A lot has been written about China in recent years. So many people in the West think that there are virtually unlimited business opportunities there. Of course, this expectation has been very much exaggerated. There are a multitude of Chinese based businesses to buy from today on line. However, dealing directly with a Chinese based business can be risky. The costs of international shipping are expensive and it will take a very long time for your purchase to arrive.
Societies tend to resist changes. This is especially true in the areas of race and culture. It has always been natural for people to make judgments about other people.... regardless of the personal knowledge of the other persons. In fact, sometimes an individual person is so sure of their opinion the facts may not even matter. If such a person believes in the superiority of their own culture then it is easy to believe that foreigners, especially their influence, must be kept in check.
China is a society that has been increasingly opening up to the West for the past two or three hundred years. Granted, after the Communist victory in 1949 China was closed to the West for a few decades. However, that has today been radically changed! Yes, there was a time when China struggled to keep the influence of the West under control. This was particularly true during the early part of the 19th century.
If one desires to view Chinese culture in its fullest expression here in America, Chinatown is the natural place to go. Most Chinatowns in major US cities are specifically designed and maintained like a Chinese community. There is great food to enjoy, many sovenir shops, and even museums to introduce Chinese culture to the public. Of course, another very noteworthy influence of the Chinese is their art. The reputation of the Chinese demonstrates that their artists spend enormous precision with great skill and innovation in creating art. In fact, Chinese calligraphy and character tatoos have been extremely popular in America. These too are a significant part of the "Chinese American" culture.
In America there are many different kinds of people. In fact, people from all over the world live in the United States. One cultural group that I have found to be quite fascinating is the Chinese. Chinese people continue to have a noteworthy influence upon American society to the present time. Chinese Americans have been living in this country for many generations already.
This was not always the case. Chinese immigrants started coming to America beginning about 1820. However, there was a complete ban on Chinese immigration from 1885 to 1943. The reason for this was the "Chinese Exclusion Act." Sadly, this was another blatant form of racism and prejudice passed into law by the Congress and signed by the President. Until 1965 Chinese immigration was greatly restricted. On the positive side, the following years since then have witnessed many more Chinese people immigrating to America.
A common theme in many of Amy Tan's books is the personal conflict between a traditional Chinese mother and her American-born daughter raised in the West. This theme is very important as one considers the total work of Tan. There is a good reason for this kind of drama. In Amy Tan's own life such a conflict existed for a time between herself and her own mother. In fact, the two of them did not speak for six months after Amy, as a young woman, left the Baptist college her mother had selected for her. She followed her boyfriend to San Jose City College instead. Amy further rejected her mother's plans for her life by abandoning the pre-medical course of study she had originally started following. Amy chose English and linguistics as an educational career path. She went on to receive her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in these fields at San Jose State University in 1974. Later, she and her boyfriend, Louis DeMattei, were married. They settled eventually in the San Francisco area.
