Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
178
Westsiders come her e for cheap M exican food, but many miss my fav orite Bo yle
Heights sight: Near the corner of Boyle Avenue and 1st Street is
Mariachi Plaza,
a color-
ful street corner where three-, four-, and fiv e-man mariachi bands stand r eady to enter-
tain each afternoon and ev ening. R esplendent in matching r uffled shir ts and tailor ed
bolero jackets with a rainbo w of embr oidery, the mariachis loiter beneath thr ee-story
murals of their forebears with guitars at the r eady. It's not unusual to see someone driv e
up in a miniv an, offer a price for a night 's entertainment, and carr y off an ensemble to
play a private party or other gathering.
CHINATOWN
Downtown; bounded by N. Broadway, N. Hill St., Bernard St., and Sunset Blvd.
Many Chinese settled in this once-rural area during the second half of the 19th centur y.
Today, most Angelenos of Chinese descent are well integrated into the city's suburbs; few
can be found living in this r ough pocket of D owntown. But though the neighborhood
hardly compares in quality or siz e to the Chinese quar ters of London, San Francisco, or
New York, Chinatown's bustling little mom-and-pop shops and pr ofusion of ethnic res-
taurants provide an interesting Downtown diversion.
Chinatown centers on a mall,
Mandarin Plaza,
970 N. B roadway, reconstructed in
1938 a few blocks from its original site just south of D odger Stadium. Go on a Sunday
morning for dim sum at
Empress Pavilion,
988 N. H ill St. (
&
213/617-9898
), and
then browse through the collection of shops jammed with Chinese slippers, cheap je w-
elry, and china. You'll also find some upscale stores specializing in inlaid furniture, Asian
art, fine silks, and other impor ts.
Chinatown is especially worth going out of your way for during
Chinese New Year,
a
month-long celebration that usually begins in late J anuary. The neighborhood explodes
into a color ful fantasy of sights and sounds with the G olden Dragon Parade, a beauty
pageant, and a 5K/10K r un. There are plenty of fir ecrackers and all the Lin G o New
Year's cakes y ou can eat. F or mor e information about Chinato wn, log on to www .
chinatownla.com.
7
EL PUEBLO DE LOS ANGELES HISTORIC MONUMENT
Enter El Pueblo Historic Monument via Alameda St. across from Union Station.
This historic district was built in the 1930s on the site where the city was founded, as an
alternative to the razing of a particularly unsightly slum. The result is a contrived nostal-
gic fantasy of the city 's beginnings, a kitschy theme par k portraying Latino culture in a
Disney-esque fashion. N evertheless, E l P ueblo has pr oven wildly successful, as L.A. 's
Latinos have adopted it as an impor tant cultural monument.
El Pueblo is not without authenticity. Some of L.A.'s oldest buildings are here, and the
area really does exude the ambience of O ld Mexico. At its core is a M exican-style mar-
ketplace on old brick-pav ed
Olvera Street,
the district 's primar y pedestrian str eet. On
weekends the carniv al of sights and sounds is heightened b y mariachis, piñatas, and
more-than-occasional folkloric dancing. Olvera Street and adjacent Main Street are home
to about two dozen 19th-century buildings. Free 1-hour walking tours are given Tuesday
through Saturday; for tour times contact
El Pueblo Visitor Center
(622 N. M ain St.;
&
213/628-1274;
www.lasangelitas.org). Also, don 't miss the
Avila A dobe,
at E-10
Olvera St. (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; free admission); built in 1818, it 's the oldest building
in the city.
