the chinese new year and remembering the year of the dragon which comes every 12 years from dragon parade to the forbidden city. a hot spot in the 40s. from one man's view of the challenges facing china town to the turn of the century epidemic that led to the scapegoating of the chinese community. all straight ahead tonight on a second look. good evening i'm julie

haener and this is a second look. the chinese new year began this past week. this is the year of the dragon. in the rotation of the lunar calendar, the lunar year comes every 12 years. in 2000, ktvu's live coverage was hosted by torrez and vu. >> according to legend budda called every animal to come see him. the 12 animals that answered his call were rewarded by having a year named on their honor. it has a head of a camel, belly of a cow and paws of a tiger. >> the golden dragon is 15 feet tall and when there aren't any power lines above it extends up to a 38 feet tall to appear as if it is flying.

>> the driver is in the lion's head. >> right behind there, yes. >> there, there you see it. >> that's why the dragon looks so annoyed. >> he's moving and he can't see a thing. so there's someone on the ground cueing him through earphones in his ear. this next group prove that is the couple who plays together stays together. the red panda acrobat feature the husband and wife team of ted and nancy huey. >> nancy huey broke a record last year for most bowls on her head. she also holds the record for kicking and catching the bowls bowls on her head. there she goes. and this is one of my favorite groups in the parade. they are just so darling. big contingent. the 12-foot ribbon and handmade silk bands you're seeing here

express the movement of the wind and ocean waves. the dragon's wishes for a good year come loud and clear. >> chinese words for death and dragon are pronounced almost the same so they named the dragon death dragon. >> the dragons commanders must look for signals. >> you might wonder why they are able to follow the rhythm of the music. even though they aren't able to see it they can feel the

vibrations of the drums. he's climbing already. vu has closed the dragon every year. >> just arrived in china. the dragon also received blessings from a priest in portstmouth square sáel brace. >> there goes the closing. this ends another year of celebration -- portstmouth

square celebration. >> 300,000 fire crackers. >> wow. >> those highlights came from san francisco's chinese new year parade in 2000. the most recent chinese parade was in 1998. >> you will see the dragon there following the magical pearl. the pearl always proceeds strength. >> the group that's performed throughout california and most recently they've been asked to star in a first ever lion dance video on mtv for the chinese new year. look at these young people. let's just watch them for a while. >> that guy looks like he's drenched. but with stamina, he still keeps up great -- but great

stamina. looks like he's keeping up great. >> some of these children start as young as 2 years old, 3 years old. all of this the kung fu they stress physical fitness and not violence. >> exactly. if you knew that you wouldn't want to fight them any way. >> the eight mortals are next and that's what you're looking at. these are legendary characters that are said to have gained immortality by their studies. dragon's first appeared on the streets here after the images came to the coast. still to come on a second look, we take you back to 1964

and one man's view of the challenges facing san francisco's chinese american community. plus a bit later. go inside the forbidden city, the first all chinese nightclub in america.

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san francisco's chinese american population began mid-1 today china town is a center of significant political power in the city with the chinese american mayor, supervisors and state office holders: but for more than a century, it was the target of severely restrictive immigration laws and largely without political clout. in 1964 before any of the movements to enpower san francisco's chinese american, cloud man talked to a man who discussed the challenges surrounding his community. >> most of all elderly people

find themselves sitting in the family associations with friends, a few friends to pass the time of the day or many of them. most of them i would say congregate in porstmouth square, to sun, to visit, to play chinese checkers to pass the time away. there's no real structured program for the senior citizens in the china town area yet. >> there are many myths about the chinese people, the chinese families and china town itself. the close -- closeness of the family and that they take care of themselves. do you think this is holding back for you to look at the real problems. >> the myths can become an excuse. if you believe that people can take care of themselves, then you can look away from the problems that these people may have or any particular

community may have. 67% of those 25 and older have less than a seventh grade education, because of the language they are unable to find employment outside of the china town community. some of the housing in the area, although very, very crowded are adequate but for the most part it is very inadequate in terms of its crowdedness and in terms of the conditions that many of the housing available are in. >> well, are not the younger people who are growing up in china town being educated to the point where this problem would be a diminishing one over the years? >> this is precisely one of our problems as we've attempted to state publicly and that is those who have been educated and well trained, those who are able to handle the language well. the bilingual people, because of their economic advantage have been able to move outside

of the community so that the community in a real sense is having its best resources manpower resources being removed from the community because of housing. >> what can be done and who should do it to maintain what is best about china town and at the same time solve the mayor problems facing the people? >> china town is well structured but it lacks cohesiveness. there is really no one really speaking for china town or is able to rally and organize china town. this is a major need. >> when we come back on a second look, we go inside san francisco's forbidden city and look at the rich history of the first chinese america nightclub. a little later, the turn of the century quarantine that trapped thousands inside san francisco's china town and how one federal health official overcame it.

tonight on a second look, we're marking the chinese new year by remembering the year of the dragon. it comes every 12 years, one of those years would have been 1940. it was a time just before world world war i i. the nation has lived through depression. yet china town was vibrant with activity of daily life. if you were looking for a hot night spot you would have found it right on the edge of china town. it had opened just a year earlier. it has a distinctly chinese flavor. >> reporter: san francisco shimmered in its prewar sophistication. a little scruffy around its depression era edges, but still not hard to find a good time.

