Kimlau Square

In Kimlau Square stands one of Chinatown’s most recognizable landmarks, the Kimlau War Memorial, dedicated in 1961 to honor Second Lieutenant Benjamin Ralph Kimlau (1918-1944) and Chinese American soldiers who lost their lives while serving in the U.S. military. In 1997, a statue of Lin Zexu, the famed official from Fujian Province who led China’s resistance against the British importation of opium, was added to Kimlau Square by Chinatown’s newer immigrants from Fujian, and now a main commercial thoroughfare for the Fujianese.