Japantown is essentially right up the hill from Chinatown, and very different in terms of cleanliness etc.
I do wonder, however, what the guide said, on her last tour, concerning Our Lady of Maytag.
My theory on the Japanese cleanliness is this:
One time, EONS ago, a Chinese general went to Japan to conquer. The Japanese ARE of Oriental stock originally from China...as least, that's what THEY say.
Said Chinese general saw all the cleanliness there and saw all the DAILY BATHING the locals did in Japan. The Japanese sponge bathe and scrub themselves down FIRST before going into family-soaker-tub.
The general tried it, LOVED being clean and decided to stay there.
The end.
Thus, I will go to a Japanese restaurant ANY DAY of the week for dinner, but Chinese? Nope. Japantown STILL has spotless restaurants!
Occasionally I see a waiter in a Japanese restaurant who is Chinese and I DO comment, asking if the chef is Japanese or Chinese.
OF COURSE you ALL know how to spot a Chinese person. It's VERY easy and it NEVER fails, never. One of my Chinese students told me how, after I asked HIM how they can tell.
Japs are clean; Chinese are dirty. Why? I don’t know ‘cause I don’t read Pearl Buck. Suburban Chinese restaurants, though, can be quite nice. They’re learning!