Chinese in Niagara Falls ON

As my reader, you already know that the spiraling theme in this blog is that of my experiences in Niagara Falls’ Chinatown. Author B.J. Neblett opines about the influence of experience: “We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences – be they positive or negative – make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives.” I agree and emphasize that experience is idiosyncratic and becomes further tempered with memory. Here are few threads teased from my mesh of experience in a quest for understanding. From 1952 to 1971, I lived in Niagara Falls’ Chinatown. Was it Chinatown because that’s where I saw many Chinese reside, shop for Chinese foodstuffs and socialize or was it due to the egocentricity of being a child? Young children often believe that the world revolves around them and being Chinese, I might have taken-for-granted the place where I lived was indeed the centre of Chinese life. At the time, I know I did not believe this to be true:...