The Life of Yang Lao as a Chinese Immigrant

The Life of Yang Lao as a Chinese Immigrant

 Yong Lao is a sixty-four-year-old Chinese America man living in Pasadena, California. He was born in Guangzhou in a typical traditional Chinese family. He lived in a family of seven siblings and two parents. He comes from an average income family that earned enough to sustain them by working in the local industry. The family had sufficient to sustain them but not in a satisfying a good living condition. His parents worked hard to ensure that each of his siblings got a chance to receive an education. Yao studies up to high school because of the hard economic challenge he did not have the opportunity to pursue further education. Lao married at the age of 28 and only had one daughter. She is aged thirty-four and is the one currently taking care of him. Yao is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese but still has difficulty in speaking English. He had to learn it so it could help him communicate in his business activities. While in China, his job included selling clothes in a local market stall. After moving to America, he started working in odd jobs like laundry before starting a restaurant. His daughter became took over the business after it became hard to manage. Currently, he is retired, enjoying his life. Mr. Yao is a significant historical person who helps in passing down important life histories by teaching the present generation of children.

As a Chinese resident, Yao went through struggles in china before he migrated to the US. He worked as a vendor, but his business was not working for him. He was the firstborn of the family, and his father dies while he was about to finish high school. The burden of educating and caring for his sibling fell on him. Life was going well until in1989 when the country went through political turmoil. The islanders tried to map out the boundaries, and the result was a struggle and fight for political change. The domestic unrest and economic uncertainty prompted him to seek alternatives to improve his family condition. This made him resort to run away to such a better opportunity to support his family and escape the political instability.

Yao lived in a time of recovery after the end of World War II. This the period when mainland politic collapsed into a civil war between the republic of china and the communist party of china. Though he had no direct experience with the war, he knows much of what happened from stories he heard from his parents, relatives, and community member. They would always recall the brutally of war, and he felt as if he experienced it. He would here people in his village who went to fight in Japan and never came back. Nevertheless, no member of his family served during the war. Japan was the main country with enemies all through World War II. In the Korean and Vietnam wars is described as the enemy and the invader. What he remembers most is the stories on China’s civil war that broke after World War 2. The Kuomintang Nationalists were involved in the war, which resulted in the death and injuries of millions of people. His family was speared because it was outside the conflict zone. He remembers how his father praised the government for punishing its thorough trials, forced labor, and execution. Yao got to meet some of the veterans who survived would always what to know about their patriotic act. This is how he got to know how Japan was considered as traitors.

He knows about the cold war between Russia and the US. However, this did not directly impact him. He knows that China supported the Soviet Union and the shifted alliance to join economic giants like the US and Britain. To him, this was a great thing he says, “the great relationship between the countries is what made china grow now.” The relationship between China and the US and Europe is what led to economic reforms. China played a significant role in the fall soviet union. This was because they depended heavily on them for food and fuel. He does not know much about the civil rights movements. What he knows is only from what he saw and heard on the media. His is knowledge in this sector is limited, but he has clues about what it entails. He understands that the movement was a struggle for social justice that happened in America right around the time he was born, and it involves blacks. Yao believes this was an important moment for marginalized people like him. Civil rights movement is when blacks wanted equal rights under the law in the United States. The existing civil law had achieved in abolishing slavery, but it did not stop the discrimination of blacks. They endured the devastating impacts of racism and experience violence. Yao knows about the Jim craw law, which he heard from his daughter. He cursed how the law would separate people just because of their color. He wondered how this law managed to stay in place until that late in the century before the government finally decided to work on it.

In terms of women’s liberation, he still has limited knowledge of what it entails as it happened when he was still young. This was also because he was an immigrant who came to the US later in his life. However, he got to learn about it in school. Yao knows it involves women in their struggles to achieve equality and free them from the oppression of male supremacy. This happened mostly in the USA in the years 1970’s and 1980’s. He supports such movement and wishes there could be more female leaders as they are smart and know how to balance many things at a time. To him having women with authority makes the world a better place. He gives an example of how his daughter has managed to grow his restaurant business more than he could ever manage.

In politics, Yao is not involved match in his life. He believes politicians are only playing games with people’s minds and tell them impossible things to get their votes. After moving to America, Yao has never participated in elections since he is not yet a citizen. He is a US national and does not have some rights like voting. He also knows little about politics because candidates do not always sort him or convince him to vote. He says he only watches the politician on TV and has never gotten an opportunity to meet one. Nevertheless, he knows a significant history in the US since he migrated to the US. One of the significant events that affected him is the subprime crisis. This was the time when the mortgage crisis occurred in banks across the world. He knows this because he was planning on purchasing a house. It happened because banks sold many mortgages to feed the increasing demand from the people as the economic status was stabilizing. With the fall of the prices, it resulted in risks spreading to a mutual fund in the bank and pension fund. He was fortunate not to be affected as he was still establishing himself by working in small jobs and storing his savings in his house. Another significant event that happened while he was in the US was the September 11, when the terrorist bombed New York building. This was one of the scariest days in his life as a Chinese immigrant. It was sad watching how thousands of people lost their lives. He even conspired to return to China, where there is always peace. Yao believes that by following Confucian laws, no such thing can never happen. He hopes that peace will continue all through by following our morality and principle.

Yao is now a retired man living a happy life full adventure. He looks after his grandson, and his work involves teaching him their Chinese culture. He wants him to grow, knowing where he comes from and his identity as a Chinese. He also works with other children from families of Chinese origin by teaching them about their history. He runs a small school that he give them narratives of this significant event both from china and his experience in America. He teaches them how to speak both Mandarin and Cantonese. Educate them on dressing style and their food time. He gives them their history and how they are now eroding.