Oakland Chinatown hosts first-ever night market
Oakland — The streets of Oakland Chinatown were busy Saturday for the first-ever Night Market.
Police shut down 8th street between Broadway and Webster so people could celebrate Chinese culture with street food, cultural products and live music.
The event is organized by Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council and the ABG Art Group.
The director of the art group, Sorell Raino-Tsui, said he spent weeks cleaning up the street and beautifying it with murals and art installations.
"It feels really special to be a part of this kind of revitalization," said Raino-Tsui. "I went all in to try to change the look and feel of 8th street"
Raino-Tsui is half Chinese. Growing up, his grandparents would take him to Chinatown every weekend, but over the years it's changed.
"Kind of fallen on hard times, there's a lot of blight, there's been a lot of crime and a lot of fear," said Raino-Tsui. "To see it going through these hardships is hard for me. As a kid it wasn't like that."
When he heard about the concept for a night market, he knew he had to be a part of it.
"This is a personal pride thing for me," said Raino-Tsui. "I'm an Oakland guy, I'm an Oakland resident, and so I just really want to give back to Chinatown, the Chinese people in any way I can."
And William Lue feels the same way.
"Oakland is my town, my place, I want to put this on the map," said Lue.
Lue immigrated from China to Oakland in the 60s and never left.
He worked in the food industry and came out of retirement to volunteer at this event.
He created the "Dumpling Olympics." People formed a line down the street to try all six dumplings and vote for their favorite.
"The food speaks, when your tummy is full, you're happy," said Lue.
Raino-Tsui is hopeful this is just the beginning of big things for Oakland's Chinatown.
"It just feels like a huge blessing to see this happening right here in Oakland," said Raino-Tsui
Organizers said based on the success of this event they may make the Night Market a quarterly, or even monthly event.