When nine-year-old Li, her mother, and brother Puck arrive from China at Angel Island immigration center in 1921, Li fears she will be deported for failing the tests. Includes historical notes and glossary.
Looks at the history of the port of entry off the coast of California that was "the other Ellis Island" for Asian immigrants to the United States between 1892 and 1940.
In this dramatic memoir of early-twentieth century immigration, author Li Keng Wong shares her family's difficult journey from rural China to a new life in California. In 1933, seven-year-old Li Keng's life changed forever when her father decided to bring his family from a small village in southern China to California. Getting to America was not easy, as their family faced America's strict anti-Chinese immigration laws that meant any misstep could mean deportation and disgrace. Life in America during the Great Depression brought many exciting surprises as well as many challenges. Hunger, poverty, police raids, frequent moves, and the occasional sting of racism were a part of everyday life, but slowly Li Keng and her family found stability and a true home in "Gold Mountain." An author's note contains photos and an update on Li Keng Wong's family. This evocative memoir presents the joys and sorrows of pursuing the American Dream during a time of racism and great poverty, but also immense opportunity. The book also contains information on Angel Island and its significance in history as well as an explanation of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Just turned twelve, Lily is the oldest of the three children in her Chinese American family living in San Francisco when the 1906 earthquake hits; her family has survived the quake, but as the city starts to burn Lily and her younger brother are separated from the others and must get to the safety of Oakland across the bay and hope that the rest of their family and friends are there waiting for them--but between the fire and the anti-Chinese violence it is not certain that any of them will survive. Includes nonfiction backmatter, a glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts.
Want to buy property in Hong Kong, but don’t know where to start? It’s easier than you think. Over five years, Christopher Dillon—a unilingual expat—bought and renovated an office, an apartment and a factory in Hong Kong.Based on this experience he wrote Landed: The expatriate’s guide to buying and renovating property in Hong Kong. Landed Hong Kong explains how properties are bought and sold. It introduces the players and the parts of the buying process that are unique to Hong Kong. It profiles the neighborhoods that are popular with expatriates, and outlines alternatives to investing in residential property. And it looks at how to successfully renovate your new property, using case studies with budgets and lessons learned. Landed Hong Kong concludes with a list of resources covering everything from architects to utilities.
Winner of the American Library Association's 2021 Asian/Pacific American Award for Best Picture Book! An inspiring picture-book biography of animator Tyrus Wong, the Chinese American immigrant responsible for bringing Disney's Bambi to life. Before he became an artist named Tyrus Wong, he was a boy named Wong Geng Yeo. He traveled across a vast ocean from China to America with only a suitcase and a few papers. Not papers for drawing--which he loved to do--but immigration papers to start a new life. Once in America, Tyrus seized every opportunity to make art, eventually enrolling at an art institute in Los Angeles. Working as a janitor at night, his mop twirled like a paintbrush in his hands. Eventually, he was given the opportunity of a lifetime--and using sparse brushstrokes and soft watercolors, Tyrus created the iconic backgrounds of Bambi. Julie Leung and Chris Sasaki perfectly capture the beautiful life and work of a painter who came to this country with dreams and talent--and who changed the world of animation forever.
From 1910 to 1940, over half a million people sailed through the Golden Gate, hoping to start a new life in America. But they did not all disembark in San Francisco; instead, most were ferried across the bay to the Angel Island Immigration Station. For many, this was the real gateway to the United States. For others, it was a prison and their final destination, before being sent home. In this landmark book, historians Erika Lee and Judy Yung (both descendants of immigrants detained on the island) provide the first comprehensive history of the Angel Island Immigration Station. Drawing on extensive new research, including immigration records, oral histories, and inscriptions on the barrack walls, the authors produce a sweeping yet intensely personal history of Chinese "paper sons," Japanese picture brides, Korean students, South Asian political activists, Russian and Jewish refugees, Mexican families, Filipino repatriates, and many others from around the world. Their experiences on Angel Island reveal how America's discriminatory immigration policies changed the lives of immigrants and transformed the nation. A place of heartrending history and breathtaking beauty, the Angel Island Immigration Station is a National Historic Landmark, and like Ellis Island, it is recognized as one of the most important sites where America's immigration history was made. This fascinating history is ultimately about America itself and its complicated relationship to immigration, a story that continues today.
From the bestselling author of Yellow Crocus comes a heart-wrenching story about finding strength in a new world. Southern China, 1923. Desperate to secure her future, Mei Ling's parents arrange a marriage to a widower in California. To enter the country, she must pretend to be her husband's first wife--a paper wife. On the perilous voyage, Mei Ling takes an orphan girl named Siew under her wing. Dreams of a better life in America give Mei Ling the strength to endure the treacherous journey and detainment on Angel Island. But when she finally reaches San Francisco, she's met with a surprise. Her husband, Chinn Kai Li, is a houseboy, not the successful merchant he led her to believe. Mei Ling is penniless, pregnant, and bound to a man she doesn't know. Her fragile marriage is tested further when she discovers that Siew will likely be forced into prostitution. Desperate to rescue Siew, she must convince her husband that an orphan's life is worth fighting for. Can Mei Ling find a way to make a real family--even if it's built on a paper foundation?