![]() ![]() Many Chinese immigrants worked on the railroad and in mines, welcomed to the country as laborers. But here they were forced out and regulated to the margins.” “In China, they had careers in construction, agriculture, and as shop owners. ![]() They came out here for the gold rush and then had to find work,” said Wei, who teaches Chinese history and has written extensively about Chinese immigrants in Colorado. “Denver’s Chinatown was the largest in the interior West. (Denver Post archive photo via Denver Public Library Western History and Genealogy Dept.) HISTORY They play instruments that include: baritones, trombones, clarinets, and trumpets. View of a marching band in a Chinese funeral procession probably on Wazee Street in Denver, Colorado, ca. It’s a way to highlight Asian culture without, Wei said, the facade of red arches and stereotypical baubles. ![]() Instead of a tourist trap, the idea of the historical district is to showcase the past while also celebrating the future. That project will also include three new historical markers and a mural. It captures elements of a much larger effort by Wei and the Colorado Asian Pacific United (CAPU), a coalition of Asian-American and Pacific Islander leaders, creatives, and allies, to create an Asian Pacific historic district where the original Chinatown used to be in downtown Denver. The film includes interviews with Lee and Wei as well as members of Denver’s original families. “We have a much more diverse Asian Pacific American community in Colorado now, and they have the right and the ability to move throughout the state,” Wei explained. That’s because its disappearance has allowed Chinese American culture – as well as the cultures of other Asian countries – to flourish more naturally. The history of Denver’s Chinatown is nevertheless dark, but it’s also a story of resilience, and in the end, says William Wei, a history professor at the University of Colorado, it may be for the best that it exists only in memory. “It’s cool it used to exist, and, as a Chinese-American, I’m happy to be bringing to light the history of it in Denver.” Tommy Lee, owner of Hop Alley, photographed at the restaurant in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, November 1, 2022. “There are a lot of customers and people that, once they learn what the name refers to, they have that light bulb of ‘oh, we never knew,'” said Lee, who also owns Uncle, a ramen shop with locations in Washington Park and Lower Highland. Lee recognizes his restaurant’s name speaks to a calamitous past, but it also opens up conversations. But back then, it was called Hop Alley, a derogatory term that referred to the opium dens found there. “I started doing research and I found out there was actually a Chinatown in Denver.”Ĭreated in the 1860s when the first immigrants from China moved to the Colorado Territory to work on the railroads, Denver’s Chinatown ran along Wazee between 15th and 17th streets, and later expanded to include parts of Market between 15th and 20th streets. “I have lived here my entire life and I had always wondered why we didn’t have a traditional Chinatown,” said Lee, whose parents moved to Denver in the 1960s from Hong Kong. What he learned led to the eventual name of the restaurant, and then, to a lot more. Wednesday, August 9th 2023 Home Page Close Menuīefore chef Tommy Lee opened Hop Alley, a hip Chinese restaurant in Denver’s River North Art District, he delved into the history of Chinese people and culture in Colorado. ![]()
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