America,” accessed April 24, 2018,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/01/10/full-list-ranking-americas-100-largest-
banks-2018/#91930f3109a7.

57
way, “East and West.”
145
When Chinese immigrants first came to America in the nineteenth
century, no formal mainstream banking institution would serve them and the only place
they could rely on were Chinese family associations and district associations for small loans
and savings. Most immigrants lived and worked in a completely cash economy. Small
business and potential homeowners had urgent banking service needs that could not be
met. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that Chinese Americans began to step into the
banking industry in their own communities thanks to financial pioneers such as Paul H.
Louie of San Francisco, F. Chow Chan of Los Angeles, and Robert Chinn of Seattle.
146

F. Chow Chan was one of the founders of both the Cathay Bank and the East West
Bank. He was a local business leader and one of the first presidents of the L.A. Chinese
Chamber of Commerce. He immigrated from China in 1933 and in 1938 started the Phoenix
Bakery in Chinatown, Los Angeles, which became a landmark and is still in business till
today. With his repeated effort for about a decade, as well as the community’s support, in
1962 Chan got a commercial bank charter and founded Cathay Bank.
147
With the large
Chinese immigrant influx in the 1970s, mainstream financial institutions could not meet
the needs of the Chinese community and newcomers had no idea how to get loans. Another
political supporter at that time was Preston Martin of California, who was named Chairman
of the Federal Home Loan Bank under President Nixon. The Minority Bank Outreach
Program launched by Martin helped Asians and other minorities a lot.
148
After a decade
running the Cathay Bank, a savings and loan institution charter was issued and East-West
Federal Savings was founded. Chan himself served as the first Chairman of the Board of
both banks and retired in 1976, continuing his philanthropic deeds until he passed away in
2001.
149

Gilbert Lester Leong was another founder of East West Bank. He was a pioneering
Chinese American architect who designed many famous buildings in Chinatown, including

145
Liyan Chen, “Meet the Chinese American Bank That Wants to Become Wells Fargo,” last edited January 19,
2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/liyanchen/2016/01/19/meet-the-chinese
-american-bank-that-wants-to-become-wells-fargo/#114797e222d1.
146
“A History of Chinese American Banking in Los Angeles,” accessed April 24, 2018,
http://imdiversity.com/villages/asian/a-history-of-chinese-american-banking-in-los-angeles/.
147
“F. Chow Chan,” accessed April 24, 2018, http://www.chssc.org/History/Honorees/Honorees2007b.aspx.
148
A History of Chinese American Banking in Los Angeles,” accessed April 24, 2018,
http://imdiversity.com/villages/asian/a-history-of-chinese-american-banking-in-los-angeles/.
149
“F. Chow Chan,” accessed April 24, 2018, http://www.chssc.org/History/Honorees/Honorees2007b.aspx.

58
East West Bank where he served as a founding director and board member, the Kong Chow
Family Association and Temple at 931 N. Broadway, and the Chinese United Methodist
Church at 825 N. Hill Street.
150
Leong also worked as the co-designer of the interior court
and authentic Chinese garden in the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. His niece is author
Lisa See who featured him in her book On Gold Mountain: The 100-Year Odyssey of a Chinese
American Family.
151
His daughter, Leslee Leong is the owner of F. Suie One Co.
The East West Bank has deep roots and a complex connection with the history of the
local Chinese community. Today its company philosophy is to “enable low and moderate-
income individuals and the communities in which they live to grow into sustainable,
desirable, more culturally integrated and more comfortably managed lifestyles and
environments.”
152
Indeed, many famous startup businesses today benefit from its service,
like Boiling Point Restaurant, Cyberpower PC custom computer company, and the Yamibuy
online shopping website. It offers Community Reinvestment programs focusing on three
areas: acceptable quality of life, small business lending, and financial education. Partnered
with organizations like the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the South Bay Center for
Counseling, Community & Economic Development (SBCC), Junior Achievement, Asian
Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles, and sponsoring the Asian Youth Center and the
Chinese Garden of The Huntington, East West Bank provides its funds and education
sources in support of community development and to promote the life quality of not only
Chinese, but every race in the community.
153

4.2.3 Chinese Garden Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, The Garden of Flowing Fragrance)
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road,
San Marino

150
Los Angeles Conservancy, “Exploring Chinatown: Past and Present,” April 17, 2016,
https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/default/files/files/documents/LAC_Chinatown_Final_0.pdf.
151
“Gilbert Lester Leong: Architect, Founder of East West Bank,” Los Angeles Times, August 28, 1996,
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-08-28/local/me-38269_1_east-west-bank-chinese-
american-history-chinese-garden.
152
“Corporate Philosophy,” accessed April 24, 2018, https://www.eastwestbank.com/en/company/
corporate-philosophy.
153
“Community Reinvestment,” accessed April 24, 2018, https://www.eastwestbank.com/en
/company/community-reinvestment; “Community Programs,” accessed April 24, 2018,
https://www.eastwestbank.com/en/company/community-programs.

59
“...there are in Los Angeles a couple of rare and extraordinary treasures in the
history of Chinese culture. One is this garden...” said Peter Sellars, Professor in the
Department of World Arts and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles.
154
As
the newest part of the well-known Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical
Gardens, the Chinese Garden Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance),
was opened in February 2008. As the only non-private Chinese garden in California, it is
also “one of the largest, finest, and most authentic classical Chinese-style gardens outside of
China.”
155
The first phase included six pavilions, three bridges, a one-acre lake, and a large
terrace. Phase II was finished in March 2014, in which two more pavilions, a rockery with a
waterfall, and the lakeshore area were added. The rest is still under construction –
eventually they will add additional pavilions, an art gallery, and a space for display of
miniature landscapes “penjing” ( 盆景, scenery in a pot). (Figure 4.5) When finished, the
garden will take up to twelve acres.
156

Figure 4.5: Overview of Liu Fang Yuan. Source: T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of
Flowing Fragrance) in California,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol. 55 (2015): 183-
198, accessed May 2, 2018, http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55. 183.

154
“About Liu Fang Yuan,” accessed May 2, 2018,
http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=490.
155
T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) in California,” Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol. 55 (2015): 183-198, accessed May 2, 2018,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55.183; “Phase II Under Way - Goal: $22 million,” accessed
May 2, 2018, http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=2548.
156
Ibid.

60
It is a miracle to see an authentic Chinese garden on a Western estate in America,
and the design and construction process is a long story. The Huntington was a great legacy
of Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927), who was a railroad magnate and one of the richest
men of his time. Thanks to his passion for books, art works and gardening, he amassed a
great collection and turned his mansion into a library and art gallery surrounded by
gardens. The Huntington was opened to the public as a research institution after his death,
according to his wishes. For many years, it had been an institution that almost exclusively
focused on Western culture, holding rare manuscripts, printed books and art works from
Europe and America.
157
The Japanese Garden, completed in 1912, was probably the only
non-Western component then. Combined with a Japanese house and bridges, it not only
served Huntington’s botanical interests, but also created another cultural dimension,
presenting the result of Western obsession with Japanese “exotic” aesthetic from the East
between the nineteenth and the twentieth century.
158

When botanist James P. Folsom, now the director of the Botanical Gardens, arrived
at the Huntington in the 1980s, he soon had the idea to build a Chinese garden. He found
that many plants and varieties that appeared on the estate originated from China, which
made him want to build a garden to highlight their origin in company with the Japanese
Garden. It was not until twenty years later that his dream came true when Peter Paanaker
(1925-1999), a longtime supporter, donated ten million dollars as the seed funding
exclusively for building a Chinese garden. Meanwhile, the growing Chinese communities in
San Marino and around the San Gabriel Valley were driving the project forward. As a
project on its own, many years of pre-planning and fundraising took place before the
groundbreaking in 2004. Many donations and contributions were gathered from all kinds
of sources, including the Huntington’s members, local Chinese and non-Chinese
communities, foundations, enterprises, and individuals within the country and even from
abroad.
159
Local foundations like the Annenberg Foundation, local enterprises like the East

157
Shelley M. Bennett, The Art of Wealth, The Huntingtons in the Gilded Age (San Marino, California:
Huntington Library Press, 2013).
158
Kendall H. Brown, “From Ranch to Estate: A Japanese Garden Comes to San Marino,” One Hundred Years in
the Huntington’s Japanese Garden, ed. T. June Li (San Marino, CA: Huntington Press, 2013), 40-63.
159
T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) in California,” Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol. 55 (2015): 183-198, accessed May 2, 2018,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55.185.

61
West Bank, the Panda Restaurant Group, and companies from China such as Air China,
China Shipping Company and China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company are all generous
contributors to this project.
160

The first and most important thing to decide during the design process was the type
of Chinese garden to be built. To better fit the history and serve the educational mission of
the Huntington as a public institution, the Suzhou-style scholar’s garden was chosen. In
addition to the beauty and elegance, this style represents the lifestyle of rich families
during sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the Ming and Qing Dynasty in Jiangnan
(South of the river) area that refers to economically developed lower Yangzi River region
including today’s Jiangsu and Zhejiang province. These wealthy families usually owned
private gardens and were highly educated, interested in art, literature and book collecting,
which shares many similarities to Huntington’s family and provides an entry point to the
social and cultural environment to build such a garden of Suzhou-style.
161

Figure 4.6: Grotto and Waterfall. Source: http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=490.

160
“Phase II Under Way - Goal: $22 million,” accessed May 2, 2018,
http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=2548.
161
T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) in California,” Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol. 55 (2015): 183-198, accessed May 2, 2018,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55.185.

