Welcome!

I am naturally curious about things. I wander. I make my own tours. I investigate. But most importantly I stubbornly insist on walking. The best explorers must travel, and the longer the travel time, the higher probability of finding something great. Marco Polo didn’t take the express train, did he?

Most of my finds, therefore, occur on my walks from NYU to my downtown home. This familiar stroll takes me on a journey through Chinatown, the great onion of historical layers.

I never belonged any where but Manhattan. When most of my friends back in Texas began looking at colleges, they looked for tradition, large campuses, and football teams. My thoughts were different. Where can I explore? Where can I observe? Where can I learn on my own? What can I experience? I already knew. I was going to be a Journalism Major at NYU.

I thrive on the ability to walk the streets and end up somewhere, anywhere. Manhattan continues to leave me surprises. They are hidden between familiar buildings, a small turn off a regular street, or just around the corner. In Chinatown, I am always a treasure hunter.

I once told someone that I love it here because everything that was, now is. There are a hundred cities here. If it once was a mansion, it is now a school building. If it once was an office building, it is now someone’s home. The treasures of the city lie in these layers, resting in the memories of those who knew them and in the gold plated signs left on their new existences.

Every great explorer seeks to show the world his or her finds, and I am no less. Welcome to my museum of Chinatown treasures.