The Chinese who struggled in US and the classmate who made it at home

[Randy W]

from the SCMP. The stories aren't especially stand-outs, but may be of interest (decide for yourself). Comparisons of the lives of those who immigrated in the 90's versus those who stayed behind or came back.

 

 

The Chinese who struggled in US and their classmate who made it at home

In the 1980s and ’90s, thousands of young men from a single county in Fujian risked life and limb for a shot at the American dream. Some turned back and are living the Chinese dream instead

http://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2017/03/03/79b243ec-fd6d-11e6-bf00-4be039112d75_972x.JPG

 

When He flew to the US, in 1986, he did so on a business visa and in business class. And on a one-way ticket; He was thinking of joining schoolmates already established in the land of opportunity.

“Those days, we all believed in the US you could make more money than anywhere else,” says He, in his office in Fuzhou. Three months later, he was on his way back to Hong Kong.

“I learned that in order to stay, you had to apply for politi­cal asylum and had to say you were persecuted by the Chinese government. That would have been a lie for me,” explains He. “I couldn’t lie.” But that was only one reason. “I realised that, without speaking English, I may have had to work in a restaurant for my whole life.”

 

 

[Greg.D.]

"That would have been a lie for me,” explains He. “I couldn’t lie."

 

Instead I went back to China and became an honest businessman.