62
To maximize the “authenticity” of a Chinese garden built in Southern California, an
ancient garden building manual, Yuan Ye ( 園冶, The Craft of Gardens), which was written
by garden master Ji Cheng in late Ming Dynasty around 1631, was treated by the project
team as an essential reference of design motifs and structures, though not all of the
guidelines were followed. The plan that proposed a lake in the garden was perfectly aligned
with Ji’s doctrine.
162
What’s more, it brought harmony with the Chinese aesthetics of
combination of shan ( 山, mountain) represented by rocks symbolizing eternity, and shui
( 水, water) represented by the lake signifying the ever-changing time. (Figure 4.6) The
large lower area on the estate was chosen to be the site for the lake, as rain water gathers
there naturally during the rainy season. Ying Fang Hu ( 映芳湖, Lake of Reflected Fragrance)
becomes the central view of the garden, and new habitat of many kinds of birds, creating a
harmonious natural scene. In addition, existing trees on the estate that cannot be found in a
garden in China were deliberately preserved to show respect to local landscape and
environment instead of copying a garden in Suzhou, which is another kind of “authenticity.”
“Liu Fang Yuan is the only garden in the world built with authentic materials—all
sourced, fabricated and shipped from China, built by Chinese artisans, yet built to meet
California earthquake codes and American building codes.”
163
All design, engineering and
construction work is done in close cooperation with Suzhou Institute of Landscape
Architecture Design Company, Ltd. Seventy-eight experts from Suzhou sent by the company
worked at the Huntington for months. The materials like rocks were genuine taihu rocks
form Lake Tai in Southern China. They were placed carefully according to Ji Cheng’s
instructions in their new home in Liu Fang Yuan. Chinese counterparts were dedicated to
wood carving, surface decoration, stone placing, rock inscriptions and traditional wooden
beam structures, and the local team focused on hiding the reinforced steel structure frames
to make it in compliant with modern standards and seismic codes. Their collaboration

162
Ji Cheng, The Craft of Gardens: The Classic Chinese Text on Garden Design, translated by Alison Hardie
(Shanghai: Shanghai Press, 2012). 47.
163
“About Liu Fang Yuan,” accessed May 2, 2018, http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/
content.aspx?id=490.

63
made it an excellent example of preservation of traditional Chinese building crafts and
blended modern American technology.
164

The garden offers the visitors the experience of reading a book, chapter by chapter,
or “reading” a scroll as it unrolls. Visitors would be amazed by the deep literary and
historical origin by moving around scenic spots and settings. The name of “Liu Fang Yuan”
was carved on a brick plaque at the entrance. It has multiple layers of meaning in cross
reference to the Huntington. Literally, “liu fang” ( 流芳, Flowing Fragrance) means the scent
of plant-like flower aroma lingers and stays as time goes by. In common Chinese language,
“liu fang bai shi” ( 流芳百世) or “wan gu liu fang” ( 萬古流芳) means one’s good reputation
will live forever through history. The origin of “liu fang” dates back to the China Three
Kingdoms Period when Chinese poet Cao Zhi (192-232) wrote Luoshen Fu ( 洛神賦,
Rhapsody on the Luo River Goddess) to show the flowing fragrance when the Goddess
moved around. Also, the word is also an echo of Li Liufang ( 李流芳, 1575-1629), a
landscape painter of the late Ming Dynasty.
165

Figure 4.7: Ai Lian Xie ( 愛蓮榭, Love for the Lotus Pavilion). Source: T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳
園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) in California,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol.
55 (2015): 183-198, accessed May 2, 2018, http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55, 190.

164
T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) in California,” Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol. 55 (2015): 183-198, accessed May 2, 2018,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55, 187-188.
165
“About Liu Fang Yuan,” accessed May 2, 2018, http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content
.aspx?id=490; T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) in California,”
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol. 55 (2015): 183-198, accessed May 2, 2018,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55, 189.

64
The architecture inside the garden is heavily marked by traditional Chinese style.
The names of the pavilions are strongly related to Chinese ancient literatures from
philosophers, poets and scholars, or the scenery and plants around them, which were the
result of discussion among a committee of Chinese experts. Ai Lian Xie ( 愛蓮榭, Love for the
Lotus Pavilion), a pavilion faced a pound from the lake filled with lotus, was named after
the famous essay Ai Lian Shuo ( 愛蓮說, Love for the Lotus) written by Zhou Dunyi showing
his love for the lotus, for its purity and fragrance without contamination of mud. (Figure
4.7) San You Ge ( 三友閣, Three Friends Pavilion), surrounded by pines, bamboos and plum
trees, was named after suihan sanyou ( 歲寒三友, the three friends of the cold season) --
song, zhu and mei ( 松竹梅, pine, bamboo and plum). (Figure 4.8) The pine and bamboo are
evergreen plants, and the plum tree blossoms when it is still cold, which are symbols of
loyalty, courage, tenacity and endurance in Chinese literature.
166

Figure 4.8: San You Ge ( 三友閣, Three Friends Pavilion). Source: “About Liu Fang Yuan,” accessed May 2,
2018, http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=490.

166
T. June Li, “Creating Liu Fang Yuan ( 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance) in California,” Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Vol. 55 (2015): 183-198, accessed May 2, 2018,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/jroyaaisasocihkb.55, 190-191.

65
In addition to architecture, tea, music, drama, opera, paintings and calligraphy are
the other important components of the Chinese Garden. The teashop is located in the Yu
Ming Tang ( 玉茗堂, Hall of the Jade Camellia). (Figure 4.9) It bears the theme of Camellia
sinensis, which is a kind of camellia grown for tea and is a symbol of coming spring. Local
musicians offer performances on Chinese tradition instruments every week. Twenty artists,
from the U.S., Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, have contributed their calligraphic
works to the garden.
167

Figure 4.9: Yu Ming Tang ( 玉茗堂, Hall of the Jade Camellia). Source: “Visitor Information,”
http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=1220#tea.

Liu Fang Yuan has multiple levels of meaning. It honors traditional Chinese culture
along with the artistic and scholarly history of the Huntington. It is a symbol of
collaboration between the local Chinese community, a broader U.S. society, and overseas
Chinese. It is an example of cross-cultural effort on the part of architects and artisans from
Suzhou in China and local California builders and gardeners. It is a combination of
traditional Chinese building crafts and materials with the technological adaptations of
modern U.S. building. Liu Fang Yuan is envisioned to become “the only center for the study
of Chinese garden culture in America, allowing all visitors to learn and enjoy Chinese art,

167
Another World Lies Beyond, Creating Liu Fang Yuan, the Chinese Garden at The Huntington, ed. T. June Li
(San Marino, CA: Huntington Press, 2009), 114-115.

66
literature, history, architecture, botany, and design.”
168
It is an incomparable treasure of
Chinese culture in the San Gabriel Valley and Southern California, glorifying the local
community and serving the public all over the world.

4.2.4 Golden Age Village ( 金齡新村)
234 North Rural Drive, Monterey Park
Golden Age Village (GAV) is an apartment complex of 120 rental units which provide
senior housing for those who are sixty-two or older, established in 1980 by Dr. Frances Wu.
(Figure 4.10) GAV is owned and governed by the Chinese American Golden Age
Association (CAGAA) which is a non-profit organization. There are about 150 seniors
(99% of which are Chinese) in total living in this apartment.
169

Figure 4.10: The main entrance of Golden Age Village. Source: http://goldenagevillage.net.

Dr. Frances Wu was the founder and president of the Chinese American Golden Age
Association. As a philanthropist, she is the first Chinese American who earned a Doctor of
Social Work degree at the University of Southern California in 1974. As a Chinese and a
social worker, she came to know that the elderly Chinese American needed help. Many
elderly Chinese in the area, especially the new immigrants who have just arrived in the
United States, are living in loneliness and helplessness because of language barriers,

168
“About Liu Fang Yuan,” accessed May 2, 2018,
http://huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=490.
169
“About Golden Age Village,” accessed May 2, 2018, http://goldenagevillage.net/about/.

67
cultural differences, and hardship to be accepted by the local community. In order to build
the senior housing complex, Frances Wu found two parcels for sale near a city park in
Monterey Park, when priority was offered to nonprofit organizations. Wu applied for
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) loan but failed for the first time in 1977. Frederic
Hsieh found an investor to help her got through financial difficulties. In the next year, the
application for the loan to build the GAV was approved with the help of USC, which was one
of the only fourteen cases that were accepted among the total 140 applications. After six
years of hard work, with the help of many people, especially the USC Andrus Gerontology
Center, which co-sponsored the project, GAV was finally opened in Monterey Park.
170

GAV provides seniors many activities to gather them together and teach them useful
skills. Computer skills class allows seniors to learn how to use computers, relieve
loneliness, make friends with more people, connect themselves with their family and
friends, and learn more about the world. Medication Consultation provides medical
information, giving information to seniors about their health and the medicines they take.
Tai Chi classes help seniors do more exercise and maintain health. English classes can help
seniors break the language barriers, have better understanding of the life in United States,
and enjoy the learning process with classmates. Karaoke every Friday brings joy to seniors,
making them feel like home because of its popularity in China. GAV also regularly organizes
various field trips, social service activities, birthday parties, and Lunar New Year
celebrations.
171

In 1997, to establish the first endowed chair at USC School of Social work, the
CAGAA donated 1.5 million dollars. Professor Iris Chi was honored as the CAGAA/Frances
Wu Endowed Chair for the Chinese Elderly. Dr. Wu also personally funded the school’s
Frances Wu Scholarship to award students who express a commitment to work within the
Chinese elderly community.
172

170
“About: The Story of Golden Age Village,” accessed May 2, 2018, http://goldenagevillage.net/about/.
171
“Services and Activies,” accessed May 2, 2018, http://goldenagevillage.net/services-and-activities/.
172
Dr. Frances Wu, “The Story of Golden Age Village,” accessed May 1, 2018,
http://goldenagevillage.net/about/; Zsa Zsa Gershick, “Frances Wu’s $1.5 Million Gift Endows First Chair at
the School of Social Work,” USC News, June 2, 1997, https://news.usc.edu/11710/Frances
-Wu-s-1-5-Million-Gift-Endows-First-Chair-at-the-School-of-Social-Work/; Iris Chi, “In Memoriam: Frances
Wu, 96,” August 24, 2017, https://dworakpeck.usc.edu/news/memoriam-frances-wu-96; “Scholarships”,
accessed May 2, 2018, https://dworakpeck.usc.edu/msw-on-campus/admissions-msw/
paying-for-your-degree/scholarships.

