Little Asia
Zones
The Cultural Heart
The Marketplace ends visibly with the absence of street vendors and the rise of some larger buildings. The Cultural Heart surrounds and expands beyond the Marketplace. This is where most of Little Asia’s celebrations and events take place -- or at least begin or end. This part of the district encompasses a number of city blocks and includes such buildings as the LA-PIC (public library), Museum of Art & History, and the Hung Family Kwoon (kung fu school), the CAS (College of Asian Studies). It is also home to many restaurants such as the Serpent Teacup, Wong’s Diner, Jak Lee's Korean Restaurant, Exotic India Family Restaurant, Namul's Thai Take-out & Eat-In, and the Mekong Express Cambodian-Vietnamese Cuisine. Finally, the south end of the district holds the new, broadly-scoped, and very popular Winter Sun nightclub. To the north, a converted warehouse contains the “darker” Thousand Hells Club. Both are open to adults only, though IDs are only checked at the bar. The towering Mountain View Hotel rests not far from the main street. The Rankaben Amphitheater is the largest of all theaters in the district, home to concerts and plays of traditional and modern entertainment. Though not quite as well-trafficked as the Marketplace, the Cultural Heart Zone commuters 24:7. It is colorful and “cool”, brash yet stately, and host to a dozen different cultural interests blended nicely.
Patrol Rating: Moderate
Ten Do
The Ten Do means “Heaven’s Way”. It is really an extension of the Cultural Heart, but it bears all of the district’s religious centers without exception. The Ten Do is a strip of pavement curving across the cultural zones like the tip of the iceberg. It separates business and culture, keeps apart finance and citizenry, and yet also bridges the gap between the two. The actual street is kept meticulously clean and often decorated in a variety of means. Many different religions are housed on this one street and none of them really conflict with one another. Not only do police patrol this part of town, but residents with an “eye for crime” tolerate no violence whatsoever. That is how four Buddhist temples, three Christian churches, two Shinto shrines, one Hindu pavilion, one Muslim mosque, and even a Taoist-Confucianism study stand together in harmony. Though beliefs may contrast, the people are bonded by a common cultural heritage…and it is enforced by peace keepers whose only intolerance is the irreverent or worse, violent.
Patrol Rating: High
The Business Zone
Beyond the tourist attractions, a glen of towering reeds sprout high, arranged in a strange bouquet of bold, fearless commercial endeavors. The monikered “Bamboo Tower” (the International Bank of Beijing) peaks at forty stories. This is just one example of the structures found in the financial section of Little Asia. The streets here are a bit wider than in the rest of the district, perhaps to encompass the American-made luxury and sports cars so many of the frequent commuters here own. The streets are fairly clean; the only litter one sees is a discarded issue of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. As if it were Hong Kong or Tokyo all over again, during the day the sidewalks are clogged with professionally-dressed pedestrians all in a hurry. By night, there is little traffic at all, but many of the buildings -- most of which bottom out at three stories at the minimum -- have lights shining in the windows. Devoted (or obsessed) workers often stay late into the evening hours, and a few of the corporate structures even sport penthouse condominiums for executives. In addition to the Bank of Beijing, one will find the Jin Zhangpeng (the Golden Pavilion), a conglomerate of various Hong Kong corporations interested in American expansion. This skyscraper humbly admits to only thirty-six sturdy floors. A marvel of glass and marble rises amidst these giants: the Dairin, Inc. building, at twenty-eight stories. The Public Welfare and Immigration Center rests in the northeastern corner of the zone. The underground Bonsai Gardens Mini-Mall can be found in the southwestern corner. Most of these buildings boast well-kept grounds and architecture -- much of which were built in accordance with feng shui standards.
Patrol Rating: High
