Philadelphia's Chinatown was almost exclusively Chinese until the beginning of the 1960s. Over the period 1974 to 1984 various resettlement agencies placed approximately 20,000 refugees (70% of whom were Southeast Asians) in the Philadelphia area. Although many of them reside outside Chinatown, some do live and do business in Chinatown. As Asian American United's Lisa Yau puts it, "Chinatown today is becoming an Asiantown."

The influx of new immigrants from Southeast Asia has reshaped the landscape of Chinatown as entrepreneurs from new cultural groups, such as Vietnamese and Thai, open restaurants and specialty shops in the area.