68
4.2.5 Asian Youth Center
100 Clary Avenue, San Gabriel
The Chinese American community was originally not welcomed by established
residents in the San Gabriel Valley in the 1980s. (Figure 4.11) Chinese language signs were
once seen as a threat to community safety. There even were concerns that the fast-growing
Asians population would take over the valley and Chinese youth might increase the crime
rate. The San Gabriel Valley United Way’s Asian Task Force, of which two key members
were Judy Chu and May To, gathered a group of people who were eager to help youth and
solve problems. Together they established the Asian Youth Project in 1989, renamed as the
Asian Youth Center (AYC) in 1990. It is a community-based independent non-profit
organization, whose mission is “to empower low-income, immigrant, and at-risk youth, of
all communities, to overcome barriers to success through the provision of culturally and
linguistically competent education, employment, and social services.”
173

Figure 4.11: The main entrance of Asian Youth Center. Source: https://www.asianyouthcenter.
org/about.html.

173
“About AYC,” accessed March 21, 2018, https://www.asianyouthcenter.org/about.html.

69
AYC provides a variety of youth programs: Accelerated Children Education (ACE)
Summer School Program, Teen Leadership Career College Program, One-on-One Tutoring,
Chinese Language Classes, etc. Some of them assist students from low-income families with
at-risk academic status in the San Gabriel Unified School District. It serves more than 4000
youth with a budget of $2.6 million, and 90% of them are from low-income families.
174
The
ethnic structure of AYC’s clients is changing in recent years. AYC 2012 Annual Report
shows that approximately 47% of its clients identified as Asian Pacific Islander, 34% as
Hispanic, 9% as African-American, 9% as Caucasian, and 1% other.
175
In 2017,
approximately 25% of its clients identified as Asian Pacific Islander, 36% as Hispanic, 24%
as African-American, 8% as Caucasian, 5% other, and 2% mixed.
176

Since its establishment in 1989, AYC has made its contribution to the development
and safety of the local community. “Some of our funding is from the Probation Department
to do gang intervention and to prevent juvenile delinquency. And if you look at the
statistics for the last fifteen years, juvenile arrests have decreased despite the fact that the
population has increased. (Figure 4.12, 4.13) That’s partly because such programs like ours
are effective.” said by Michelle Freridge, who is the current Executive Director of AYC.
177

174
“Ken Tcheng and Michelle Freridge, Asian Youth Center, San Gabriel,” Gum Saan Journal, Volume 37, No.1
(Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2015), 33.
175
2012 AYC Annual Report (Fiscal Year July 1, 2011-June 30, 2012),
https://www.asianyouthcenter.org/uploads/1/0/0/8/100874474/anualreport.pdf.
176
2017 AYC Annual Report (Fiscal Year July 1, 2016-June 30, 2017),
https://www.asianyouthcenter.org/uploads/1/0/0/8/100874474/2017_ayc_annual_report_-
_short_web.pdf.
177
“Interview with President Ken Tcheng and Executive Director Michelle Freridge,” Gum Saan Journal,
Volume 37, No.1 (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, 2015), 35.

70

Figure 4.12: Number of Children (ages 11-13 and 14-17) in LA County, 1998-2015. Source: California Dept. of
Finance, Race/Ethnic Population with Age and Sex Detail, 1990-1999, 2000-2010, 2010-2060; U.S. Census
Bureau, Current Population Estimates, Vintage 2015 (Jun. 2016), https://www.kidsdata.org/topic/34/child-
population-age/Trend#fmt=141&loc=2,364&tf=1,84&ch=1082,1083,79&pdist=6.

Figure 4.13: Number of juvenile felony arrests per 1,000 youth ages 10-17. Source: California Dept. of Justice,
Arrest Data; California Dept. of Finance, Race/Ethnic Population with Age and Sex Detail, 1990-1999, 2000-
2010, 2010-2060 (Oct. 2016), https://www.kidsdata.org/topic/165/juvenilearrest-rate/
trend#fmt=2332&loc=364,2&tf=1,84.

4.2.6 San Gabriel Square
140 West Valley Boulevard, San Gabriel
San Gabriel Square is a twelve-acre, 220,000-square-foot multi-level mall with
Spanish-style tile roofs, near the junction of Alhambra, San Gabriel, Rosemead, and
Monterey Park. (Figure 4.14) It is currently one of the most famous Chinese community
shopping malls in the San Gabriel Valley. It successfully integrates businesses (super

71
market, jewelry store, skin care store, etc.), Asian food stores (traditional Chinese food,
Korean food, Chinese Bakery, Boba shop, etc.), and leisure services (hair and nail salons,
spa, etc.). It is well known to Chinese immigrants, students, and visitors. “San Gabriel
Square is the only Asian shopping area big enough to make you forget that you're actually
in America.”
178

Figure 4.14: View of San Gabriel Square. Source: http://chineselikela.com/idea/story/11252/.

The site on which the San Gabriel Square was built was previously occupied by a 50-
year-old Edwards Drive-in Theatre. (Figure 4.15) On weekends and holidays, residents
could drive with family and friends to enjoy a movie in their car. It is a sweet memory for
them. After the news that the theatre was about to be demolished, the people hoped the
city government would transform it into a park. As more and more people from Taiwan,
Hong Kong, mainland China, and other Asian countries migrated to the San Gabriel Valley
and effectively stimulated the local economy, the San Gabriel city government approved the
construction of the San Gabriel Square project. It was hoped that the square would take
advantage of the purchasing power of new immigrants.

178
San Gabriel Square,” accessed March 15, 2018, http://goldsea.com/Parenting/Malls/sgs.html.

72

Figure 4.15: Edwards San Gabriel Drive-in Theater. Source: Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection,
http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/DoSearch?index=z&databaseID=968&terms=0000027875.

The square was designed by Chinese American architect Simon Lee in 1988 and
completed in 1990. Simon Lee is a member of American Institute of Architects. Among his
significant works are Hing Wa Lee Jewelers San Gabriel (San Gabriel City Design Award 2014), Las
Vegas Chinatown (1995), Dr. Edmund Lo’s Medical Plaza (City of Alhambra Design Award).
179
In
order to carefully preserve the long-established and large-scale palm trees, workers
uprooted them, stored them at the construction site, and then planted them back after the
completion of the bulldozing. The most significant feature of the design concept of the San
Gabriel Square is “separation of people and vehicles”. The general shopping mall
construction concept is to allocate four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of retail space.
All businesses in San Gabriel Square are close to each other and completely separated from
the parking lot. Customers can enjoy the multi-shopping consumer experience once they

179
“Our Project,” Simon Lee & Associates Architects, accessed March 15, 2018, http://slarch.com/our-
projects/.

73
get out of their cars, eliminating the need for multiple parking. There are 1,000 parking
spaces on the ground and 200 parking spaces on two levels underground.
180

The most attractive shop in San Gabriel Square is the 99 Ranch Market ( 大華超級市
場, Tawa Supermarket), which is one of a Taiwanese American supermarket chain owned
by Tawa Supermarket Inc. In Little Saigon, Westminster, Roger Chan, a Taiwanese
American opened his first market in 1984.
181
It is now “the largest Asian supermarket chain
in the United States with over fifty store locations in California, Nevada, Texas, Washington
State, New Jersey and Oregon.”
182
The 99 Ranch Market in San Gabriel Square is a
significant employer in the City of San Gabriel. According to the City’s 2014 Comprehensive
Annual Financial Report, 99 Ranch Market was the second largest employer in the city,
which hired 175 employees of different ethnic groups.
183
99 Ranch Market is also very
passionate about charity. Tawa Charitable Foundation was established in 2007 in Buena
Park, California, which sponsored many non-profit organizations, charitable activities,
cultural activities, and community activities. It supported “Feeding America” by making
food/grocery donations regularly with an average of over 10,000 pounds given monthly,
supported Toys for Tots Foundation during the Holiday season in 2015, is a long-time
partner of Asian Youth Center, supports the KTSF blood drive, sponsored the Mother's Day
Children’s Drawing Contest 2018, and sponsored the 2018 San Gabriel Lunar New Year
Celebration, etc.
184

180
Peter Y. Hong, “In San Gabriel, a Refined Chinatown Springs from Success,” Los Angeles Times, September
20, 1997, http://slarch.com/principal-simon-lee-aia/; CLLA, “San Gabriel Valley: From the Drive-in Theatre
to the most popular shopping mall,” March 11, 2016, http://chineselikela.com/idea/story/11252/.
181
Hank Pellissier, “99 Ranch Market,” The New York Times, May 21, 2011,
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/us/22bcintel.html.
182
“About us,” accessed March 21, 2018, https://www.99ranch.com/about-us.
183
“City of San Gabriel Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,” June 30, 2014,
http://www.sangabrielcity.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/785, 131.
184
“Tawa Charitable Foundation in Buena Park, California (CA),” accessed March 30, 2018,
http://www.nonprofitfacts.com/CA/Tawa-Charitable-Foundation.html; “Join Feeding America’s Hunger
Action Month!” September 27, 2017, https://www.99ranch.com/blog/2017/09/join-feeding-america’s
-hunger-action-month!--; “99 Ranch Market’s Christmas Miracle- Toys for Tots Program,” November 6, 2015,
https://99ranch.com/blog/2015/11/99-ranch-market’s-christmas-miracle--toys-for-tots-program!; “99
Ranch Market Proudly Supports the KTSF Blood Drive,” December 14, 2017,
https://www.99ranch.com/blog/2017/12/99-ranch-market-proudly-supports-the-ktsf-blood-drive;
99 Ranch Market Award Ceremony for Mother’s Day Children’s Drawing Contest,” May 23, 2018,
https://www.99ranch.com/blog/2018/05/99-ranch-market-award-ceremony-for-mother’s-day-children’s-
drawing-contest-.

