In Performing Chinatown, Gow examines how Chinese Americans in Los Angeles leveraged performances in Hollywood films and Chinatown tourist attractions to shape perceptions of race and national belonging during the Chinese exclusion era (1875-1965). Drawing on oral history interviews, archival research, and family collections, the book traces the relationship between Los Angeles Chinatown and Hollywood, demonstrating how everyday Chinese Americans used performance to shape dominant perceptions of Asian Americans.

Dr. William Gow is a community historian with the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and an assistant professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento.