Abandoned factory turned to "China town"...

[bwgv001]

Just curious what is the "china" in the china town?

[Banskojoe]

Verlo dobro

[Photogoof]

Interesting graffiti.

[Tale]

Someone named it China town, no actual Chinese around...

[runswithsizzers]

I like those last two.

[DeadJohn]

Someone named it China town, no actual Chinese around...

Interesting photos. It looks like the old factory was turned into a youth center and offices. I'm going to temporarily turn this thread into a Serbian / American history lesson

I'm curious how the name came to be. In the USA, every Chinatown I've encountered has lot of Chinese writing, Chinese people, etc. Is it maybe some sort of slang, where perhaps graffiti or something else at the site is called "china" in Serbian or other local languages?

Did a ceramics company previously occupy the building? In American English (and I think British English too), porcelains and ceramics are often called "china" because they were imported from China. The word stuck even when it's made in other countries.

Do you know anything about the "Route 66" building? That's a historic highway in the western United States. The sign even uses the US highway sign emblem, but different colors.

[Tale]

According to some local sources, factory was founded between WWI and WWII. During WWII it was bombed at least two times by allies. After WWII it was grouped with other small firms to form a large factory. Their main business was to make small metal accessories-bolts, screws, nuts, nails etc. I remember visiting factory at their last days at that location in 1974, while I was at technical school... After that, new factory was build on other part of town. Why the name of the Chinatown?- In the time of socialism, live business activity took place in this part of the city. According to the urban legend, the citizens of Novi Sad said that there were workers there as Chinese people, thinking of the number, and most probably the name was the Chinese Quarter. "Route 66" building is just polished front of one of those old buildings that served as club for local bikers, but nowadays seams closed.