Taipei, Taiwan, December 2017: Mom pouring me a cup of tea in our home in Taiwan after my first semester away at NYU.

Chinatown

By Shina Tsershiuan Peng (彭澤萱)

September 2018 marked my first full year in New York City, and I really missed home. All I wanted was a taste of my mother’s Taiwanese cooking, to listen to my parents speak Mandarin while I watched TV, and to smell cherry blossoms while walking back home in the spring. Chinatown became a place of solace, where I felt close to my mother, my father, and my family even though we were thousands of miles away.

I went to Chinatown every week and spoke to vendors with my broken Chinese. I would ask them if they missed their home and when they were able to go back last. But most of them told me that even if they missed where they were from, New York City was their home now. This entire neighborhood was built by Chinese immigrants who were trying to make a new life for themselves. Whether that be someone who moved 43 years ago to NYC or the fish market vendor who moved 2 years ago from Guangzhou. They built a community that could bring them back home, even if it is just a fraction of the city. And it isn’t just the people but it’s the smells – like that of the jasmine tea my mom used to brew for me when I was younger, or the herbal medicines that would fix my cold. It’s the freshly cut fruit for whenever I was hungry and the cooked fish that we had every New Years. These small details created familiarity in an unfamiliar place. And Chinatown became the place that welcomed me home.

All photographs © Shina Tsershiuan Peng

Chinatown, NYC – September 30, 2018: Many vendors also set up shop in the middle of the streets, selling food to passersby.
Chinatown, NYC – December 4th, 2018: A woman picks out oranges in front of the fish market located on Walker Street.
Chinatown, NYC – December 4th, 2018: A man holds two large bouqets of flowers as he walks down Pell and Mott Street.
Hung Kee Fish & Meat Food Market in April 2019. The wife (pictured on left) works with her husband (not pictures) at this fish shop. I started photographing at Hung Kee in October of 2018 and have visited often to continue taking their photos.
Chinatown, NYC, April 2019: A street vendor packs his umbrella to leave for the day.
China Town, NYC – April, 2019: Elderly men gather at Columbus Park to play a game of cards.
Chinatown, NYC – April, 2019: The owner of a Chinese medicinal store located in Chinatown. He said that he has lived and been in New York City for an incredibly long time.
Chinatown, NYC, Feb 2022: A shop sells grapefruits and decorations for the Chinese New Year.
Chinatown, NYC, September 2022: A man sits across Hong Kong Supermarket and has a cigarette break.
Chinatown, NYC, September 2022: Two men play traditional Chinese instruments at Columbus Park. I first photographed the man on the right in April of 2019, so when I came back to New York I was relieved to see he was alive and well, playing the same instrument as before.
Chinatown, NYC, September 2022: Street vendor selling vegetables wearing a mask. It was the first time I photographed Chinatown since returning to NYC after Covid.

Shina Tsershiuan Peng (彭澤萱) is a photographer based in Tokyo and New York City. Her work is heavily impacted by her international upbringing, focusing on themes of intersectionality and multicultural identities. She focuses on environmental portraits that celebrate the subtle beauty in everyday life.