West Gate

At the grand opening of New Chinatown in 1938, guests passed through the West Gate, the first of Chinatown's four gates to be constructed, topped by an inscription composed by Chinese Consul T.K. Chang that translates as "Cooperate to Achieve." During the opening ceremonies, Governor Frank Merriam dedicated a bronze plaque honoring Chinese contributions to railroad building. Although New Chinatown seemed to offer a permanent home, Chinese residents still could not become American citizens, and events in China stirred strong patriotism toward their homeland. After Japan conquered Manchuria seven years before New Chinatown opened and then attacked in July 1937, seizing nearly all Chinese coastal cities and industrial areas, residents of New Chinatown and other Chinese enclaves in Los Angeles joined civic efforts such as the New Life Movement, the Rice Bowl Campaign, and the Seven-Seven Campaign to raise money for China's defense and to relieve suffering. Beginning in 1938, Los Angeles Chinese also sponsored a Moon Festival to benefit United China Relief, selecting a Moon Festival Queen, while David Soo Hoo suggested that the Mei Wah girls form a drum corps that became a regular feature at parades and festivals throughout the southland. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II, the Pacific was largely closed to imports, forcing many Chinatown shops to buy cheap curios from Mexico and leading restaurant chefs to improvise ingredients, but these shortages were minor beside the service of American-born sons of Chinese descent fighting for the United States. Among Chinatown institutions was Man Jen Low, meaning "Ten Thousand Treasures," one of the first Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles, which began in the late 1800s in a small shack at 1st and Mateo streets, later moved to Marchessault Street, and in 1938 was relocated by second-generation son Woo Fon Lee to Gin Ling Way in New Chinatown. Not long after World War II ended, a conversation with a Los Angeles Times food editor and friends led to the restaurant being renamed General Lee's, and with new waiters' uniforms designed by Rudi Gernreich, its clientele eventually grew to include Gregory Peck and Otis Chandler.

Los Angeles, California · United States