Pine Hills Tutors Come To You

Pine Hills, Florida, residents are literally a stone’s throw from Orlando Chinatown. The center is located along West Colonial Drive, which directly borders the Pine Hills community. With about three dozen businesses, Orlando Chinatown is a great destination for finding Asian delicacies, sumptuous Asian meals, and a mind-boggling array of Oriental groceries.

Created in the early 2000s, the center is home to several restaurants that cook up and serve cuisine from a variety of Asian cultures, including Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Vietnamese. There is also a bookstore, a pack & ship, several beauty salons, the Chinese Culture Center, a realty, a karaoke and billiards bar, and much more. But perhaps the granddaddy of the collection of businesses here is the giant 1st Oriental Supermarket. According to some sources, 1st Oriental is not only the largest Asian market in the Orlando area, it’s also the largest in the state of Florida. With a size of 42,000 square feet, who’s going to argue? This is the Costco of Asian supermarkets, specializing in a large selection of products, often in huge quantities and at low prices. The store’s specialty is roasted pork, but it also stocks fresh seafood and shellfish, frozen frogs, fruits and vegetables, breads, and grocery foods from most Asian countries: Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, and Korea. Pocky snacks, dumplings, coconut toast, and twelve kinds of bok choy—it’s all here, under one roof.

Despite its size, Orlando Chinatown initially had a reputation for being hard to find. Even when deliberately looking for the plaza, people would accidentally pass it by. To draw in customers, a paifang—traditional style of Chinese arch—was erected in 2013, solidifying the center’s existence as a legitimate Chinatown. The prior year, a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen was unveiled by granddaughter Dr. Lily Sun. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925) was a revolutionary and political leader and is considered the Founding Father of contemporary China. He is given credit for his role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, which ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China and also as co-founder of the Chinese National People’s Party. His legacy is summed up in three words that describe his political philosophy, or San Min Chu-i: nationalism, democracy, and the people’s livelihood. These three principles are engraved on a memorial plaque near the statue.

Pine Hills tutors who want to liven up a lesson in Chinese culture would be smart to meet their students at Orlando Chinatown to explore the shops and restaurants. With these businesses used as “props” to drive the lesson home, a Pine Hills tutor could offer an unbeatable, relevant, and fun way to learn more about Asian foods, customs, and history.