New York
The sign above the door of Nam Wah Tea Parlour has faded so much that you can't trace its original colour. The shop's name is in calligraphy from right to left, a style rare even in Doyers Street, one of the very traditional alleys in the heart of New York's Chinatown.
Inside, 75-year-old owner Wally Tang often sits in the dim light reading Chinese newspapers. He has owned the shop for more than 50 years, but it looks as if he was there when it opened in the 1920s.
The scene appeals not only to tourists, but to movie directors. The shop has seen many stars and been in many films.
The production companies pay Mr Tang between US$100 and US$2,000 to film in his tea house. So the US$5,000 offer from the production of Brooklyn's Finest, starring Richard Gere, was like a dream to Mr Tang. The crew planned to shoot in his shop for a day, and Mr Tang himself would also appear in the movie, having a conversation with Gere when the police officer he plays has lunch.
But on July 14, two days before the scheduled shooting, Mr Tang was told that the production didn't get a parking permit for its vehicles because of opposition from Chinatown residents, and the shoot was cancelled.
'It was such a disappointment,' Mr Tang said. 'When the crew come here, they are not only going to pay me, they are going to dine and shop in Chinatown - the whole neighbourhood will benefit. I don't understand why people oppose it.'