Tea at the night market

Tianyuan Li, 37, remembers attending night markets as a girl in China.

"Every day after dinner, it was too hot to stay inside," Li said. "You go out, talk to people, sit down and drink tea, then go home."

It was a lot like Saturday's night market in Hing Hay Park, said Li, who now lives in Arlington and attended the event with her husband, Steve Tenison, and two children, 5-year-old Jasmine and 3-year-old Gabriel.

Li, one of several performers at the night market, teaches Wu Shu, a traditional form of martial arts that she began studying in China at the age of 8.

On Saturday night, she exhibited her skills with the Tai Chi fan and double swords.

The market was the second of three planned this month in Seattle's Chinatown International District. An estimated 2,000 people attended, said Mish Lin, who works with the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area, which helped organize the event. The final market of the summer is scheduled from 5 to 11 p.m. next Saturday at the park, at South King Street and Maynard Avenue South.

Now in its second year, the market is meant to revitalize the crime-plagued area, said city parks spokeswoman Dewey Potter. Police have long focused on Hing Hay Park, where there were 30 drug arrests and at least five assaults last year. A task force four years ago recommended making the parks more inviting and lively, and the night markets are part of that "downtown parks renaissance," Potter said.

Night markets make the neighborhood more welcoming by removing some of the mystery associated with the often-insular Asian community, said Maribeth Ellis, executive director of the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area.

"There's something different down here, and it's hard to identify what it is when the most common language you hear is Cantonese," Ellis said. "People can feel like strangers in their own country. So that's where the night market comes along. It really showcases the culture."

The event was modeled after traditional night markets in Asia, said spokeswoman Annie Malik. During hot summer nights in Taiwan and other countries, people escape their homes and buy snacks from street vendors, play games and talk with their neighbors, Malik said. Cities with large Asian immigrant populations, such as New York, San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C., have adopted the tradition, she said, drawing crowds of Asian elders and families as well as non-Asian neighbors.

Seattle's night market aimed to attract people from Capitol Hill, Belltown, Pioneer Square, the University District and Beacon Hill — particularly "adventuresome" young people looking for good food and a good time, Ellis said. The hope is that people will sample the food and culture and then come back for more during the day, bringing more outside business to an area primarily patronized by the immigrant community.

"We need to not make it so isolated and insular," Ellis said. "That needs to happen for economic reasons, too. You can't keep pulling from your own."

The series of markets spotlights different aspects of Asian culture. The first focused on international dance. This week's will have an Olympics theme.

Saturday's market, which centered on martial arts, included Wu Shu performances, a traditional band, an improv comedy group, a kung-fu demonstration and an open-air screening of the Jet Li movie "Hero." Vendors sold handmade jewelry, calligraphy and clothing from booths along South King Street. Tables for Mah-jongg and Chinese chess lined Maynard Avenue South, and a Manga artist drew caricatures for $1 per sketch.

But the big draw was the food. People lined up along South King Street to buy fried rice and noodles, dim sum, sushi and humbows from booths run by local restaurants. One popular stand was Beard Papa's, which sells Japanese vanilla cream puffs, an Asian adaptation of the traditional French dessert. The chain will open its first Seattle location in Uwajimaya Village in September, said Joana Chong, who owns that franchise.

"We really wanted the night market to stay about all the senses," Ellis said. "The food really is representative of the community and the district, not food you can get at any street fair."

Seattle's night market lacked meat-on-a-stick and other more traditional foods, said Tara Chen, who lives on Capitol Hill and attended night markets in her native Taiwan.

"I was expecting it to be bigger and better, but the performances were good, and they get an A for effort," Chen said.

She attended with a large group of friends, most of whom live on Capitol Hill and had never been to a night market. They learned of the event from a friend who had read about it on the Internet.

"I didn't even know what I was coming to, so I thought, 'Wow, this is interesting,' " said Sandeep Khot, who said he probably would come back for a night market again.

That kind of reaction led organizers to call the event a success.

"Then people go, 'Oh, I feel a little more understanding of the community.' It doesn't feel quite so alien." Ellis said. "We want to remove the mystery but leave the mystique."

Noelene Clark: 206-464-2321 or nclark@seattletimes.com