Editor's note: In this weekly feature China Daily gives voice to Asia and its people. The stories presented come mainly from the Asia News Network (ANN), of which China Daily is among its 20 leading titles.

On a hot day in early August, there is a long line of people in their 20s and 30s perspiring as they stand outside hole-in-the-wall restaurant Wai Ying.

The 25-year-old eatery in Binondo, Philippine capital Manila's Chinatown, is famous for its crispy wontons and juicy roasted duck, several of which the cook has hung in front of the window overlooking the street.

Those inside pause for a moment to whip out their mobile phones and press the record button before tucking into their food. Some of these videos will get thousands of views on social media platforms.

Binondo, believed to be the oldest Chinatown in the world, has become the trendiest spot in the city for young Filipinos and tourists alike.

For those who take the time to scour its busy streets, rewards such as tanghulu, a candied fruit snack, and hopia, a flaky pastry, await at various street corners.

Centuries ago, this was one of the first places that overseas Chinese set foot in as they left their home country to find a better life for themselves.

Often arriving in host countries as traders or manual laborers, many began assembling in ethnic enclaves — their "homes away from home". Thus formed the building blocks of early Chinatowns, which to this day are recognizable across the world by their gateways and architectural features sporting traditional Chinese motifs such as dragons.

Binondo's biggest paifang or Chinese archway is said to be the largest among all Chinatowns and was installed in 2015 along Padre Burgos Avenue. The structure, a combination of bold colors and gold motifs, is complete with curved eaves typical of Chinese architecture.

In other Chinatowns, similar paifang stand, some clearly weathered with age. These arches of varying sizes, placement and style demarcate boundaries or significant points and are commonplace in ethnic Chinese neighborhoods. They present a visual link between the many Chinatowns across the world.

Throughout history, Chinese migration has occurred in waves. Many who left in the 19th century in search of better economic opportunities overseas were from Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

Attracted by the prospect of work in tin mines and rubber plantations, or in farming and trade, the Chinese headed to countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and even India. This gave rise to Chinatowns of varying traits, which adapted to their respective host societies while still maintaining universal characteristics of Chinese culture.

Meanwhile, in recent years, new Chinese communities have begun to form alongside older ones in places such as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, with the arrival of new immigrants, many of them affluent, educated and seeking new opportunities.

Based on available figures, UN International Migrant Stock data logged about 10.5 million Chinese nationals living outside the Chinese mainland in 2020.

However, recent local estimates have placed the figure much higher. For example, there could be at least 150,000 Chinese nationals living in Malaysia and about 110,000 Chinese citizens in Thailand.

In 2023, an expert from the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences said huaqiao huaren — a collective term for Chinese overseas — could number some 60 million. Some 35 million live in Southeast Asia.

Huaqiao refers to Chinese nationals living overseas, while huaren refers to foreign citizens of Chinese descent or ethnicity.

Philippines

Named after the Filipino word binundok, meaning mountainous, Binondo was established in 1594 by Spanish colonizers as a permanent settlement for Chinese traders in the Philippines.

Historians say the enclave was situated just across the Pasig River from the seat of the Spanish colonial government so officials could keep an eye on immigrants.

Intermarriage between new arrivals and locals gave birth to a vibrant fusion of Chinese and Filipino cultures that has defined aspects of life in Manila's Chinatown. The area is home to some 20,000 people today.

The best way to get to know Binondo is through its food. After all, some of Manila's oldest restaurants first opened in Chinatown — they were called panciterias because they sold pancit, or noodles. The oldest restaurant in the country, Toho Panciteria Antigua, opened in 1888 and is still serving customers to this day.

"When the Chinese came to Manila, they brought with them their ancestral culture and adapted to the local culture as well. You see it in the expressions of religion and food here in Binondo," cultural expert and Chinatown tour guide Ivan Man Dy, 46, told The Straits Times.

Dy, whose Chinese grandfather moved from Fujian to the Philippines in the 1930s, has conducted his famed Old Manila Walks and Tours for 19 years.

Binondo's narrow streets are lined with shops and stalls selling goods with quintessentially Chinese characteristics, from medicine to snacks like kwek-kwek (quail eggs deep-fried in crispy orange batter). People pray and light incense at streetside Buddhist shrines that often also display crosses and other Catholic imagery.

While social media helps to keep businesses alive, establishments must also come up with new ways to tantalize the crowds, said content creator and architect Mitch Ngo, 27, known as The Chinita Foodie online. She has drawn more than three million views for her foodie walking tour in Binondo, which she shares on social media.

" (They) have to do something new, or something that will catch people's attention, so (people) will buy from (them)," Ngo said.

New establishments like Apologue Coffee and Pastry, whose interior resembles a combination of library and apothecary, have also added to the Binondo buzz.

The cafe's menu pays homage to Binondo's Chinese-Filipino history through creations such as its signature Binondo Latte, which uses sticky ube with milk and espresso, and its Pei Pa Koa Latte, featuring the traditional Chinese herbal syrup used for cough and sore throat.

Singapore

Singapore's Chinatown was never exclusively Chinese and had small communities of Indian traders. Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore's oldest Hindu temple, which was founded in 1827, still sits in the heart of Chinatown in South Bridge Road.

The enclave grew rapidly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the mid-1960s, the Singaporean government stepped in to tackle overcrowding through urban renewal projects.

Residents were rehomed in resettlement estates, street hawkers were housed in Kreta Ayer Complex — now renamed Chinatown Complex — and shophouses underwent major upgrading.

Another milestone was the remaking of Chinatown, along with other ethnic districts such as Little India and Kampong Glam, into tourist heritage destinations in the 1980s. In many ways, the redevelopment gave these areas, which were in various states of decay, a new lease of life.