74
In addition, there are two significant restaurants located in San Gabriel Square: Sam
Woo BBQ ( 三和燒臘) and Five Star Seafood Restaurant ( 半島海鮮酒家). Sam Woo BBQ is a
Hong Kong style delicatessen chain. The first store was opened in 1979 in Los Angeles
Chinatown by the Cheung family. The delicatessen that is in San Gabriel Square is very
popular for its dim sum ( 點心, traditional Chinese steamed buns) and roasting ducks and
pigs.
185
Five Star Seafood Restaurant opened in the 1990s, offering authentic dim sum and
fresh seafood. These two restaurants are both highly important for Hong Kong people and
Cantonese because dim sum as breakfast is kind of a routine for them. They always
maintain this tradition even in other countries. Therefore, there are many customers
waiting in line outside these two restaurants especially on holidays.

4.2.7 Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple ( 佛光山西來寺)
3456 Glenmark Drive, Hacienda Heights
Hsi Lai Temple was inaugurated in 1988 and is one of the largest and most famous
Buddhist temples in the Western Hemisphere, and a landmark project of Buddhism
propagation in the West. “The Hsi Lai Temple sits atop a 15-acre land parcel situated about
20 miles east of Los Angeles. Here, buildings which offer more than 102,000 square feet of
interior space remain faithful to the traditional Ming (1368–1644 C.E.) and Qing Dynasty
(1644–1911 C.E.) style of architecture.”
186
It represents Chinese culture and arts in a very
strong way. The gardens, courtyard and statues echo the style of ancient Chinese
monasteries. (Figure 4.16 and 4.17)

185
Clarissa Wu, “Roasted Ducks and Cantonese BBQ at Sam Woo,” June 20, 2013,
https://www.kcet.org/food/roasted-ducks-and-cantonese-bbq-at-sam-woo.
186
Hsi Lai Temple Information Brochure, accessed February 20, 2018, 1.

75

Figure 4.16: Hsi Lai Temple Gateway. Photo by author.

Figure 4.17: Hsi Lai Temple Courtyard. Photo by author.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun ( 星雲大師) is the founder of Hsi Lai Temple. He was
born in Jiangsu, China and became a monk when he was only twelve years old. He went to
Taiwan in the spring of 1949 and founded Fo Guang Shan, means Buddha's Light Mountain,
in 1967. Fo Guang Shan is Taiwan's largest Buddhist temple, encompassing over 370 acres.

76
It also has the largest number of Buddhists in Taiwan. It is the most prestigious Buddhist
holy site. Under his leadership, Fo Guang Shan has built more than 200 Buddhist temples
around the world: mainland China, North America, Australia, and Africa. Hsi Lai Temple is
one of them. So that is why the full name of this temple is Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple.
The chartered name for this temple is The International Buddhist Progress Society (IBPS),
which shows on a tablet of the temple gateway in English. IBPS is a non-profit organization
from Taiwan.
“Hsi Lai” means "coming west,” “the name Hsi Lai signifies the dedication of the Fo
Guang Shan Buddhist Order to spreading the teachings of the Buddha to the Western
Hemisphere.”
187
For those who are interested in Chinese culture and Buddhism, or who
seek answer to problems in their lives, Hsi Lai Temple is always a right place for them. It
serves as a spiritual and information center for anyone, regardless of race, gender, age and
beliefs. “Its objectives are to propagate Buddhism through cultural activities to nurture
Buddhist missions through education, to benefit society through charitable programs, and
to edify the populace through Buddhist practices. The working motto of its members is to
give others confidence, convenience, hope, and joy.”
188

From the preparation for the establishment of the Hsi Lai Temple to the construction
of it, the temple experienced many setbacks and challenges in those twelve years,
especially from the residents of different races and beliefs in the Hacienda Heights
community. In 1978, Venerable Tzu Chuang and Yi Hang were instructed by Venerable
Master Hsing Yun to go to the U.S. and plan to build the temple. According to the law in
America, regulations for constructing a temple required 20,000 signatures and assessment
through public hearing.
In the first five years, monks decided to service the community instead of
propagating the Dharma, resolving spiritual problems for Chinese residents in Los Angeles.
Day by day, Fo Guang Shan received more and more support of many people. They chose
Hacienda Heights to build the temple. However, due to cultural barriers, local residents
rejected the project and express their dissatisfaction. Some of them, in various background,

187
Hsi Lai Temple information brochure, accessed February 20, 2018, 2.

188
Ibid.

77
make large banners stand together along main road. The banners said “Idols Are False
Gods. Idol-worshippers sin against the True God. They will perish with their idols” “The
LORD GOD is the ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD. He Tolerates No Rival Gods.”
189
(Figure 4.18)
To help them understand Buddhism, monks invited them to eat and chat together,
explained Buddhism and Chinese culture. They never stopped this effort. Six public
hearings and more than 100 coordination meetings were held to break the ice. The
application of building the temple was approved by the County of Los Angeles in 1983, and
the construction started in 1986. (Figure 4.19, 4.20) In the meantime, monks performed
many public service activities such as disaster relief, free clinic services, street cleaning,
free food for the homeless, etc. The local residents' doubt turned into trust and the voice of
opposition subsided gradually.

189 “
About Hsi Lai Temple- 西來寺建寺之歷程,” YouTube video, 18:44, posted by Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple
佛光山西來寺, April 6,2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_nRNDf_u0g&t=132s.

Figure 4.18: People are holding banners saying, “Idols are false gods” and “The lord god is the one and
only true god,” Source: “About Hsi Lai Temple- 西來寺建寺之歷程,” YouTube video, 18:44, posted by Fo
Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple 佛光山西來寺, April 6,2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_nRNDf_u0g&t=132s, screenshot by author.

78

Figure 4.19: The steel structure of temples. Source: The Dharma Coming West 25 Years: Hsi Lai Temple 25
th

Anniversary Commemoration, 2013, 35.

Figure 4.20: Hsi Lai Temple under construction. Source: The Dharma Coming West 25 Years: Hsi Lai Temple
25
th
Anniversary Commemoration, 2013, 24.

Hsi Lai Temple places great importance on community service and localization
development. During every Chinese New Year’s Festival, the local community of Hacienda
Heights is welcomed by Hsi Lai Temple to celebrate the New Year and experience
traditional Chinese culture such as calligraphy, tea-tasting, Chinese drums, rock painting,
and so on. Over 400 people attend every year.
190
May 2 is the National Day of Prayer. Hsi

190
“Hsi Lai Temple’s Neighborhood Party--Passing on Buddha’s Light and Love,” accessed March 10, 2018,
http://www.hsilai.org/en/NewsAlbum/2017/02/02182017B.php.

79
Lai Temple was invited by the Pomona Valley Hospital and Medical Center to participate in
various religious such as Judaism, Islam and Christianity blessings organized by the
hospital. Dr. Frank Munoz of Pomona Hospital said this blessing event was organized in the
hope of reducing the mental and physical suffering of the people through the praying of
various religions.
191
Every winter, nearly 200 homeless were treated to a warm dinner at
Hsi Lai Temple. Social activities called “Feed the Homeless” have been held for many years
in cooperation with the East San Gabriel Valley Coalition and St. John Vianney Catholic
Church.
192

In addition to the celebration of traditional Chinese festivals, the temple also pays
equal attention to inviting all kinds of people to come to the temple in traditional western
festivals. Children from different ethnic experience happy Halloween adventure at Hsi Lai
Temple, asking for candy every year. Hsi Lai Temple joins the annual Independence Day
parade put on by Hacienda Heights for over thirty years. In addition, the temple opens as a
voting station for national or regional elections, and provides space for schools and
organizations to hold club social events. Hsi Lai Temple offers multi-language classes on
weekends, such as meditation classes, Dharma classes, and Chinese classes. Practicing
events like Buddhism seminars, one-day meditation in English and tea meditation are held
regularly. Hsi Lai Temple cares for the growth of the next generation, providing featured
classes of interests and after school programs for children and students.
The Fo Guang Yuan Hsi Lai Art Gallery in the temple complex opened in 2002. In
addition to the permanent exhibition of Buddhist heritage in the gallery, special exhibitions
of different themes and artists are held in the artist's exhibition area such as Taiwanese
artist Chung Chia-Hui's bronze sculptures and oil painting, Floral Arrangement Exhibition,
Emi Motokawa Painting Exhibition, and so on.
193
Hsi Lai Temple also has several
exhibitions and activities that are not only popular with adults, but also are enjoyed by
children. More importantly, the temple seeks interaction with visitors. For example, during
the World Candy Wonderland Exhibition, staff of the temple asked children questions

191
“Hsi Lai Temple prays for the sick and medical staff at the National Day of Prayer,” accessed March 10,
http://www.hsilai.org/tc/news/2018/05022018A.php.
192 “
Feed the Homeless,” accessed February 24, 2018, http://www.hsilai.org/tc/news/2018/01282018B.php.

