Dear Chamber Members,

First of all, Happy Year of the Boar to all of you. May you all have a very Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous New Year.

About 27 years ago I came to Oakland to visit a friend. He took me to Chinatown to eat dim sum at Tin's Restaurant. At the time the only place you can eat dim sum in Oakland I was told. I remember we parked at the parking lot across from Oakland Market on 9th & Franklin St.. The parking lot today is occupied by a condominium complex Franklin 88 and the Marriott Courtyard hotel. We walked across the street and passed a fenced up lot. Today on that lot stands the Pacific Renaissance Plaza. We stopped by United Commercial Bank, one of only several banks in Chinatown at that time. Today, we have over 10 banks doing business in Chinatown.

We have a very vibrant business community, an award winning school (Lincoln Elementary) and many great community based organizations serving the people of the ever growing Chinatown community. Needless to say the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce will continue to work hard to promote our Chamber members businesses whenever possible.

I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming events.

Francis Lan, OCCC President