Today a glittery Hong Kong-style dim sum and seafood restaurant, this building has had a colorful history since the early 20th century. It once was a night club. Then it served as a low-income housing facility. Its use sparked an internal Chinatown fight between property owners and social-service agencies. Such struggles are endemic to a community that grows in the face of scarce and precious real estate.

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William Wong was born and grew up in Oakland’s Chinatown. He went on to a distinguished journalism career (The Wall Street Journal, Oakland Tribune, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer). He is the author of Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America (Temple University Press, 2001) and Images of America:

Oakland’s Chinatown (Arcadia Publishing Co., 2004). Visit his web sites, http://www.yellowjournalist.com and http://www.oaklandchinatownhistory.org.