WITH THOUSANDS OF years of history behind it, the lunar new year is celebrated with too many customs to count, but a common theme is a fresh start. Chinese families traditionally give the house a good cleaning, settle their debts, give gifts of money, put aside grudges and banish evil spirits. This grand building at 2216 S. WENTWORTH needed a fresh start of its own in the late 1980s. Built in 1928 as a community center, the “city hall” of Chinatown had degenerated into a gambling den and was seized by the feds. Then along came the nearby CHINESE CHRISTIAN UNION CHURCH, which, with an infusion of money and a good cleaning, banished the evil spirits that haunted the old place and turned it back into the community center it was meant to be.
Ancestry of the building’s architects: NORWEGIAN.
Number of Chinese characters you need to know for basic literacy in the language: 3,000.
How to wish someone a happy and prosperous new year: “GUNG HAY FAT CHOY.”
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“In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gave you.”
–AUTHOR AMY TAN
