By Gary Libby from the March 2006 CAFAM Newsletter Gary Libby has published an article “Historical Notes on Chinese Restaurants in Portland, Maine” in Chinese America (2006). This is from the journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America. Through meticulous research, Gary has recreated the story of these eating places starting with the first ChineseContinue reading “History of Portland’s Chinese Restaurants”
Category Archives: Insights
Early Chinese Students in Maine – Bowdoin College
By Gary Libby In a previous article, Gary Libby described the first Chinese students to appear in Maine colleges. Although the first one (Tsu Sheng Linn, 1909) ended up in the Thomaston prison, those who followed had rather better success. In this second part, we meet the first students at Bowdoin. The first Chinese studentContinue reading “Early Chinese Students in Maine – Bowdoin College”
On Learning Chinese
By Barry Hilton Some western missionaries felt that Chinese was invented by Satan “to keep the gospel out of China.” Is it the most difficult language in the world? If you ask professional linguists that question, most will probably say that every language is complex in some ways and simple in others, and that theyContinue reading “On Learning Chinese”
Early Chinese Students in Maine (1909-29)
By Gary Libby Gary Libby, who was instrumental in establishing the Chinese Archive at the Maine Historical Society, has continued his research into Chinese in Maine. The most recent result of these investigations is the following account of the very first Chinese college students in Maine institutions. This is the first part of a two-partContinue reading “Early Chinese Students in Maine (1909-29)”
“Buck” Freeman
By Mike Palmer While house hunting in North Carolina recently, I met a professor whose work in East Asian Studies at Davidson College is supported by a grant from the Freeman Foundation. In the course of our conversation I told her of my interest in the Stilwell Museum in my home town of Chongqing. SheContinue reading ““Buck” Freeman”
Review: War Trash
War Trash, by Ha Jin (Vintage 2005) Review by Craig Dietrich from May 2005 CAFAM Newsletter Ha Jin, Professor of English at Boston University, is a rare writer who can work successfully in a second language. He learned English as an adult. His novel Waiting won the 1999 National Book Award and the 2000 PEN/FaulknerContinue reading “Review: War Trash”
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”
The Pekin Restaurant, Bangor
By Gary Libby CAFAM recently acquired four photographs of the former Pekin Restaurant in Bangor. These 1920s vintage photos, showing the exterior and interior, complement an oral interview of Raymond Li Min Huang, the son of the Pekin’s founder. CAFAM also obtained a photo of Raymond, then known as Raymond Jones, as a 6-year-old childContinue reading “The Pekin Restaurant, Bangor”
A Voyage to Yangkow
By Donald MacInnis Last weekend I visited Yangkow, the small market town downriver from the Nanping Teachers College where I live and teach. I took a 2-hour train to Nanping, and then a one-hour ride in a friend’s car to Yangkow where I spent my first year in China at age 20, 1940-41, teaching inContinue reading “A Voyage to Yangkow”
1421: The Year China Discovered America
By Gavin Menzies (Harper Perennial 2004) Review by Craig Dietrich CAFAM members may know that for several years a book by Gavin Menzies, 1421: The Year China Discovered America , has been causing controversy. On January 19, 2003, Ed Gargan reviewed the book in Newsday. Here are a few paragraphs: Gavin Menzies, a former BritishContinue reading “1421: The Year China Discovered America”
Chinese American Friendship Association of Maine 