the year was 1939 and a new nightclub was lighting up the scene and making history in san francisco. there was of course the usual usual array of singers and dancers. but something was different. you would walk inside and suddenly you were in the forbidden city. all the performers, waiters, and owners were chinese. charlie lowe's forbidden city was the first chinese nightclub not only in san francisco but in the united states. >> i really think the attraction was charlie lowe himself. he was such a charismatic person. he just fit into the white world. >> reporter: charlie lowe owned horses, he raced horses, he had his own polo team and was himself an excellent horseman. he knew all of san francisco's right people and they came in

droves to his new nightclub. there were four chinese nightclubs in san francisco but forbidden city was the only one that was actually outside of china town. charlie lowe opened his nightclub on the second floor of this building in 1938. for the next 20 years, forbidden city was the most popular chinese nightclub in the entire country. what made forbidden city so popular besides the charm of charlie lowe? there was a built in fascination with what was perceived to be the forbidden part of forbidden city. chinese show girls, chinese singers and dancers, the nightclub was in a way its own cultural revolution. the performers were breaking out of a stereo type that had designed the chinese since they came to this country. >> chinese are really in the mode of thinking of being humble and dressing to cover everything and being more in

the quiet and demure side. here we're seeing musicians and almost burlesque. if a glimpse of stocking was looked at as shocking, then a true anything goes was a side of hollywood women chucking out their own traditions and breaking out, literally. chinese women, dancing, flirting, drinking alcohol. what would charlie lowe think of next. >> he had a mobile dancer during the fair. that's when dancing was forbidden in the streets. that's what started it. >> forbidden city was more than pretty girls, it was a showcase for talent. some made the jump to movies, others went on tour, but for all of them it began at forbidden city. >> and you look back on it, you know what pioneers these

performers were. i just don't think anybody considered themselves as quote a pioneer. they were just doing what they wanted to do. >> but realistically they could do these thingss at clubs like these. there was even a singer that was showcased as the chinese sinatra. >> i didn't like it but you had to take it. i tell you it was tough. >> the chinese you know you can't -- that's why forbidden city was a good place for them. >> reporter: during world war ii forbidden city reached its peak. it became the place for servicemen to celebrate before they shipped out. but when the war finally ended and the soldiers came home, the world was changing. the social fabric of the whole

world was changing. charlie lowe's place was just another nightclub, no longer a destination. by 1962 it was over and charlie lowe sold his beloved forbidden city. never forbidden but exotic, fun, even a cultural ground breaker, the nightclub was a bright spot on the canvas of an exciting city's night life. >> what's to become of it. this love of ours ♪ when we come back, on a second look. bubonic plague hits san francisco and leads to a quarantine of china town as authorities scapegoat chinese immigrants.

welcome to the solar generation road trip. if you want to know how solar energy is working for america, you have to go out and ask america. we're talking to people from coast to coast who are using solar power every day. from a few panels on a homeowner's roof. to large solar plants with enough utility power for a whole town. solar energy is working for america now. saving us money, creating new jobs and giving our world a brighter future. go solar! welcome to the solar generation >> the chinese new year began this past week. and we're marking the year of the dragon tonight on a second look. 1904 was the year of the dragon. it was also the year the federal authorities were finally able to end an

epidemic. ktvu's health and science editor john fowler first brought us this report in 2000. >> reporter: san francisco struggled at the turn of the 20th century, gold rush dreams had faded and pacific trade rim had just begun. people trapped themselves in san francisco by an economic recession. sould woman become america's first victims of -- some would become america's first victims of the bubonic plague. the conditions for the plague were perfect. the plague had devastated europe for decades but never before had it struck america ports. lack of access to health care combined to make the perfect

conditions for the plague. what happened next is a remarkable story of bigotry, of heroism and cover up. chris scott has researched this little known but significant san francisco epidemic. >> there was a raging epidemic. there were people dying every other day of the disease. and most of them were present in china town. >> fear and prejudice also raged. city officials quickly labeled it a chinese disease, rice eaters disease and refused to acknowledge that it was a plague. they cut off china town from the rest of the city, effectively inprisoning 20,000 people inside 12 blocks. this movie shows police arresting a man who had escaped out.

>> alien to our religion, alien to our association. they are a social, moral and community curse to the community. 1889. >> one man federal health warned that it was not quinon but a plague spread by rats and fleas. a biological threat to the entire city. quinon ordered health officials to go door to door. but the mayor and governor continued to deny it was a plague. >> labeled quinon as a charlton and someone who had simply

misdiagnosed a case of pneumonia as plague. as a result the plague really continued unchecked for the greater part of two years because of this policy. >> deaths mounted both inside and outside china town. this is a china town funeral procession. all the while quinon led a small band of doctors trying to stop the disease. economic disaster loomed. china sued the united states over the treatment of immigrant chinese in san francisco and that forced president william mchenry to order an inquiry and finally erratication efforts. people caught and killed rats. but 122 people had died. most scott says because of the denials and cover up.

>> if it apt -- hasn't been for j.j. quinon which is a local hero. i think the plague could have wiped out hundreds maybe thousands of people in san francisco at that time. the plague returned after the great earthquake and fire of 1906 which again created pet conditions for the disease. again infested rats fled destroyed stables. ironically, rat proofed china town escaped the worse of it this time. the 1907 plague spread up in ritzy nobhill and other communities. posters ranked all the residents, in fact, threatened them and this time newspapers had extensive coverage of the outbreak. the city paid a bounty on rats, a nickel a rat, more than 2 million were killed. what might have been a far worse epidemic was contained to about 75 deaths over the next two years but the plague did

not disappear. two more outbreaks over the next 20 years served as a warning that bubonic plague was accomplished in the rats in california. the city posts warnings in infected areas. >> because we only have one or two cases each year, the california public doesn't realize just how important the plague is. that it's out there and it's only because of the preventative measures that we don't have to hear about more cases. >> health officials say, those few cases of plague we have today may indeed be remnants of that initial san francisco plague epidemic in the first years of the 20th century. >> that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener, remember to tune in for live coverage of san francisco's chinese new year parade. thank you for watching. ññg