Tacoma's Chinese Community Welcomes the New Year
A small group of twenty-five celebrates the Lunar New Year with traditional customs, despite the lack of a formal Chinatown.
The entire Chinese population of Tacoma—twenty-five in number—made themselves known at midnight with tom-toms and horns to celebrate the Chinese New Year. While Tacoma does not have a formal Chinatown, the two dozen residents observed the holiday with the traditional custom of 'open house,' offering good cheer and dainty eatables to visitors. The celebration is set to last for several days, concluding at the end of the month.
“The entire Chinese population of Tacoma—twenty-five in number—made themselves known at midnight with their tom-toms and queerly sounding horns.”
This report highlights a period when Tacoma's Chinese population was incredibly small, a direct result of the violent expulsion of Chinese residents by city leaders and mobs in 1885. Acknowledging these twenty-five individuals is an important act of historical reclamation, as they maintained their cultural heritage in a city that had actively sought to erase them.
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