In D.W.Davis’ essay Technology and Chinese Ethnicity, the arguments start from a common phenomenon, which is the appearance of Chinatown in future/sci-fi films. The author discusses (taking Hong Kong as an example most of the time) the reason why Chinatown-like areas are the favorite of such many future films and how the environment of Chinese ethnicity provide a similar atmosphere, which is of course not only just a single copy of a Chinatown, for those films showing an unpleasant view of future.
Hong Kong is a protagonist or a representative of Asian cities and it is used in so many films. However in reality most cities and Chinatowns in Asia are not crowded or filled with contrast as Hong Kong or other ‘world city’. In other words, the view of most Asian cities is not close to any Chinatown appearing in films. We could say that Chinatown itself is a product of world city, a seed which will grow in a city already having enough globalized signs and cultural contrast. So the reason why Chinatown-like areas appear in future films is not only the similarity between unpleasant cybor-future and the Chinese ethnicity mentioned in the essay, but also people’s impression of Hong Kong or other mass Asian cities, which at a certain extent have already represent Asia’s interface.