Chinese Pavillion

The Chinese Pavilion was open for the lunar festival, so we had to stop and take a look. The signage on top was written by the 45^th or 46^th descendant of Confucius, I believe. It was also dated Oct 10, which is the independence day for Republic of China back in 1911. Lots of meaning for Chinese people. A nice Chinese heritage piece.

According to
. the Chinese Pavilion was «built in 1985 – 86 and stands in front of the Riverside Central Library, at the corner of Mission Inn Avenue and Orange Street. It was built in honor of the Chinese settlers who came to Riverside in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.»
The Pavilion is located within a downtown Riverside area that housed a cluster of Chinese businesses that constituted Riverside’s «first» Chinatown. My family was visiting the Mission Inn and we noticed the colorful Pavilion and walked across the street to check it out.
I also noticed several city of Riverside park employees tiding up the area, which is kept very clean. The lush grassy lawn right next to the Chinese memorial is beautiful. Unfortunately, the Chinese Pavilion has become hangout central for many of Riverside’s homeless population. These shelter-​challenged individuals used to flop out on the Pavilion and lay around on the benches that surround it. So now there is a sign that specifically states no trespassing on the memorial and cites a city law forbidding access, except for specific occasions.
The Pavilion was cooperatively funded by the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the City of Riverside, and the Chinese Pavilion Committee, a local non-​profit organization that raised local matching donations. The nearby University of California, Riverside, also looks after the memorial and Asian professors have done lots of research on the Chinese emigrant experience.
Just because so many Chinese people were an important part of building the state of California, I give Riverside’s Chinese Pavilion 5 Unilocal STARS for honoring their often over-​looked contributions. The Chinese Pavilion in downtown Riverside is a vivid memorial to the many Chinese who once lived and worked in the area.