By Patrick Murphy We call it Chinese New Year, but they call it Spring Festival. I’ve argued with many Chinese over the years about this misnaming. I think it should be called Winter Festival, because the weather is always cold. “No, no,” they tell me. “Now it is Spring and it will soon be warm!”Continue reading “New Year in Beijing”
Category Archives: Insights
A Chinese-American Tragedy (1979-91)
By Gary Libby from the May 2008 CAFAM Newsletter Portland area old timers will recall that, in 1979, a new kind of Chinese restaurant opened on Congress Street. It was called Hu Shang, and it offered a different menu from the familiar Cantonese-American fare, including Sichuan dishes that would set your mouth on fire. ItContinue reading “A Chinese-American Tragedy (1979-91)”
Review: Authenticating Tibet
Edited by Anne-Marie Blondeau and Katia Buffetrille (Univ. of Ca. Press 2008) Review by Craig Dietrich from May 2008 CAFAM Newsletter For people outside China, the Tibetan situation typically appears black and white. Probably most non-Asian Americans sympathize with the Dalai Lama and the exile Tibetans. Mostly it is a question of human rights andContinue reading “Review: Authenticating Tibet”
The Pekin Restaurant, Bangor, and Raymond Huang
By Gary Libby Wong Jack June opened the Pekin Restaurant in Bangor, Maine in the 1920s. He and his wife, Chin Ngan Kee, had one daughter and five sons. One of those sons, Raymond Li Min Huang, is the subject of this article. Raymond’s parents gave all of their children Chinese names. Their “American” namesContinue reading “The Pekin Restaurant, Bangor, and Raymond Huang”
Early Chinese Christians in Maine (1870-1918)
By Gary Libby from the March 2008 CAFAM Newsletter The earliest known reference to a Chinese person’s membership in a Maine church appeared in the Portland Press on December 26, 1870. It reported that Ar Tee Lam had joined the Congress Square Sunday School on Christmas Day and promised “to become a learner and goodContinue reading “Early Chinese Christians in Maine (1870-1918)”
Review: Shadow of the Silk Road
Shadow of the Silk Road, by Colin Thubron (HarperCollins 2007) Review by Craig Dietrich from November 2007 CAFAM Newsletter The “Silk Road” has taken on much glamour and romance as a tourist destination in recent years. One notable book that provides a glimpse into the halcyon years of the old trading routes between China andContinue reading “Review: Shadow of the Silk Road”
Review: Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China
Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China, by Zhengguo Kang (W. W. Norton 2007) Review by Cynthia Setchell Not long ago I read the autobiography of a Chinese Christian pastor of a “house church” in central China. House churches are illegal and have been suppressed by the government. The book told of imprisonments and tortures.Continue reading “Review: Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China”
On Chang E
By Craig Dietrich Chang E, the lady in the moon, appears in different versions of Chinese folk legends. She is usually paired with her husband, Hou Yi. The two immortals get demoted to mortals. Hou Yi manages to acquire a pill of immortality, but Chang E swallows it and flees to the moon. (Husbands takeContinue reading “On Chang E”
Portland’s Chinese ‘Rocky’
By Gary Libby In the late 1940s one Harry Wong battled his way into the boxing scene in southern Maine. Known variously as “little Chinese wildman” and “Bongo Bongo,” Harry fought thirty-seven bouts in the Portland and Lewiston areas between 1946 and 1948. He won seventeen (eleven by knockout) and came away with six draws.Continue reading “Portland’s Chinese ‘Rocky’”
Illegal Immigration
By Gary Libby from the September 2007 CAFAM Newsletter The following comes from the Portland Eastern Argus of April 24, 1895, and demonstrates to what lengths human traffickers would go to circumvent anti-Chinese immigration laws. IN VENTILATED COFFINS The Latest Scheme for Smuggling Chinamen into this Country Montreal, Que., April 23 – A gang ofContinue reading “Illegal Immigration”
