Perhaps you’re interested in cooking demonstrations from various Chinatown restaurants whose cooking showcase a variety of regional cuisines and cooking techniques?

Wait, what about an interactive dance workshop with Ballroom Madness? This class, which includes Waltz, Foxtrot, and Tango, is for beginners – the basic steps of each dance will be taught – but all are welcome to join in and dazzle on the dance floor.

You’re invited to dance to the sounds of KCRW DJ Raul Campos, who was born and raised in East L.A. Raul has his finger on the pulse of what makes this city beat. House, down-tempo, urban-soul, and Latin rhythms blend together for a killer mix.

And this is just the first night.

Starting at 5:00pm and held at West Plaza and Chung King Road, Chinatown Summer Nights is held for four Saturday nights in the month of August. Each night features music, food, dancing, learning, and fun for the whole family.

If you haven’t explored Chinatown, Summer Nights is the perfect opportunity. If you do know Chinatown, you know the Summer Nights is not to be missed.

Lastly it’s free. So let’s Par-tay at the 2010 Chinatown Summer nights festival.

Although its gates were closed while I was there, it didn’t mean that I couldn’t feel its vibe–the feel of the garden, its community spirit, and all the love and care of the community garden which was given, came to life during somewhat of clairvoyant moment.

Occupying the former site of the Solano Avenue Elementary School, which was torn down in 1935 shortly after construction of the Pasadena Freeway, the Solano Canyon Community Garden was established by the nearby community 11 years ago.

An amazing fact about this garden is that the freeway runs alongside—and under—the garden.  Part of the orchard is actually situated above the second tunnel of the northbound lane of the Interstate 101 highway.

The first thing that caught my attention was the inlay tile that surrounds the entrance to the Solano Canyon Community Garden. It only took a moment for me to realize what I’d found, but upon that realization, the wonders only increased.

Two thirds of the garden space are devoted to orchard and hillside planting beds for non-local farmers, and the remainder consists of common areas and 30 individual garden plots.

Clearly the love and care that went into each tile design, is a marked degree of both creativity as well as a Public Art monument. It was created and transformed with very small pieces of tile, as all of its pieces were put together to form the overall pattern–therefore by default, this artwork catches the eye as well as keeps the eye.

At the base of the stairs that lead to the Garden’s Gate, you’ll see this

Even though the gates were locked, I was able to get this photo. As time is always the great destroyer, the gardens have only lost a little of their flair—it’s respite with life, love, and freshness. Here, people are growing food to put on their tables, herbs to season their dishes, and flowers to add color to their homes.

Growing is what gardens, gardening, and gardening is all about, and there is no better way to demonstrate that than by including children in the growing process. Because, after all, aren’t we all children at heart?

According to the artist, Chusien Chang, the goal of her installation was to “address the historical development of Chinatown through an overlay of Eastern and Western cultures past and present.” Source: Wheels of Change

Underneath the station’s top tier, is a small and shaded seating area, which provides an area to relax before or after a train ride.

At the heart of the station’s design ethos, is what Chang called, “I-Ching Dial:”

In its center lies this multi colored, hued, and numbered compass. This was inlaid and intended to be a reminder that the Chinese people originally invented this vital navigation tool, as well as providing a reference point for Gold Line passengers.

Moving outward from the compass are four rings of different material, each divided into 64 sections. The corresponding sections of the rings say the same thing in different languages. The ring closest to the compass has an English text, the next ring has inlaid Chinese characters, the third ring has the I-Ching– one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts, hexagram symbols– and the outer-most ring has its numerical equivalent.

With its amalgamation of design, wide ranging community, Chinatown’s Metro station is a steady and constant memoire, what the government and a neighborhood can achieve when working together.