How disaster remade San Francisco's Chinatown—and revealed the limits of belonging in America. San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. Spanning 30 city blocks and home to tens of thousands of monolingual Chinese residents, its endurance is remarkable—especially given how close it came to erasure. In this fascinating history, Dafeng Xu uncovers the contested history of this vibrant community, focusing on the transformative period surrounding the 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed 80 percent of the city, including Chinatown. White San Franciscans saw the disaster as an opportunity to permanently displace the neighborhood. Instead, Chinatown was rebuilt—but not without conflict or consequence. Using detailed census data and other historical documents, Xu examines how this rebuilt Chinatown differed socially and physically from its earlier form—and the many ways it stayed the same. He explores whether the earthquake shifted patterns of segregation, if and how Chinese immigrants navigated pressure to assimilate—including adopting English, changing their names, and leaving ethnic neighborhoods—and whether they gained economic ground in the city's new landscape. Xu's study reveals a striking contradiction: while Chinese Americans were often criticized for not assimilating, systemic barriers made that very process nearly impossible. The post-disaster Chinatown became a symbol of cultural resilience, shaped by both community agency and persistent exclusion. Rich in insight and original research, Chinatown offers a powerful look at how disaster, racism, and resistance shaped one of America's most storied immigrant neighborhoods. Using historical censuses and archival material, Xu details the evolution of San Francisco's Chinatown and the importance of the 1906 earthquake in shaping its transformation. The historical racism experienced by Chinese San Franciscans―and their resistance―hold important relevance to today's immigration debates, making this book valuable for scholars and students alike. ―Wei Li, author of Ethnoburb: The New Ethnic Community in Urban America Xu's Chinatown is a brilliant analysis of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the rebuilding of the city's Chinatown, and the ambivalent relationship that American society has always had with non-white immigrants. This book is a must-read for those wishing to better understand the paradoxes of America's immigration climate. ―Jason Hackworth, author of Manufacturing Decline: How Racism and the Conservative Movement Crush the American Rust Belt How disaster remade San Francisco's Chinatown―and revealed the limits of belonging in America. Dafeng Xu is an assistant professor at the University of Washington.