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Zayton—an Arabic transliteration of Citongcheng, present-day Quanzhou in southeastern China—was one of the earliest entry points for Muslims arriving in China via the Maritime Silk Road. In the Middle Ages, this cosmopolitan port city was home to an extraordinary convergence of cultures and faiths, with Buddhist, Hindu, and Manichaean temples standing alongside Islamic mosques and Christian churches.
New York, known as New Amsterdam during its Dutch colonial period and as Lenapehoking by the Indigenous Lenape people, received its current name in 1664 when the British renamed it in honor of the Duke of York. The English city of York itself traces its origins back to Roman times.
“From Zayton to New York” is a concert series that explores the movement of people and the transmission of music, culture, and ideas carried by immigrants. The series launches at Beef Up Noodle, a Chinese Muslim restaurant in Midtown South poised to become a cultural landmark. Its intimate dining space offers an alternative to traditional concert halls—bringing music back into the rhythms of daily life.
The title reflects both historical depth and geographic breadth. Temporally, it signals layers of accumulated history; spatially, it embraces a global musical landscape. The journey from Zayton to New York may follow the ancient westward route along the Silk Road to Europe and across the Atlantic—or it may head eastward across the Pacific to the American West Coast, continuing overland to the East Coast—mirroring the path taken by many Chinese immigrants in the 19th century. The series presents music from across the globe, with a special emphasis on Asia.
“From Zayton to New York: Voices of the World in Midtown” is curated by See & Sea Cultural Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of Asian minority communities, in collaboration with Beef Up Noodle.