But inevitably, the redevelopment wrought changes to how people lived and worked in Chinatown. Better housing options elsewhere also saw most Chinatown residents moving out of shophouses, turning the neighborhood into a largely commercial and tourism-driven area.

Reactions to the redevelopment were not entirely positive, with many lamenting what they saw as overcommercialization and the reduction of heritage to a tourism commodity.

The beauty and vibrancy of Chinatown was that its growth was driven by the people who lived there, said historian Loh Kah Seng. Today, the communal and lived-in character of Chinatown has changed.

"As a tourist area, it'll still be interesting for locals and foreigners to visit. For now, there are still residual areas where seniors gather and meet old friends, and you can see traces of old Chinatown," said Loh, who is the director of research consultancy Chronicles Research and Education.

Other changes have come to Chinatown, with Singapore becoming a notable destination for Chinese nationals to work, live and holiday in.

In the first six months of 2024, Chinese tourists formed the biggest group of visitors to Singapore, with about 1.45 million visitors, according to the Singapore Tourism Board.

Old-time Chinatown business owners and residents have long noted the influx of more Chinese mainland businesses and tourists in Chinatown, with some replacing more intrinsically Singaporean businesses and cultures.

Pek Sin Choon, a 99-year-old Chinese tea business in a shophouse in Mosque Street, has seen its fair share of rapid changes, both in its business environment and physical surroundings.

Its longtime neighbors on either side — Tai Thong Cake Shop, a 73-year-old family-owned Cantonese bakery known for handmade mooncakes, and a coffee shop — are now gone. They are replaced by a Moutai retail store selling the famous Chinese grain spirit of Guizhou province and a restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Sichuan province, both tracing back to Southwest China. The new businesses cater primarily to Chinese visitors.

Tai Thong ceased operations in October 2023, when no one in the third generation took over.

For Kenry Peh, Pek Sin Choon's fourth-generation owner, the influx of Chinese tourists and new businesses is something he has come to terms with, but said that as heritage brands like Tai Thong wind up their business, "we'll be missing a part of history".

In a bid to both preserve and rejuvenate the spirit of the original Chinatown, the authorities are rejigging the tenant mix in the historical conservation area.

Over the next few years, more local and international food and beverage outlets, along with creative lifestyle, retail, co-living and co-working concepts, will come up in a row of 13 shophouses in Smith Street, overseen by the Chinatown Business Association.

Malaysia

Malaysia's centuries-old famous Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur has also undergone some demographic changes. In recent years, it has seen an inflow of residents of non-Chinese ethnicity and descent, and is no longer a settlement just for local Chinese communities.

With a growing presence of Southeast Asian and South Asian migrant workers from Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, some shops have altered their traditional offerings to cater to new customers.

Halal or Muslim-friendly Chinese food options have popped up in the Jalan Petaling area, attracting customers from local Malay communities as well.

Dessert stall Madam Tang Machi Popo, which sells peanut-coated glutinous rice snack muah chee, is now run by 24-year-old Liew Mun Yee, the granddaughter of the original owner, the late Madam Tang Kwok Wang.

To cater to Muslim customers, Liew stopped selling the stall's popular red wine-flavored muah chee and now offers new tea-based flavors instead.

Lined with pre-war shophouses, some painted with colorful murals, Jalan Petaling Chinatown has also undergone a revival in recent years in order to attract tourists.

In particular, Kwai Chai Hong, a narrow back alley, now frequently hosts art installations and events in its restored buildings throughout the year.

Thailand

In Thailand, the streets of Bangkok's Yaowarat area brim with tourists during the day. At night, traffic slows to a crawl as bus-loads of visitors swarm roadside stalls serving rat na, gravy noodles, on hot plates or toasted buns oozing pandan custard or chocolate.

In the narrow Plaeng Nam Road, Asian and Western tourists throng the almost century-old Khao Tom 3/1, where a variety of ready-cooked dishes, such as pork sausage and stir-fried water spinach, are served with steaming rice porridge round the clock.

Yet Noodjaree Juntarin, 52, one of the fourth generation of descendants running the family shop, said the crowds have not returned to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.

A different picture is seen at Bangkok's Huai Khwang district, where a newer "Chinatown" has emerged, serving a different clientele.

Located just down the road from the Chinese embassy, the stretch around Pracha Rat Bamphen Road is crowded with eateries offering Lanzhou noodles, spicy hot pot and herbal teas that are popular with Chinese mainland customers. Many agencies here offer services to entrepreneurs from China wanting to start a business in Thailand.

Sociopolitical analyst Teoh Chee Keong, who specializes in Malaysian cultural and heritage studies, said it is only natural for new migrants to come and go, forming new communities in their host countries.

Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Petaling also began life as a gateway for Chinese migrants 150 years ago. In the 2000s, migrants from Southeast Asia and South Asia began to arrive. Today, the arrival of Chinese businesses and new Chinese migrants is all part of the ebb and flow of migration.

Professor Teoh, who teaches at UCSI University's School of Architecture and Built Environment, said, "Change is a permanent feature of Jalan Petaling as it still serves as a major gateway for migrants."

What has never changed, he said, is Jalan Petaling's inclusiveness of migrants.

As the Chinese left their homeland and moved to different parts of the world, they found their community and created a space where they felt they belonged.

Today, Chinatowns have put their stamp on many parts of Asia and while some have disappeared and others evolved, they still provide a tangible link for locals and visitors alike to a Chinese culture that has lasted centuries.

THE STRAITS TIMES, SINGAPORE