In the world of highly manicured Orange County communities, few are polished to the luster of Irvine. The master-planned, upscale city of cookie-cutter homes and broad boulevards looks every inch the stereotype of suburban living -- orderly, safe and homogenous.
Yet just beneath the surface lies another Irvine, one of Buddhist temples and teahouses, a city with bustling Chinese markets and a university where nearly half the students are Asian. Once the epitome of conservative, white suburbia, Irvine is now a place where a person can spend a lifetime never having to speak English.
"I used to think I would retire someday and move to Chinatown," said Yvonne Wang, who moved to Irvine from New Jersey in 1994. "Now Irvine is like Chinatown."
Attracted by good schools, low crime and well-paying jobs, Irvine has become a destination for Asian American professionals, especially Chinese Americans. It's home to one of the country's biggest Chinese language schools, the largest Buddhist temple and monastery in Orange County, a Chinese orchestra and clubs for artists, students and senior citizens. More Chinese Americans live in Irvine than any other city in the county.
"A lot came in the last decade. The education system has clearly been a magnet; people don't end up living here by accident," said Irvine Mayor Beth Krom. "We are a Pacific Rim community, so it's natural to see more Asian people."
According to U.S. census estimates, 36.7% of Irvine's 185,000 residents are Asian American. Of that, 21,757 are Chinese, up from 14,973 in 2000. Koreans, Vietnamese and Japanese constitute most of the remaining Asian Americans. Irvine schools, where classrooms are often heavily Chinese American, have become among the most competitive in the region.
"I have heard parents say they don't want to send their kids here because they aren't high achievers," said Jung Kang, who teaches Chinese at University High School. "The students are very competitive, but that is an incentive for others to do better."
Yet despite the heavy influx of Chinese, there is no Chinatown or strictly Chinese neighborhoods. Such enclaves are more often found in lower-income immigrant areas, places that don't exist in Irvine. New arrivals here tend to be doctors, lawyers, engineers and academics with the language skills and money that many traditional immigrants don't have.