193
The Dharma Coming West 25 Years: Hsi Lai Temple 25
th
Anniversary Commemoration, ed. Huizhu Zhou
(Hacienda Heights: Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple, 2013),112.

80
about those candies, and if they answer correctly, they received the corresponding candies
such as Twizzlers, Ferrero Rocher, coconut candy etc. Hsi Lai Temple does a great job
connecting the local community. This is quite different from temples in China, due to the
different culture background. In China, monks rarely appear in the eyes of people and
communicate with others. Temples are just places for people to visit and worship the
Buddha. They are not providing more services to the community. But connecting to the
local community is very important in the United States. Hsi Lai Temple has fully
understood the national conditions of the United States and was able to assimilate into the
community culture quickly. After more than thirty years of development, the contact with
the community has become more and more close, gaining the recognition and love of local
people. Hsi Lai Temple was not only a Buddhist Temple, a place that people come to learn
Buddhism, worship the Buddha and Bodhisattva and pray, but also a place for people to
gather together to celebrate, to share feelings, and to spread blessings and happiness.

81
Chapter 5
Significance, Challenges and Recommendations

In the previous chapter, several landmarks with potential heritage value are
reviewed to show their important meaning to the Chinese communities in the San Gabriel
Valley. While the overall status of heritage conservation practice in the San Gabriel Valley is
uneven many cities earned failing grades according to the Los Angeles Conservancy
Preservation Report Card, there are some specific steps that could be taken to better serve
and preserve the landmarks mentioned above. In this chapter, the general answer to these
questions will be answered: why it is significant to preserve these landmarks, what are the
difficulties of doing so, and what should be done to better facilitate the practice of cultural
heritage conservation?

5.1 Significance in History Research and Cultural Heritage Conservation
According to writer Rebecca Solnit, “Culture is not only economically beneficial to
cities; in a deeper sense, it’s what cities are for. A city without poets, painters and
photographers is sterile…”
194
The San Gabriel Valley is a special area with colorful historic
layers, telling stories of people of different ethnic groups in various eras. It is a valuable
source of information about the process of local development, and a reference for
forecasting future change. Cultural heritage assets, as the direct media that hold the
information, have the magic to gather people, bring recognition of culture, provide a sense
of link with the past, and bestow upon the city an identity with cultural richness and
diversity. In a way, the proposed landmarks in the previous chapter are examples of
cultural heritage assets: “historic businesses, nonprofits, and other types of institutions
that contribute to the city’s cultural identity.”
195
Only by researching the history and
culture of the San Gabriel Valley can residents, cities, and communities be fully aware of the
value of these resources.

194
San Francisco Heritage, “San Francisco’s Living History: Strategies for Conserving Cultural Heritage
Assets,” September 2014, https://www.sfheritage.org/Cultural-Heritage-Assets-Final.pdf, 3.
195
Ibid, 37.

82
When a minority ethnic enclave or mid-to-low income community and urban
development are in conflict, typically the development interests prevail. The Old Chinatown
in Los Angeles is a heartbreaking example. In May 1931, an evacuation order from the
California Supreme Court was issued for the Old Chinatown and it was completely erased
from the map to make space for Union Station.
196
Although the New Chinatown and China
City were built nearby, the value and significance of Old Chinatown and the loss of
historical and cultural ethnic enclaves is a tough lesson for city planners, stakeholders,
business owners, community members, and preservationists alike.
Although the San Gabriel Valley is totally different from the Old Chinatown in Los
Angeles, and the preservation environment and legal context are much friendlier than
nearly 100 years ago, it is still important to research its unique history. It is the
responsibility of historians, scholars, and preservationists to reveal the evolution process,
the development over time, and the many forces that shape the place. Meanwhile, the
results of this historical research should be publicized to let everyone in the community
know.
However, being able to identify historic resources and recognize the value of them is
just the first step in a successful preservation plan. This process should begin within the
community, sharing their local knowledge and guiding the work of professionals and
planners. This bottom-up process would maximize the potential of community and really
let every resident take part in the preservation of their heritage in their own community.
When it comes to the ultimate question of why these landmarks should be
preserved, usually there is not a universal direct answer, but there are answers reflected by
the actions of community members. Although they may not be familiar with preservation,
some of them care deeply about the heritage they own. In 2013, there was a project
proposal in Pasadena to build a 375-room, seven-story hotel building and a 150-room,
three- to five-story hotel with restaurants and a retail store on the ground floor and
subterranean parking lot nearby. There were other properties and businesses around it,
including the F. Suie One Co. The owner Leslee Leong and her husband went to a project

196
Bridging the Centuries: History of Chinese Americans in southern California (Los Angeles: Chinese Historical
Society of Southern California, 2001), 16-17, 23.

83
scoping meeting sponsored by the City of Pasadena and raised their concern about the
noise, dust, and vibrations that could harm the museum-quality store stock, as well as the
impact that building subterranean parking might have on their historic building’s
foundation. City Planner Jose Jimenez said, “One element we always forget is we don’t live
here, that’s why we invite the public, [to] let us know what we missed.”
197

The plan was approved with input from neighbors in 2016 and the store and its
historic building remain intact.
198

In a nutshell, there is no better answer to this “why” question than the English
writer and art critic John Ruskin gave us:
Therefore, when we build, let us think that we build for ever. Let it not be for
present delight, nor for present use alone; let it be such work as our descendants
will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come
when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and
that men will say as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, “See!
this our fathers did for us.” For, indeed, the greatest glory of a building is not in its
stones, or in its gold. Its glory is in its Age.
199

Conservation is not only for builders in the past, but also for users and admirers in
the future. The San Gabriel Valley is a place with multiple historic layers and each layer has
its own characteristics like ethnic groups, lifestyle, social status, economic condition, etc. As
an area with a not-too-long history of development, it is the responsibility of people that
are living—the current generation—to preserve valuable uniqueness and pass it onto the
next generation. After all, generation by generation, we are all pages in history that will be
turned in a blink of eye. Only by the preservation of these chapters of heritage can future
readers know the many stories of their communities.

197
Rachel Young, “Planned 7-Story Hotel Complex at Hill and Colorado Draws Fire,” November 8, 2013,
http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/planned-seven-story-hotel-complex-at-hill-and-colorado-raises-
worries/; David M. Reyes, “Planning & Community Development Department Staff Report,” July 11, 2017,
https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2017/07/2017-07-11-Design-Commission-
1336-1348-1347-1365-E.-Colorado-Blvd.-Staff-report.pdf.
198
Eddit Rivera, “Two-Hotel Colorado Hill Development Approved by Planning Commission Wednesday
Night,” July 28, 2016, http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/two-hotel-colorado-hill-development-approved-
by-planning-commission-wednesday-night/#.WxmNfVMvz-Y.
199
Norman Tyler, Ted J. Ligibel and Ilene R. Tyler, Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History,
Principles, and Practice (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009), 7.

84
5.2 Challenges in Cultural Heritage Conservation in the SGV
Cultural heritage resources and assets in the San Gabriel Valley are complicated.
First, there is a lack of top-down preservation infrastructure in many cities in the San
Gabriel Valley. Few cities have rules or ordinances to direct their preservation programs,
and some do not have a dedicated preservation commission. In some cases, preservation
professionals do not sit on the preservation commissions that do exist. Citywide or regional
surveys either do not exist or have not been completed, so many historic resources have
not even been identified, let alone conserved.
Although the San Gabriel Valley serves as the Chinese “ethnic suburbs,” these ethnic
enclaves do not have a long history. Most of the cities and communities in the San Gabriel
Valley have been majority-Chinese places only in recent decades. The second challenge for
preservation in ethnic enclaves like the San Gabriel Valley is that its significance lies not
only in the design and history of the architecture itself, but also more in ethnic recognition,
social value and cultural meaning.
200
It is satisfying to see a valuable business opened in a
building with significant historic value, but most of the time, both will not exist at the same
time. For example, the Golden Age Village in Monterey Park has important meaning to the
local Chinese community as a civic-service offering to senior citizens, but the design of the
building itself is not significant enough to put it on a list of architectural landmarks. This
point needs to be recognized as a top priority in directing preservation practice in this area.
Third, real-life financial problems can result from taxation and the local economic
context. Some sites of historic merit are owned or used by non-profit organizations, with
most of the funds coming from government funding, contributions, and donations, and they
are at risk for unexpected financial problems from housing rent or holding costs. Their
business model limits their sources of funding. In addition, the cities in this area are still
developing quickly, and some sites may be vulnerable to displacement, especially when
they are in a poor financial state.
Last but not least, overall awareness of preservation and recognition of local historic
value in this area has not been fully raised yet. In general, when people come to a place to

200
Manami Kamikawa, “Historic Preservation in Ethnic Enclaves: Four Chinatown Case Studies,” Master
Thesis, Columbia University, 200.

85
settle down, the historical value of the place is not their first thought, or even worse, it may
not be considered at all. The San Gabriel Valley has been filling with Chinese immigrants for
decades, and although the overall education level of the group is rising, an awareness of
local history among newly arrived immigrants cannot be taken for granted. Chinese people
traditionally respect history, however, the San Gabriel Valley is the new home to
immigrants and the Chinese communities have formed relatively recently. Lack of
education, research, and/or the advertisement of historic resources could inhibit the
awareness and recognition of local history, thereby challenging potential conservation
practice.

