III.1.6. ASIANS EMERGE FROM THE SHADOWS

AN AD FOR AN ASIAN PERFORMANCE OVERLOOKS A PRESTIGIOUS AVENUE FOR THE FIRST TIME

The Avenue de l'Opéra in October 2024  

  

Evolution

• Parisians adopt the Chinese New Year celebration

• A parade unique in Europe

• Asians in ads, the ultimate acceptance

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Parisians adopt the Chinese New Year celebration

PARISIANS ADOPT THE CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

COVID BROUGHT ANTI-ASIAN RACISM... 

But growing support for the New Year's celebration show it insignificant, at least in the 13th. For example:  

•  In 2015 the superette Franprix had this decor but no Asian products...

Rue Nationale

In 2025 no particular decor, but this ad on the national web site and a shelf filled with Asian products:

"Chinese New Year: Discover our selection of products"

• The library

• The mall

• City Hall

Posters announce two weeks of events...

Exhibit of works by Chinese children, the oldest aged 16.

# # #

The public

• The evening before New Year, kids (mostly Asian but also French) saluted it with costumes, banners and drums in front of a Chinese optician's store on the border of the Asian and French neighborhoods. 

 Corner rues de Tolbiac / Château des Rentiers

Next day a crowd lined up in the rain to watch the parade, two hours before it began.

   Corner rue de Tolbiac / avenue de Choisy

People waiting under umbrellas

show that here,

racism has lost its hold.

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A parade unique in Europe

A PARADE UNIQUE IN EUROPE

TO PHOTOGRAPH THE PARADE IN 2025, ONE HAD TO ARRIVE HOURS IN ADVANCE; SO THESE PICTURES DATE FROM 2012* 

*Photos by Jeanne Wikler

Several districts now have their parades, but the original, in the heart of Chinatown on avenue de Choisy, is the most spectacular.

In 2025, other ethnicities join in.

 Sortir à Paris : In 2025 mass tourism noticed the parade at last.

# # #

The éclat, the percussions and the crowd's enthusiasm

cheer the cold and gray of winter...

Avenue de Choisy

As the Asian presence does.

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Asians in ads, the ultimate acceptance

ASIANS IN ADS, THE ULTIMATE ACCEPTANCE

WHEN IN EARLY 2020 IMAGES SUDDENLY EMPHASIZED BLACKS AND NORTH AFRICANS, THERE WAS ONLY ASIAN

And that was of a baby. 

Pharmacy, corner of rues de Tolbiac and Château des Rentiers, 13th

These photos are all of 13th, 

unless otherwise said. 

Then Asian models were timidly introduced...

Boulevard Vincent Auriol

 Bus stop rue de Tolbiac

    Châtelet métro  

Marcadet Poissonnierss métro

Naionale métro

Rue Stephenson, in the African neighborhood of La Goutte d'Or

In 2023 they were more numerous...

.Rue de Tolbiac and rue Nationale, 13th 

And in 2024 they might dominate:

Mall and avenue de Choisy, December 2024

Corner in the Gobelins area, half an hour from the Asian neighborhood

In 2025, an Asian image appeared 

on the back of busses

all over town.

End of this section.

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Next section,

III.2.

Eastern Paris, where new worlds emerge