LA's Chinatown sheds light on community's history, changes with mural tour

CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On Saturday, folks put on their walking shoes and headed over to Los Angeles' Chinatown for a unique tour highlighting the community's murals.

"My favorite part of the tour was probably just seeing so many different people and different changes in Chinatown L.A.," said Lena Woo, a tour participant. "Because I used to come out here as a kid and it just has changed so much within the last 25 years."

The mile-long tour was called Connecting Past and Present. Museum board member and community historian Eugene Moy was the tour guide. The tour also shed light on old and new Chinatown.

"We'll go into New Chinatown area. We'll see some of the schools and commercial enterprises that exist today and we can also see some of the change. Historic places are being replaced with high-rise residential buildings," said Moy.

The tour also had a stop at the museum's latest exhibition where guest artists like Kano Kimanyen are featured.

"I wanted it to speak to the youth about the different problems that are going on now. I wanted it to represent unity," said Kimanyen.

Moy said the tour showcased a variety of murals. Some were created from the start of the 20th century and some from the present day.

"What we are trying to do with this to encourage some thinking about our origins and our relevance to the larger environment," said Moy.

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