History Main / FriendlyLocalChinatown

* ''{{Entrapment}}'' - Malacca, Malaysia.
* ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies''- set in Ho Chi Minh City, filmed in Bangkok.

* {{Seattle}}'s Chinatown, like Vancouver's, hasn't really appeared in anything, but like Boston's used to have a more unsavory rep, partly due to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wah_Mee_massacre the Wah Mee Massacre]]. Of interesting note is that Chinatown isn't even very Chinese; while the largest asian population within it ''is'' Chinese, there's still a very large amount of Vietnamese and Japanese scattered within it, along with every other conceivable Asian population. Again, however, like Vancouver, there are places in Seattle which are still more asian than the Chinatown: Beacon Hill comes to mind.

* ''TheSopranos'': The New York family that Tony's feuds with hangs out in Little Italy, which is rapdily being swallowed by Chinatown in real life. The characters comment on this.

** ''{{Bones}}''

* Twice in ''{{Castle}}''. The first time, the team travels to Chinatown to infiltrate an illegal gambling club with Russian mobsters. The second time, the team clashes with a Chinese mob family when they are connected to a murder involving a cop's stolen gun.

* ''FamilyGuy'' has Asiantown.

* ''MagnumPI.'' and ''[[HawaiiFiveO Hawaii 5-0]]'' often had stories set in Honolulu's Chinatown, not the least reason being the distinctive '30s architecture and the (until recently, TruthInTelevision) dangerous and seedy reputation of the main street in Chinatown, Hotel Street. In fact, the Wo Fat building, a Chinatown landmark, had its name borrowed by ''Hawaii 5-0's'' production staff for one of their recurring villains, a [[RedChina Chinese communist agent]].

* Not quite ''BladeRunner''.

* Amy Tan uses San Francisco's Chinatown as a setting for some of her stories. Waverly in ''TheJoyLuckClub'' is named for Waverly Place. You can briefly see some Chinatown streets in the Young Waverly sequence of the film version. Mrs. Louie in ''TheKitchenGodsWife'' lives and has her flower shop there.

* ''{{MacGyver}}''

* ''[[MagnumPI Magnum, P.I.]]'' and ''[[HawaiiFiveO Hawaii 5-0]]'' often had stories set in Honolulu's Chinatown, not the least reason being the distinctive '30s architecture and the (until recently, TruthInTelevision) dangerous and seedy reputation of the main street in Chinatown, Hotel Street. In fact, the Wo Fat building, a Chinatown landmark, had its name borrowed by ''Hawaii 5-0's'' production staff for one of their recurring villains, a [[RedChina Chinese communist agent]].

** The headline in question may have been the story of Luen-chow Chan and Ai-ling Li of Kuala Lumpur, which turns up every so often in "believe it or nots". It seems that they'd been engaged while alive, but he died of cancer and she subsequently killed herself. His mother dreamed that he asked her to arrange for a ghost wedding, and she complied.

* Chinatown is an arena in ''[[BackyardSports Backyard Football]]''.

* Played with on ''TheSimpsons'' which has had at various points a Chinatown (which picks on Tibettown), a Russia-town, Little Italy, "Guidopolis", Lower West Side (read: Yiddish) and at least half a dozen nonsensical 'ethnic' towns.

* ''FamilyGuy'' has Asiantown.

* [[StargateCity Vancouver]]'s Chinatown, which probably hasn't shown up in anything, is home to the skinniest building in the world (the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Kee_Building Sam Kee Building]]). A minor point of irony is that while Chinatown is still overwhelmingly Chinese, complete with gates at some entrances and odd little medicine shops, downtown is seen as a fairly "white" part of the Greater Vancouver Area, and the City of Richmond to the south is far more predominantly Asian.

* [[{{UsefulNotes/SaoPaulo}} São Paulo]] has Bairro da Liberdade which is something like this, but with a little twist, instead of Chinese people--it has Japanese people.

