Chinese Gold: The Hidden History of Chinese in The Bay by Sandy Lydon

ValleyRain International, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural organization, was founded in March 2015 in the San Francisco Bay Area.We were founded with the mission of building a bridge between Aisa and North America cultures.To date, we have hosted upwards of 500 cultural events in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas，Beijing, and Shanghai, among other cities. At these events, we gather leading voices in the field to engage in dialogue and share knowledge.谷雨书苑2015年创立于旧金山湾区，致力于促进中美文化交流。迄今为止, 谷雨在旧金山湾区，洛杉矶，北京，上海等地举办了超过500场的线下文化交流分享活动。邀请为谷雨做过分享的嘉宾包括，知名导演贾樟柯，“最牛历史老师”袁腾飞，知名学者秦晖，北京四中国际教育创始人石国鹏，奇葩说冠军邱晨，詹青云，知名辩手艾力，等。谷雨书苑接下来还会邀请更多文化圈的名人大咖，知名学者和大家见面，敬请期待。

谷雨书苑 ValleyRain International

A conversation with author Sandy Lydon and George Ow on the hidden history of 
Chinese in the Monterey Bay Region with multimedia exhibition

Shenzhen Bay Innovation Center

<ul><li>Did you know that Chinese immigrants initially arrived in the Bay Area during the mid-19th century, but had to wait a full century to be recognized as normal US citizens?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you know that Santa Cruz once had five distinct Chinatowns, and today, none of them exist?</li></ul> <ul><li>Did you know that the hidden history of Chinese immigrants in Monterey Bay, even unfamiliar to most Chinese Americans nowadays, is uncovered by a non-Chinese author's award-winning book?</li></ul> Join us in exploring the history of Monterey Bay Chinese Americans, with Sandy Lydon, the author of award-winning Chinese Gold; George Ow, one of the last residents of Santa Cruz's final Chinatown; Rui Li, an educator and founder of Flex Kids Culture; and Haoze Li, a UCSC linguist interested in the language of heritage Chinese bilinguals. They will unveil this history through compelling conversations and multimedia exhibitions hosted by VallyRain and Flex Kids Culture. 谷雨书苑联合Flex Kids Culture邀请您一起探索蒙特雷湾华裔美国人的一段不为人知的历史，与获奖畅销书《中国金》的作者Sandy Lydon、Santa Cruz当年唐人街的居民George Ow、Flex Kids Culture 创始人Rui Li和UCSC语言学家Haoze Li一同交流。他们将通过引人入胜的对话和多媒体展览来展现这段尘封的华人移民血泪史。

English/Chinese version of the book will be available for purchase on site and online at <a href="https://www.flexkids.org/products" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.flexkids.org/products</a>.

C﻿hinese Gold - The Chinese in The Monterey Bay Region

<h2>The Author: Sandy Lydon</h2>Sandy is Historian Emeritus at Cabrillo College where he taught Asian and Asian American History beginning in 1968. He was a Fulbright scholar at the East-West Center, Honolulu where he studied East Asian History and Japanese.  He made his first visit to Japan in 1966 on a State Department scholarship, and led his first group to Japan in 1974.  Since then he has led groups to China, Mongolia, Siberia, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Ireland and the United Kingdom. He has written widely on the history of Asian immigrants to the Monterey Bay Region including the award-winning Chinese Gold, and the Japanese in the Monterey Bay Region.According to Sandy Lydon, in Chinese Gold, if we look diligently, however, we will indeed find their marks indelibly etched in these seaside towns: "Though the Chinese are not explicitly mentioned in the local and regional histories, if you hold each page to the light you can make out a faint pattern. The longer you look, the stronger the pattern becomes. The Chinese are in the very paper, they are the watermark."

The Author S﻿andy Lydon

<h2>About The Book:</h2>Bending to back-breaking work in the fields, on the water, and in service to rail lines, Chinese immigrants to the Monterey Bay area poured sweat and ingenuity into the industries that drove nineteenth-century economic growth: fishing, agriculture, and railways. And yet, ask a passerby in downtown Santa Cruz about the location of a historic Chinatown, and you will likely be met with a blank stare."Few people realize that bustling Chinatowns once thrived in Monterey, Watsonville, Santa Cruz, and Salinas. Just as few realize that were it not for the Chinese, the region's tourist industry and phenomenally productive agriculture might never have been. This first-ever study of the Chinese in the Monterey Bay Region traces their history from the arrival of the first fishing people in the 1850s to the contributions of present-day leaders in the community. In recovering a history made invisible by neglect and prejudice, Chinese Gold sheds light on the whole of Chinese experience in America, revealing the proud saga of a resourceful, inventive, and courageous people who pursued the American dream against incredible odds" – Provided by publisher.In fact, 98 Chinese lived in the towns and villages that dotted this coastal crescent in 1880. They built homes, developed businesses and set down roots – their descendants are today among the most prominent and prosperous of local families. Yet, their stories are largely untold. Dancing between distrust of government agencies and fear of common prejudice, many chose to live as quietly and anonymously as possible. In an era marked by such catastrophic policy as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, passing unnoticed afforded them some personal and economic protection. Obscurity was both a survival mechanism and also an unfortunate result of a socially marginalized existence. Bending, but not breaking, they worked, they raised families, and they built communities but in most cases, they left barely a trace.

S﻿anta Cruz Dragon Gate with George Ow

<h2>Learn More</h2>About Sandy Lydon: <a href="https://www.sandylydon.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.sandylydon.com/</a>About George Ow: <a href="https://www.goodtimes.sc/george-ows-chinatown/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.goodtimes.sc/george-ows-chinatown/</a>A﻿bout Rui Li and Flex Kids Culture: <a href="https://www.flexkids.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.flexkids.org/</a>A﻿bout Haoze Li: <a href="https://haozeli-ling.github.io/haozeli/LHZ.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://haozeli-ling.github.io/haozeli/LHZ.html</a>About Santa Cruz Chinatown: <a href="https://www.santacruz.org/blog/the-last-chinatown-in-santa-cruz/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.santacruz.org/blog/the-last-chinatown-in-santa-cruz/</a>

<h2>Date &amp; Time</h2>Saturday, November 18, 20232:30pm - 4:30pm<h2>Location</h2>S﻿henzhen Bay Innovation Center3120 Scott Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95054<h2>A﻿bout VallyRain</h2>ValleyRain International, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural organization, was founded in March 2015 in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were founded with the mission of building a bridge between Aisa and North America cultures. To date, we have hosted upwards of 500 cultural events in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas，Beijing, and Shanghai, among other cities. At these events, we gather leading voices in the field to engage in dialogue and share knowledge.

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Chinese Gold: The Hidden History of Chinese in The Bay by Sandy Lydon

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Chinese Gold: The Hidden History of Chinese in The Bay by Sandy Lydon

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