5.3 Recommendations on Conservation Improvement
Preservation of cultural sites without a very long history can be difficult, especially
those of a minority ethnic group that has recently become the majority. Initiating a
successful conservation plan remains a long-term goal. Faced with the problems and
challenges mentioned above, in this section, recommendations will be given into four
categories:
1) Development of conservation infrastructure: ordinances and policies; and
2) Establishment of a detailed cultural heritage inventory: identification,
documentation and designation; and
3) Effective incentives and other support for implementation: taxation, financial and
other technical support; and
4) Development of education and tourism to foster conservation awareness and
create economic benefits, ultimately creating a conservation-friendly community.

5.3.1 Conservation Ordinance, Policy, and Commissions
Ordinances and rules are fundamental, compulsory regulations and effective
references to direct and regulate preservation activities. Without legal foundations, it is
hard to guarantee the effect of conservation efforts just by awareness and moral standards.
In addition, if there is no preservation commission established, or related functionality and
responsibility statement in an existing department, it will be difficult to allocate resources
to administer preservation work on an official basis.

86
a. Develop conservation ordinances. Many cities in the San Gabriel Valley are just
beginning to develop conservation ordinances or have not started yet, such as Alhambra,
Arcadia, Diamond Bar, El Monte, Rosemead, Temple City, while some cities are good
examples like Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Gabriel, San Marino, Walnut, etc.
Conservation ordinances serve as the basic framework for directing historic preservation.
As part of the conservation ordinance (also often called a “preservation ordinance” in many
cities), the local eligibility criteria of historic and cultural resources should be created,
which includes identification standards, evaluation processes, and a designation
mechanism of cultural landmarks and historic districts. More importantly, cultural heritage
should be treated differently than ordinary architectural preservation for its particularity.
Meanwhile, mandatory requirements of maintenance, prohibited work and relevant
penalties should be specified in the ordinance.
201
Although the specific goals and methods
differ from community to community, and resources and strategies vary from one site to
another, an ordinance will provide a community with guidelines and standards to enhance
preservation, from identification, designation, and protection of what is important.
b. Enhance historic context statements and insert conservation policies in
local development plan. The historic context statement is used to clarify a certain area,
time span, and theme in the preservation practice of documenting historic resources. It
marks the beginning and boundaries of any heritage conservation work as it parallels
fundamental research work and relevant information gathering. For example, in 2012, the
San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission carried out a recommendation that social
and cultural heritage themes should be accounted for in all City-sponsored historic context
statements of in the future.
202
In 2014, this was formalized in the Preservation Element of
San Francisco’s General Plan which is a “comprehensive planning document that guides
City decision-making on land use issues for public and private property.”
203
The standard

201
Architectural Resources Group, “Arcadia Historic Resources Survey,” December 1, 2016,
https://www.arcadiaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=8803; “Historic Preservation Ordinance,” September
1, 2015, http://planning.lacounty.gov/preservation/ordinance.
202
San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission, Resolution No. 0698, “Endorsing Further Exploration of
a City Program to Document, Designate, and Incentives Social and Cultural Heritage,” December 19, 2012,
http://commissions.sfplanning.org/hpcpackets/Social%20Heritage_12_5.pdf.
203
San Francisco Heritage, “San Francisco’s Living History: Strategies for Conserving Cultural Heritage
Assets,” September 2014, https://www.sfheritage.org/Cultural-Heritage-Assets-Final.pdf, 18-19.

87
definition of cultural heritage assets and protection measures were adopted by the City
Planning Department. Similarly, in 2013, a Chinese American historic context was
completed by Chattel, Inc., as part of the SurveyLA’s citywide historic context statement,
which is a “comprehensive program to identify significant historic resources” launched by
the City of Los Angeles.
204
It provided the historic context statement within the Chinese-
American community in Chinatown, Los Angeles.
205

In most of the San Gabriel Valley, similar work has not been done yet except in
Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Gabriel, Arcadia, Temple City, etc. Usually historic context
statement is the initial part of the “product” of historic resources survey, it is not strange
that there are fewer statements developed in the cities that have not finished the citywide
surveys. The basic work and information gathering for conservation would be defined
clearly if such historic context statements and detailed policies specifically on cultural
heritage were developed.
c. Establish a preservation commission or add related responsibilities and
functions to existing departments. Most cities in the research scope, except Pasadena,
South Pasadena and Walnut, do not have dedicated professional preservation commissions.
While some may have assigned the related function to their city planning departments or
planning commissions like San Marino, the situation that severely limits the ability of top-
down preservation efforts from the official level still exists. A preservation commission to
serve as the dedicated body of historic preservation experts is strongly recommended. The
commission should be comprised of experts in preservation to work along with the city
planning department to manage preservation activities. If the local community opts not to
create such a commission, the related work could be assigned to city planning department,
etc. There should be an appropriate body, whether on an official level or as independent
agency and organization, that is in charge of preservation practice and administers the
conservation program.

204
“About SurveyLA,” accessed June 10, 2018, https://preservation.lacity.org/survey.
205
Chattel, Inc., “SurveyLA Chinese American Historic Context Statement City of Los Angeles Department of
City Planning Office of Historic Resources,” September 2013,
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/2013_LAN_CityofLA_Chinese%20American%20Context.pdf.

88
5.3.2 Identification, Documentation, and Designation for Cultural Heritage Inventory
Maintaining a cultural heritage inventory is of vital importance in a community. A
successful inventory originates from a consistent procedure of identification,
documentation and designation of cultural and historic resources.
a. Conduct survey for identification. The first necessary step to identify local
cultural heritage and historic resources is a thorough professional survey, whether
community based or professionally done, to fully understand and correctly identify local
historic and cultural resources and determine the heritage that should be preserved for the
future. A survey is the first step to uncover the history, evolution, and development of a
local community. Such survey should be done by preservation consultants or by citizens in
collaboration with local government. For example, in 2010 when the preservation
ordinance of Los Angeles County had not yet been developed, the Eastside Heritage
Consortium was formed in unincorporated East Los Angeles and conducted a simple
“Survey of Important Places in East Los Angeles (SIP-ELA),” which helped identify and
evaluate important places, and helped to counteract the negative image of the area.
206
In
2016, Architectural Resources Group did a very detailed survey of Arcadia and offered
several professional suggestions to push the city’s historic preservation program
forward.
207
Some cities in the San Gabriel Valley, like Pasadena and Pomona, have finished
citywide historic resources survey and maintain an up-to-date property list. Some cities
only have done partial surveys, like San Gabriel and Arcadia. Many others have not started
a survey yet. Therefore, it is urgent to initiate the survey and identification process of
cultural heritage in the San Gabriel Valley to face the current situation of rapid and little-
regulated development, which could have critical and permanent negative consequences
for preservation.
b. Use flexible documentation methods. Cultural heritage assets documentation is
different from traditional architectural heritage documentation due to its strong cultural-
context relation, the various owners or users, as well as different preservation objectives

206
Marvelia Alpizar, “Touring Teachers Learn About East L.A. History,” March 1, 2012,
http://egpnews.com/2012/03/touring-teachers-learn-about-east-l-a-history/.
207
Architectural Resources Group, “Arcadia Historic Resources Survey,” December 1, 2016,
https://www.arcadiaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=8803.

89
and effects, etc. In a community-based preservation practice, it is inappropriate or
impractical to document such heritage in a rigid way without including consideration from
different parties. Thus, a universal tool is needed to address this problem. For example, San
Francisco’s Planning Department developed a “Social Heritage Inventory Form” for
relevant parties like government, preservation professionals, and the community to
document heritage with flexibility to demonstrate diversity in their interests and
priorities.
208
The form is derived from traditional documentation methods in California
(Primary Record or Department of Parks and Recreation Form/DPR Form) and includes
broader scope without losing standard uniformity. It has shown its value in documenting
heritage resources in Japantown, San Francisco into four types: tradition and history;
cultural property, building structures, archives; businesses; and institutions.
209
Similar
tools could be applied to the proposed cases in previous chapter. For example, F. Suie One
Co. and San Gabriel Square would be categorized as “business,” and Liu Fang Yuan and Hsi
Lai Temple can be seen as “tradition and history” and “cultural property.” The Asian Youth
Center and Golden Age Village both offer courses and social services as “institutions.” On
that basis, further steps of documentation including more details like significance, historic
context, and different considerations could be taken.
c. Develop rewarding designation programs. Designation of historic resources
and cultural heritage is not as simple as registering sites into a list of heritage. Being
designated as a heritage resource means a series of standards will be applied, requirements
must be met, responsibilities are taken, and potential threats and penalties are to be faced.
Often in practice, designation of a property as a historic site requires an owner’s consent,
or is initiated by owners, thus the preservation process would be possible only if the owner
would love to embrace preservation. Therefore, an incentive-oriented designation program
for cultural heritage, which is independent from what is written in the ordinance for
historic landmark designation, is recommended to city or county governments. The
program should cover the definition of a cultural heritage asset, the nomination process,
what the specific standards and criteria for candidate are, and what benefits it could bring.

208
San Francisco Heritage, “San Francisco’s Living History: Strategies for Conserving Cultural Heritage
Assets,” September 2014, https://www.sfheritage.org/Cultural-Heritage-Assets-Final.pdf, 17.
209
Ibid, 16-18.