* And of course SanFrancisco has the largest, oldest, and most famous Chinatown in America.
* {{Seattle}}'s Chinatown, like Vancouver's, hasn't really appeared in anything, but like Boston's used to have a more unsavory rep, partly due to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wah_Mee_massacre the Wah Mee Massacre]]. Of interesting note is that Chinatown isn't even very Chinese; while the largest asian population within it ''is'' Chinese, there's still a very large amount of Vietnamese and Japanese scattered within it, along with every other conceivable Asian population. Again, however, like Vancouver, there are places in Seattle which are still more asian than the Chinatown: Beacon Hill comes to mind.

* The San Francisco of {{Fallout}} prominently features a Chinatown, re-settled [[AfterTheEnd after the Great War]] by the crew of a Chinese submarine. It was a Chinatown before the war, too, but its inhabitants had fled or died before the Shi made landfall.

*** The headline in question may have been the story of Luen-chow Chan and Ai-ling Li of Kuala Lumpur, which turns up every so often in "believe it or nots". It seems that they'd been engaged while alive, but he died of cancer and she subsequently killed herself. His mother dreamed that he asked her to arrange for a ghost wedding, and she complied.

* An odd, apparently RippedFromTheHeadlines plot began circulating on PoliceProcedural shows in 2008 that featured the ancient (and increasingly rare) Chinese practice of "ghost brides": the family of a young man who died before getting married had a spiritual ArrangedMarriage with a deceased girl. The shows' plots revolved around the twist that whoever was arranging the ghost weddings ignored the ''deceased'' part for the prospective spiritual daughter-in-law (sadly, I have no idea what headline got this story started). Shows that used this plot:

* ''BigTroubleInLittleChina''.

* In ''{{Gremlins}}'', Randall Peltzer buys Gizmo at the Chinatown in New York. In the sequel, Daniel Clamp (a bit of a Donald Trump [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed parody]]) is buying property there to build a shopping centre.

* The 1994 film version of ''TheShadow'' - it's where Cranston meets with Shiwan after the latter sends a mind-controlled Margo to Cranston's home.

* ''TomorrowNeverDies''- set in Ho Chi Minh City, filmed in Bangkok.

** ''WithoutATrace''

WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome

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* ''LethalWeapon4''

* [[StargateCity Vancouver]]'s Chinatown, which probably hasn't shown up in anything, is home to the skinniest building in the world (the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Kee_Building Sam Kee Building]]). A minor point of irony is that while Chinatown is still overwhelmingly Chinese, downtown is seen as a fairly "white" part of the Greater Vancouver Area, and the City of Richmond to the south is far more predominantly Asian.

* A small portion of Millenium City in ChampionsOnline has a Chinatown aspect, complete with martial arts baddies (and a low level NPC vigilante group), fireworks at night, and at least one Temple Arch. No dragon dances, however.

* Surprisingly {{Atlanta}}, Georgia has a Chinatown in a way. Buford Highway is known for having various ethnicities, mainly Chinese and Vietnamese.

It is a known fact of social sciences that minority ethnic groups in a foreign country tend to bunch together, often for company and mutual protection -- not to mention, for new immigrants, being able to talk to people.

* [[{{UsefulNotes/SaoPaulo}} São Paulo]] has Bairro da Liberdade which is something like this, but with a little twist, instead of {{Chinese people}} it has Japanese people.

* Parodied on ''ArrestedDevelopment'' with Wee Britain.

* Episode 2 of ''{{Sherlock}}'' deals with a tong gang searching for a Chinese artifact stolen by a smuggler.

One manifestation of this are "Chinatowns", which feature in dozens of cities worldwide. Streets with ''paifang'' arches at the entrance, full of Chinese restaurants, shops, acupuncturists, and so on, they have become a rich source for scriptwriters.

* Washington DC has a Chinatown, which features as a fixed address destination in just about every show set in DC, despite being ''really'' puny. (Same with "the red-light district"). Its problem is that it's right next to the massive Verizon Center sports arena and entertainment complex. Though, it does have the [[CompensatingForSomething largest Chinese arch]], and in order to prop up the bit of non-corporate culture in the area, the city has passed a law requiring all non-Chinese chain stores in the area (and the German Cultural Center) to [[CompletelyMissingThePoint post signs in Chinese]].