From Chinatown to Chinatown

One time I left the keys in the Taxi, and have to go to Flushing to pick it up. I was living in Manhattan's Chinatown that time. It was a energy consuming trip: 10 min walk to the subway, take R train and transfer 7 at times square, till the end of the 7 train is flushing. Two hours minimum. 

I noticed these buses says "chinatown to flushing" written in Chinese, guess it's the time to try. I paied 2.5 dollars (the same as the subway station) . The mini bus takes about 20 people. The driver collected money and soon it's full. The last picked up a small stool and sit in the space in front of the door. They are young and old, female and male, barely speak English. 

The AC was poorly functioned, the seats are a bit tight. But within half an hour, the bus arrived flushing！ A much pleasant trip compare to the subway !

These trips with the same price as the public transportation, saving 2/3 of the time. From center of Chinatown to center of the new chinatown. The Chinese community developed there own commune line. The old Chinatown is keep shrinking. People move to more affordable places, like flushing or 8th ave in Brooklyn. This old Chinatown left as a tourist spot. 

Many people don't know this line, even Chinese students. Only the neighborhood resident use it. For people don't speak Chinese, it is impossible to step into this bus. 

*After write this piece, I found out an article on New York times, there's many other self-run bus in nyc connect different communities:     http://projects.newyorker.com/story/nyc-dollar-vans/

有一次夜里从法拉盛叫了华人电召车回家，钥匙却拉在车上，第二天不得不去法拉盛取。 那时我住在曼哈顿的中国城，去一趟法拉盛是一个麻烦事：步行10分钟做到地铁站，然后坐R线到时代广场转7号线，7号线的终点才是法拉盛，来回要两个多小时。

出门路过一群小巴士，写着“唐人街—法拉盛”，我想试一下。 我交了2.5美元（和坐地铁一样的价钱）坐上了车。车大概能坐20人，司机一边收钱一边招呼大家上车，车很快坐满了。新上的乘客熟练地不知道从哪弄了一个小板凳在门口挤下。和我一起上车的很多看起来像来打工的，男女老少都有，他们都不说英语。夏天巴士空调不好，闷热也不能开窗，座位有点拥挤。撇去这些不方便，半个小时不到，汽车穿过我不熟悉的城区很快到了法拉盛。

比起做地铁这简直是轻松愉快的旅程！

这些线路价格和乘坐地铁相当，中途不用转车，时间比地铁少一半，连接的地点比地铁地方更靠近chinatown中心。华人自己新辟自治公交路线一方面说明市政交通不能满足居民需要，另一方面也是中国城被gentrificate的部分。曼哈顿房价上涨，中国城一直缩小，并且开始被画廊包围，主要剩下餐厅和游客点。这个中国城既不是现代的中国也不是过去的中国，是早期移民记忆中模糊的家乡。对于包括中国人在内的所有人都是主题公园一般超现实的存在。

新的华人社区聚集在法拉盛和布鲁克林八大道， 这些地方交通方便房租便宜。还有和国内一样的KTV，和国内现在流行食品。比起传统文化为主的曼哈顿中国城，法拉盛和布鲁克林更加接近现在的中国国内消费内容。

新老社区各有不同，自己运营的巴士很自然成了联系两边华人的便捷基础设施。由于只是连系华人社区，这个班车的使用者都只是当地住户，很多中国留学生也不知道它的存在。不会中文的其他人更是不可能踏上这个大巴。像一个脐带一样，大巴连着这个中国城和下一个中国城。