Boston has the third largest Chinatown in the United States, yet it’s only the country’s 23rd largest city. Its Chinatown is also the only surviving historic ethnic Chinese community in New England since Chinatowns in Providence, Rhode Island and Portland, Maine vanished in the 1950s. But like Providence’s and Portland’s Chinatowns, Boston’s Chinatown is being threatened by rising housing costs, redevelopment, and gentrification. Organizations like the Chinese Progressive Association are trying to save and preserve Boston’s Chinatown for generations to come.
Meanwhile, Boston ranks third in the United States in its number of foreign students attending the areas many prestigious colleges and universities, with Chinese students making up the biggest percentage. This has led to many thriving Chinese student organizations, like the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association.
Get ready to be “in the know” about Boston’s Chinese communities.