Today's Sacramento's Chinatown Mall is an quiet park like setting. Many who visit for the first time may wonder if there is anything happening at all. But for those who call this area home or commute to the mall to work, the area is full of vitality. On a daily basis, it is common to see Chinese elders practicing their morning Tai Chi. In the family benevolent associations you still can hear the shuffling of tiles from a passionate Mah Jong game. The Chinatown Mall is home to the Chung Wah, a governing board of consolidated family benevolent associations throughout Sacramento. The Chung Wah plays an important role in promoting ethnic Chinese interests and culture inside the Chinese community.
The Confucius Church of Sacramento and the City of Sacramento will present the Chinatown Mall Culture Fair on Sunday, September 14, 2008 from 11 am to 4 pm to take place at the historic Chinatown Mall between 3rd and 5th Streets and I and J Streets. The theme of the street fair will be, Bridging the Past to the Future. We hope that many will attend and enjoy the best of what our Chinese-American community has to offer.
Members of the Chinatown Mall are currently planning with the city of Sacramento and Thomas Enterprises to include a Yee Fow Museum in The Railyard, a 240 acre site across the street from the Chinatown Mall. This is the same area of China Slough, Sacramento's first Chinatown. The Yee Fow Museum will commemorate the Sacramento Chinese who contributed so much to make Northern California what it is today, but for the most part have been excluded from a current presence in Sacramento's built landscape. The Yee Fow Museum Draft Proposal has been submitted to the city of Sacramento for consideration.