Abstract Wilson Tang was born in 1978 and grew up in Queens, New York. Tang’s parents decided to move out of Manhattan Chinatown to Queens for a better work environment. Tang later found his way back to Chinatown when he attended college at Pace University. After college, he went into a finance career, as parents wished. After working for a few years, he realized that he wanted to run a business. Thus, he opened a bakery at his father’s building on Allen street. The bakery ran from 2004 to 2007 and...

Abstract Wing Ma (Ma Wing Guo) was born in China to a poor farming family who moved to Hong Kong as refugees when he was age two. Wing talks about his life growing up in Hong Kong with his mother working in the garment industry and his father working as a chef in Manila. He studied until post-secondary school before moving to the United States to train and work as an engineer. Wing would eventually join the garment industry as a factory owner, and describes the industry’s decline over time due to...

Abstract Yvonne and Mike Thompson are restaurant owners who started their small business in Pounding Mill, Virginia. Their restaurant, Cuz’s, surprised their small coal mining neighborhood with Southern American and Chinese American fusion food. Yvonne was born in Hong Kong and moved to Missouri for college. During school, she worked at her uncle’s Chinese American restaurant in the south. She learned many recipes and techniques for him. When Yvonne and Mike met, they decided to fuse their recipes...

Abstract During the interview, Mr. San Yan Wong and Mrs. Rosanna Wong talked about Hunan Garden they owned and how the cooking demonstration attracted customers. They discussed the time when the Confucius Plaza was built and how people applied for it. They also talked about kids’ education, as well as how the family keeps the Chinese culture and traditions. They brought kids back to China often and keep their Chinese ancestry root. Mr, San Yan Wong also shared his publications and calligraphies that...

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Investment banker Savio Tung talks about his family life in China and their journey to the US. He talks about his father restaurant in Hong Kong, which went bankrupt and led to him crossing paths with American businessman Cornelius Vander Starr. He talks about how Starr was able to help his family in the US and provide valuable advice and guidance to him growing up. In the US, after going to school he gets a job working for Chase Manhattan bank and has a long time career in banking.

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In this interview, Wong family representatives, David, Nancy, and their mother discuss their early lives in Colorado, move to California and LA, their lives in San Francisco at school and at their grocery store, and family history of paper sons. This interview was conducted in English with few conversations in Toishanese.