Union Station stands at the site of Los Angeles’ original Chinatown. This once vibrant community of families, businesses, and associations with roots going back to the middle of the 19th century was a place where the Chinese community lived, grew, and thrived. During the 1930s, much of the original neighborhood was demolished in order to build Union Station, resulting in the displacement of several thousand people. Today’s Chinatown, just north of Union Station, was designed and developed by members of the displaced community.  

Where You Stand: Chinatown 1880 to 1939 invites participants into the center of the vibrant community of families, businesses, and associations through a multi-dimensional experience of the Chinese immigrant community of early Los Angeles. View historic photographs, listen to oral history recordings, and use augmented reality to see artifact materials superimposed onto other locations around Union Station. 

Installed in the Union Station waiting room, audiences can peel back Union Station’s historical layers, and explore the labyrinth of alleyways, streets, and buildings that was once home to thousands of Chinese residents beginning in 1880. 

This temporary exhibition is part of a wider collaboration among Metro Art, The Huntington-USC Institute for California and the West, the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, USC Cinema, and the Huntington Library that will culminate in an augmented reality (AR) experience and associated project website made possible in part with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  

For related content please visit our partner websites. 

The Huntington-USC Institute for California and the West 

Chinese Historical Society of Southern California 

USC Cinema 

Huntington Library 

Additional elements of the exhibit are accessible using QR codes with your mobile device.   

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Metro Art enhances the customer experience with visual and performing arts that encourages ridership and connects people and neighborhoods in LA County.

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