Saturday, December 11, 2004

Q 2 What is common to "A Miracle on 34th Street", the world's largest department store, and the NY Santa Claus Parade?

Macy's. The world's largest departmental store occupies the entire block between 34th and 35th Street on Broadway.

The movie "A Miracle on 34th Street" - a christmas staple in the US, was roughly centred on the story of Santa Claus being hired as Santa Claus at Macy's.

The Thanksgiving Day Parade sponsored by Macy's is the NY Santa Clause Parade - much loved by New Yorkers.

Additional Trivia: The theme of the Thanksgiving Parade and the christmas shop window of Macy's for 2004 has the theme of "A Miracle on 34th Street".

References: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy, Post Time]

Q 1 If it is called "Táng rén jiē" ( "The street of the Tang people") in Mandarin, what is it called in English ?

The answer is : "Chinatown" (Mandarin) . In other Chinese languages, the words are slightly different. "Tang" refers to the Tang dynasty - under whom the Cantonese (who a comprise fair share of the immigrants) first came under imperial control.

Background trivia: One thing I have always wondered about is: why are there "China Town"s and "Little Italy"s, but hardly any representative communities of other countries? My guess was that Chinese and Italian immigration happened in "spikes". And hence these strangers in a strange land flocked together, creating communities.

However, a better guess seems that initially Chinatowns were formed because of strict land ownership laws, which forbade the Chinese to own urban and upscale property.

Additional trivia: The cheapest form of transport between NYC and Boston is the "China Town bus" connecting the vibrant China Town communities of both cities! A $20 round trip.

Open Question: In India, are there any China Towns beside Tangra, in Kolkata? If so, where?

References: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown , Post time]
[ http://www.blacktable.com/gillin031105.htm, Post time]

INTRO What ho, and suchlike

Trivia questions will be posted here, with answers, if possible. Open questions could also be posted.

All answers would be accompanied by a formal reference: which could be a publication with year of publishing and publisher's name; or a public web URL of good standing with a time stamp ( best if the site keeps a public history of the URL ).

Lack of reference has taken credibility away from quizmasters in India. All open quizzes should end with a link to a website / handout of references.