Chicago Prepares For Arrival Of Chinese President
Updated 01/19/11 - 4:43 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago is preparing for the arrival of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who arrived in Washington Wednesday and will be in the city on Thursday and Friday.
The Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday that several hundred Chinese-Americans plan to gather outside the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan Ave., to welcome Hu. He will be honored at a reception at the hotel, hosted by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Last week, Mayor Daley called Hu's visit a "big, big, big, big, big deal."
But protesters will also gather when Hu arrives at the hotel. Activists will demonstrate against alleged human rights abuses in Tibet and Taiwan, and of Falun Gong practitioners in China, the Tribune reported.
Hu plans to visit Walter Payton College Prep high school, 1034 N. Wells St., which hosts the Confucius Center Chinese language program. He will also tour numerous Chinese-owned businesses in the region, the Tribune reported.
It is not known if Hu will stop in the city's Chinatown community on the Near South Side, which is the third largest in the country after New York and San Francisco, but as CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, Chinatown residents were getting ready just in case.
For almost a hundred years Chinatown has welcomed Chinese immigrants to Chicago and the community was hoping to welcome President Hu Jintao as well. The welcome banner was already up on Wednesday and so were Chinese and American flags.
Chinatown resident David Hoi said, "It certainly is a privilege that he's picked Chicago."
Many who live and work in Chinatown are eager to show Hu their thriving community which is now home to between 11,000 and 13,000 Chinese Americans. Chinatown residents said the neighborhood has come a long way since its humble beginnings.
"I came in 1968 and Chinatown was just a small strip – Cermak and Wentworth – and a few shops, but now, there's all kinds of shops," said Bernie Wong, president of the Chinese American Service League.
Chinatown is now home to more than 400 shops, businesses, and restaurants according to Chinatown's Chamber of Commerce. All of them stand to benefit from President Hu's visit to Chicago.
"He is definitely showing his interest in our city and I think that opens doors to international trade," Chi Can To, executive director of the Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, said.
Business owners like Tony Hu said it also opens Chinatown's doors to tourist around the world who might be planning their next trip.
"Whole countries are watching Chicago," Tony Hu, owner of Tony Gourmet Group, said.
And for that, those who call Chinatown home, said they're grateful to President Hu.
"He has a choice of many cities to go. You know, certainly New York has a very large Chinese population, and San Francisco, but he's only coming to Chicago," David Hoi said. "It makes you feel proud."
The fact that Chicago is President Barack Obama's hometown plays a role, but Yang says another factor is that China sees the Midwest as a good area for Chinese companies to establish new ties or strengthen existing ones.
