Dear Chamber Members,

This year, the Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-autumn Festival, falls on October 3.  The Moon Festival is one of the most celebrated Chinese events around the world.  Traditionally, it is an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems.  The Moon Festival is also a romantic festival.  Lovers spend a romantic night together tasting delicious moon cakes while watching the full moon.  On behalf of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, may the Moon Festival bring joy and happiness to you and your family.

I want to recap the highlights of the Chamber’s accomplishments.  This has been an incredibly busy year for the Chamber.  The Board and the staff have worked diligently and passionately to promote the small businesses and to bring vitality to Oakland Chinatown.  The Lunar New Year bazaar in February was a huge success bringing dozens of vendors selling a variety of goods to welcome the Year of the Ox.  The Chamber Spring Banquet in April was well attended by over 300 friends of the Chamber.  Each year, the Chamber recognizes businesses and organizations that make contributions to our community.  This year, the Chamber is pleased to honor Gateway Bank, Shoong Family Chinese Cultural Center, and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.

In the summer, the Chamber launched the first Summer Nights Market Event.  It ran for five Saturday evenings from late June through July.  It started from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm with a stage performance at Pacific Renaissance Plaza and gift drawings at the end of each event.  Although the scope of the Summer Nights Market Event is small, we were able to bring a positive image to Oakland Chinatown—that it is safe and fun to come to Chinatown.  I want to thank the Board, the staff, and countless volunteers for making this possible.  The Summer Nights Market Event has the potential to be a draw for Chinatown.  Our goal is to promote Chinatown as a social gathering place that is safe and convenient for people to enjoy in the evening.   

The StreetFest in August was another successful event.  This popular event draws thousands of people to Chinatown every year.  The cultural stage was filled with great performances that are mostly from local talents including children from kindergarten schools, Chinese musical instruments demonstrations, lion dances, and kung fu performances.  The StreetFest shows a rich Chinese culture deeply rooted in Chinatown.  It is truly a Chinese community where we can learn and enjoy many aspects of the Chinese culture.  Yelp gave the StreetFest an excellent review with four stars.  I encourage you to spread the good word about Chinatown to your friends and encourage them to visit Chinatown and make it a social gathering place for all of us.

In this difficult economic time, all businesses including Chinatown businesses are hurting.  Our City is also hurting financially.  The City has adopted various measures to increase revenue including raising parking fees and extending paid parking meter hours from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  In the past few months, the Chinatown merchants have seen their business drop significantly.  People are reluctant to come to Chinatown when there are better alternatives in the surrounding cities.  The City Council should know that small businesses are the backbone of the local economy.  A responsible City Council should adopt policy and measures to help small businesses but not to the contrary.  The extended parking hours requiring parking fees have devastated  impact to the small businesses and should be rescind.  The Chamber will continue to lobby the City to roll back the paid parking meter hour to 6:00 pm.  We ask all of the Chinatown merchants to join us in our efforts.

In November, the Chamber will host a mixer in Chinatown.  I hope you can join us and network with your fellow merchants, business owners, and friends.  We would also like to hear your concerns and ideas about how to make Chinatown a better community for all of us.

May the month ahead be joyful and prosperous for us all.

Sugi Loni, OCCC President