90
The program guarantees equal access for designated cultural heritage assets to relevant
benefits including but not limited to “City-sponsored programs, loans, grants, fee waivers
and tax incentives.”
210
A good example is the designation of certain pubs in England as
“Assets of Community Value (ACV),” begun in 2013, in which more than 300 pubs were
designated by February 2014.
211
According to “The Assets of Community Value (England)
Regulations 2012”, buildings or property can be designated as an ACV according to its
social significance to promote its protection.
212
In London, the council provided tax
reduction, public education and encouraged co-ops of pubs, and expanded “Community
Right to Bid” to cover designated pubs, creating a six-month moratorium in order to
minimize the potential loss and eliminate restriction on final sale when they are put on the
market.
213
This kind of special treatment might be useful in the designation of cultural
heritage in the San Gabriel Valley. This type of incentive-based designation program will
encourage self-nomination from the owner and facilitate the designation process, reaching
a win-win for property owners and preservationists.

5.3.3 Preservation Incentives and Support
Cultural site preservation can be expensive and may endanger the goodwill and
finances of the property owner. In fact, many heritage sites are struggling to survive
regardless of the value and service they have brought to the communities. Heritage
businesses and nonprofit organizations are easily impacted by rising leasing rents,
displacement, surrounding environment, and city development, especially for those that do
not own their own buildings. Therefore, appropriate incentives are quite useful to

210
San Francisco Heritage, “San Francisco’s Living History: Strategies for Conserving Cultural Heritage
Assets,” September 2014, https://www.sfheritage.org/Cultural-Heritage-Assets-Final.pdf, 33.
211
“Brandon Lewis announces 100 community pubs are saved,” August 12, 2013,
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/brandon-lewis-announces-100-community-pubs-are-saved;
“CAMRA reaches 300 ACVs,” February 2014, http://www.camra.org.uk/home/-
/asset_publisher/tDH1FBadutP8/content/camra-reaches-300-acvs.
212
“The Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012,” September 2012,
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2421/pdfs/uksi_20122421_en.pdf.
213
San Francisco Heritage, “San Francisco’s Living History: Strategies for Conserving Cultural Heritage Assets,”
September 2014, https://www.sfheritage.org/Cultural-Heritage-Assets-Final.pdf, 34; Department for
Communities and Local Government, “Community Right to Bid: Non-statutory advice note for local
authorities,” October 2012,
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/14880
/Community_Right_to_Bid_-_Non-statutory_advice_note_for_local_authorities.pdf.

91
compensate owners’ expenses, providing reasonable measures to promote owner or users’
willingness and interest in preservation.
a. Public or nonprofit property ownership. Businesses and nonprofit
organizations that do not own their own property would benefit from a program where
cities or nonprofit organizations help them to buy or lease the building they wish to use.
For example, a community-based, nonprofit organization aiming to acquire properties to
facilitate preservation and community use, which is called community land trust (CLT),
could be effective. The CLTs purchase land and hold the ownership permanently, and sell
or lease the building on that piece of land to business owners or users, thus ensuring a
long-term affordability.
214
For instance, a Japantown CLT is recommended as a key role to
retract properties from fluctuating market to local community and secure long-term
control and affordability, which would help a lot in cultural-heritage preservation in
Japantown, San Francisco.
215
Similarly, some of the proposed landmarks in the San Gabriel
Valley could benefit a lot from public or community ownership. For small businesses like F.
Suie One Co., or nonprofit social services like Asian Youth Center and Golden Age Village,
the public or community ownership could secure the long-term operation and stability.
b. Tax benefits. A tax benefit program is a common method to stimulate community
to embrace preservation effort. The Mills Act Historical Property Contract Program was
enacted in 1972 in California and is administered by local municipal governments. “The
Mills Act legislation grants participating local governments (cities and counties) authority
to enter into contracts with owners of qualified historic properties who actively participate
in the restoration and maintenance of their properties to receive property tax relief.”
216

214
Joe Linton, “Community Land Trusts: An Overlooked Model for L.A. Housing Affordability,” August 3, 2017,
https://la.streetsblog.org/2017/08/03/community-land-trusts-an-overlooked-model-for-l-a-housing-
affordability/; “Community Land Trusts (CLTs),” accessed June 15, 2018, https://community-
wealth.org/strategies/panel/clts/index.html.
215
San Francisco Planning Department, “Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy,”
July 10, 2013, http://www.sf-planning.org/ftp/files/plans-and-programs/in-your-
neighborhood/japantown/JCHESS_FinalDraft_07-10-13.pdf, 59.
216
“Mills Act Historical Property Contract Program,” accessed June 15, 2018,
https://preservation.lacity.org/incentives/mills-act-historical-property-contract-program.

92
The property owner can benefit from this act from a property tax deduction by forty to
sixty percent annually.
217

In addition, there are other tax abatement examples that are useful to assist cultural
heritage business and property owner, such as no property taxes reassessment required of
a continuous designated resource transfer, tax reduction for cultural heritage related
business and equipment, payroll tax reductions, etc.
218
In New York City, the “Association
Center” was established in 1992 to offer space downtown for nonprofit organizations. It
occupied twenty floors of a thirty-four-story building finished in 1929 on Wall Street,
whose owner was exempted for property taxation, thereby the nonprofit occupants
benefited from the lower rent and potential buyers enjoyed the price below market
average, pushing the occupancy rate to 100 percent.
219
It would be an effective incentive
for independent businesses, like F. Suie One Co., to improve their overall preservation
status and bottom line by relieving their tax burden. By government or community
dominated tax relief incentives, a long-term and stable operation space for them would be
secured, which in return maximizes the usage of property and improves preservation of
cultural heritage.
c. Financial incentives and other support. Municipalities and local authorities
could offer many other incentives and support like award to encourage preservation
excellency, and waiver of parking fee, parking requirement, building permit fee, and
business to relieve burdens of owners and visitors.
For cultural heritage assets, community development corporations (CDC) could be a
comprehensive community-based organization to revitalize neighborhoods and undertake
development projects of a community. Typically, a CDC is engaged with “economic
development, real estate development and ownership, technical support, education, social
services, and organizing and advocacy activities.”
220
As a CDC established in 1979, the Little

217
Architectural Resources Group, “Arcadia Historic Resources Survey,” December 1, 2016,
https://www.arcadiaca.gov/home/showdocument?id=8803.
218
San Francisco Planning Department, “Proposal for Formal Social Heritage Resource Designations,”
November 29, 2012, http://commissions.sfplanning.org/hpcpackets/Social%20Heritage_11.29.12.pdf, 3.
219
Mervyn Rothstein, “Nonprofits' Wall St. Home Filling Up,” September 3, 1997,
https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/03/nyregion/nonprofits-wall-st-home-filling-up.html.
220
San Francisco Planning Department, “Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy,”
July 10, 2013, http://www.sf-planning.org/ftp/files/plans-and-programs/in-your-
neighborhood/japantown/JCHESS_FinalDraft_07-10-13.pdf, 58.

93
Tokyo Service Center in Los Angeles offers an inclusive list of services, including social
welfare and community development, community revitalization, and cultural preservation,
affordable housing, counseling, business assistance programs, and literacy assistance.
221
It
is recommended that a CDC could be established to promote businesses and cultural
attractions, and to improve cultural heritage preservation of the San Gabriel Square. It is
located in the center of four cities (San Gabriel, Alhambra, Monterey Park, and Rosemead)
among the top ten with highest Chinese population percentage in the San Gabriel Valley.
San Gabriel Square is a de facto center of everyday life in these Chinese communities, and a
tourist attraction for shopping and restaurants. With the establishment of a CDC, the
historic buildings and trees can be preserved better, and businesses with high cultural and
historic value can benefit from lower rent cost. Marketing practice by the CDC would
promote the value of specific buildings or even the whole district, technical and social
support could be provided for higher business efficiency and better policy understanding.
Another important tool is Community Benefit Agreements (CBA), which is “a legally
enforceable contract negotiated and executed directly between the developer and a
community coalition of neighborhood association, faith-based organizations, unions,
environmental groups, and others representing the interests of people who will be
impacted by proposed new developments.”
222
Although there is no such official agreements
between Hsi Lai Temple and Hacienda Heights, Hsi Lai Temple has been deeply rooted in
the local community by providing social service, language courses, psychological
counseling and space for public events like art exhibitions or public voting. It is suggested
that an official CBA to be developed to further detail the social responsibility that the
Temple needed to take, and clarify the benefits and rewarding it will get from the
community, in order to promote its heritage conservation.

221
“About Us: Mission,” accessed June 17, 2018, https://www.ltsc.org/about-2/.
222
David A. Marcello, “Recent Developments in Land Use, Planning and Zoning Law Community Benefit
Agreements: New Vehicle for Investment in America’s Neighborhoods,” September 18, 2007,
http://www.law.tulane.edu/assets/0/260/262/b74117ec-b5dc-4cbe-86aa-9c2b463dece4.pdf, 657.

