Liu successfully enables the reader to paint vivid pictures in their head through his use of great and intricate detail. "Peddlers lined the street, selling steamed buns and chicken feet and imitation Gucci bags" and "I wouldn't soil my shoes in the streams of putrid water that trickled down from the alleyways and into the parapet of trash bags piled up on the curb" (81). Personally, I've been to Chinatowns all over the country and Liu's vivid details immediately took me back in time to walking down Chinatown in San Francisco and looking at all the vendors selling food, the crowd pushing and shoving, and the inevitable imitation bags. Liu essentially transported me through his great imagery and sensory details.
Liu uses very intense sensory details to animate and highlight details from his visit to Chinatown. He details objects and items that normally go unseen and unnoticed by others. His description seems to change once he enters the market Golden Gate, he is more interested and much more intrigued, his description enhances.
His vocabulary and choice of diction also provide an element of detail. As he describes the New York license plate as incongruous, he implies that it is out of place and as he put it "foreign". It changes the mood of the paragraph, making the scenery seem very cultural rather than plain. When he describes the Golden Gate market, his choice of using "emporium" gives the illusion that the ground level was never-ending and majestic. Lastly, when he says he felt fortified after a trip to Chinatown, it shows that the cultural dominance and Chinese influence has a strong impact on Liu.
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