94
5.3.4 Education and Tourism Development
The San Gabriel Valley is a special place with unique history and development,
making it more important to education and dissemination to achieve public recognition of
historic resources. Awareness of preservation, recognition of historic resources, and
acknowledgement of diversity are all top priorities before any further preservation actions.
Education and tourism development will help local community members gain pride and a
deeper understanding of their own properties and local history, and will also open a
window not only to Chinese culture, but to the broader cultural generally. It is the
responsibility not only of historians, preservationists, and government professionals, but
also of the residents themselves, to educate and advertise for a better awareness. Since the
Chinese communities in the San Gabriel Valley are not centuries but decades old, the
current and previous generations are the “history creators.” Only with education and
advertisement can we foster such awareness and pass it onto the next generations, so that
they may have, and enjoy, pride in their own cultural heritage into the future.
a. Related courses in local schools. To develop a successful preservation plan,
many cities encourage a localized history curriculum to be offered to local students,
especially high school students. For example, a curriculum focusing on African-American
history in Memphis was designed by the Memphis Heritage Trail volunteers and a local
high school teacher. The curriculum is designed for grades K-12 to help students learn
more about their local cultural heritage.
223
Similar suggestions were made in a heritage
conservation discussion in East Los Angeles, specifically, that localized history curriculum
for local high school could be offer as part of a more comprehensive preservation plan.
224

Courses including local historic layers, immigration history, development process and
related cultural heritage can be offered in schools in the San Gabriel Valley to help local
students understand the diversity and unique evolution process of their home, thereby
fostering preservation awareness, identity recognition, and cultural pride.
b. Educational programs. To promote preservation awareness among young
people, school courses alone are not enough. It is important to encourage youth to be

223
“Curriculum,” accessed June 16, 2018. http://memphisheritagetrail.com/curriculum/.
224
Laura Dominguez, “Este Lugar Si Importa: Heritage Conservation in Unincorporated East Los Angeles,”
(Master thesis University of Southern California, 2012), 6.

95
involved in local heritage conservation through educational programs and tourism
development, such as traditional skill training, walking tours, action camps, and after-
school language courses. For example, youth-led walking tours in Chinatown, San Francisco
is proven to be effective in fostering leadership skills and cultural pride in students, as well
as promoting local cultural heritage and history. It was introduced as the “Alleyway Tours”
program in 2011 by the Chinatown Community Development Center, a CDC of Chinatown.
Students who led this tour opened another window for tourists on Chinatown’s history and
culture, something that is not part of the traditional visitor experience.
225

When it comes to the San Gabriel Valley, such volunteering tour programs are
practical at some proposed landmarks like Liu Fang Yuan and Hsi Lai Temple, which
cultivate skills and cultural recognition for young people, and also promote the local
cultural heritage assets and tourists’ experience.
c. Tourism programs. Tourism is an emerging leader in neighborhood
revitalization, heritage conservation and sustainability. Literally, “cultural heritage tourism
involves visiting places that are significant to the past or present cultural identity of a
particular group of people.”
226
More formally, the National Trust for Historic Preservation
defines cultural heritage tourism as “travel to experience the places, artifacts and activities
that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present, including
cultural, historic, and natural resources.”
227
Not only could the traditional landmarks be
developed as tourists interests, but also the cultural heritage businesses and local centers
of everyday life. A successful conservation plan should include tourism development, which
is dependent on the effective cooperation between a series of parties, such as local
government, site owners and managers, travel agencies, etc. An alliance or association that
integrates local cultural heritage tourism resources could be helpful to promote and
develop a local heritage tourism program. The Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance located
in Arizona is a good example of such an organization that holistically focuses on heritage

225
“Chinatown Alleyway Tours San Francisco,” accessed June 17, 2018,
http://www.chinatownalleywaytours.org; San Francisco Heritage, “San Francisco’s Living History: Strategies
for Conserving Cultural Heritage Assets,” September 2014, https://www.sfheritage.org/Cultural-Heritage-
Assets-Final.pdf, 24.
226
Partners for Livable Communities, “Cultural Heritage Tourism,” 2014,
http://livable.org/storage/documents/reports/CBC/culturalheritagetourism.pdf, 6.
227
Ibid.

96
tourism. In collaboration with local government and business, it developed first tourism
map emphasized on heritage, promote the local characteristic businesses through featured
programs like “Heritage Foods Program” in 2013. Both local residents and tourists
benefited a lot from the program: travelers enjoyed the excellent local food, and local
business got promoted.
228

When it comes to the San Gabriel Valley, there have been no such organizations
engaged with overall regional heritage tourism development. It would be helpful to
establish such an organization to promote regional heritage tourism. By integration of
tourism resources in the San Gabriel Valley, a series of featured tourism programs could be
developed, like traditional Chinese food tours, Chinese handcraft tours, etc., to attract
tourists along with the economic potential they bring. Last but not least, a cultural heritage
tourism statement could be developed to reflect community members’ interests, getting
everyone involved in the promotion of culture-based tourism through increasing bonds
between residents and the community, thereby enhancing understanding of local history,
fostering preservation awareness and cultivating cultural pride and improving the local
economy.
229

228
“Heritage Tourism,” accessed June 17, 2018, http://www.santacruzheritage.org/heritagetourism.
229
Partners for Livable Communities, “Cultural Heritage Tourism,” 2014,
http://livable.org/storage/documents/reports/CBC/culturalheritagetourism.pdf, 28.

97
Conclusion

“Conservation shapes the society in which it is situated, and in turn, it is shaped by
the needs and dynamics of that society.”
230
Although the Chinese population has been
dominant in some cities in the SGV for about only three decades, Chinese culture has
shaped the SGV to a large extent. However, not enough scholarship and practices on
Chinese cultural heritage conservation were dedicated to this area. To raise public concern
and foster conservation awareness of Chinese cultural heritage in the SGV, this paper
provided historical and geographical perspective on Chinese immigration and the SGV
development, demonstrating the change happened beyond established Chinatowns in Los
Angeles and many other cities.
Through the research process, several landmarks with Chinese cultural and
community value have been identified and proposed as examples of cultural heritage
landmarks in the SGV. To present exceptional importance and particularity of cultural
heritage conservation, multiple types are evaluated, from business, education, religion,
social service, and Chinese cultural landmarks. Currently, they may not be eligible to be
designated as historic landmarks because of their short history, or they do not meet the
criteria of architectural significance. Challenges and problems are presented and
summarized, such as the lack of top-down preservation infrastructure. The Chinese cultural
heritage in the SGV is characterized by shorter history but stronger significance, which
brought a second challenge. After all, it is a whole new field for conservation where original
designation standards and traditional preservation methods are only partially applicable.
Moreover, real world economical challenge from taxation, economic context, and specific
financial hardship could result in displacement and business interruption. Finally, there is
still much space to improve the overall awareness of preservation and recognition of
cultural value locally, especially of Chinese cultural heritage.
Why should we preserve and how to develop a successful conservation plan of
Chinese cultural landmarks in such a particular place are the ultimate questions that thesis
is trying to answer or to raise for broader attention and more consideration. Possible and

230
The Getty Conservation Institute, “Values and Heritage Conservation Research Report,” 2000,
https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/valuesrpt.pdf, 3.

98
practical recommendations for better preservation are what this paper is intended to
achieve. The significance of preservation lies in the community value, and the attention and
concern that are raised within the community. It is for builders in the past, users at present,
and admirers in the future.
The recommendations to promote conservation are categorized into four aspects:
Infrastructure such as conservation ordinances, policy, and commissions; cultural heritage
inventory with tailored identification, documentation, and designation programs; adequate
preservation incentives like property ownership aid, tax benefits, and other financial
support; and education and tourism support including related courses, educational
programs, and heritage tourism.
Indeed, the discussion in this thesis is far from enough. For example, there is not a
fully developed historic context statement for Chinese in the SGV that is deep and
comprehensive enough; the discussion is limited to several cities with large Chinese
population percentages rather than the whole area; and the intangible Chinese cultural
heritage like festival events, crafts, etc., that has not been considered. Further research or
consideration could be focused on these aspects. Last but not least, a successfully
conservation plan should always deal with a series of question: Who shall lead and join the
conservation work? What are the cultural heritage assets to be preserved? How exactly to
improve the conservation? By clarifying the answers, a community-based, government-
lead, and incentive-directed comprehensive conservation plan for Chinese American
cultural heritage in the San Gabriel Valley could be developed, and public concern and
awareness could be further improved.

99
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The San Gabriel Valley (SGV) is home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese Americans in the United States. It is a place with colorful historic layers: witness to Spanish-Mexican exploration and colonization, the San Gabriel Mission, American ranch and farm businesses, booming cities and maturing infrastructure, growing cultural richness, and demographic changes. The Chinese community now plays an increasingly important role in many cities in the SGV, creating landmarks with high cultural value but not necessarily long history. These significant places are also linked historically to the established Chinatown in Los Angeles, another major Chinese enclave in the United States. ❧ This thesis aims to identify Chinese cultural heritage landmarks in the SGV and offer conservation recommendations, through a review of Chinese immigration history in the greater Los Angeles area, an exploration of the evolution of the San Gabriel Valley, an assessment of overall conservation conditions, and an analysis of the significance of proposed cultural landmarks. The purpose of this thesis is not just to simply propose landmarks for conservation consideration, but to try to provide a unique perspective to address the particularity of cultural heritage conservation of more recent Chinese cultural landmarks in the SGV, summarizing the challenges and possible solutions based on existing practice.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Shi, Liangdi (author)

Core Title Beyond Chinatown: identifying significant Chinese cultural landmarks in the San Gabriel Valley

School School of Architecture

Degree Master of Heritage Conservation

Degree Program Heritage Conservation

Publication Date 07/29/2018

Defense Date 06/27/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Chinese immigration,cultural landmark,Heritage Conservation,OAI-PMH Harvest,regional history,San Gabriel Valley

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sandmeier, Trudi (committee chair), Bharne, Vinayak (committee member), Bosley, Ted (committee member)

Creator Email liangdis@usc.edu,lilephany1990@hotmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-40020

Unique identifier UC11668703

Identifier etd-ShiLiangdi-6549.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-40020 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ShiLiangdi-6549.pdf

Dmrecord 40020

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Shi, Liangdi

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA