Frank Yan's Oral History

Frank Yan's Oral History

Frank Yan introduces his mother’s background in Portland, Oregon, where his grandfather ran several businesses before returning to China when his mother was a teenager. He describes his parents’ arranged marriage in Toisan, his mother’s experiences in a Communist re-education labor camp, and how his mother escaped to Hong Kong and acquired visas for the family to immigrate to San Francisco in 1955 when Yan was one. Yan shares his early memories at the Chinese market his father opened in Tuscon, Arizona before opening a gift shop in Chinatown, Los Angeles, where Yan became one of the “Chung King Road Kids” directly represented in Leo Politi’s children’s book “Moy Moy.” Yan describes working at Hong Sang Lung market, joining Jeff Yang’s Golden Lion Dancers troupe, and attending Castelar Elementary School and Chinese school, where he describes his favorite childhood games and local foods. He concludes his interview about his “enjoyable childhood” by mentioning a prank in a cooking class, working at a drive-in hamburger stand in Inglewood, and how his mother’s home cooking gained demand in Chinatown.

Asian American Pacific Islander Oral History Project

Asian American Pacific Islander Oral History Project

California State University, Los Angeles

2017-04-19

Jeong, Sae Hee "Keshy"

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mp3

eng

Sound

Yan_Frank_01.mp3

Phun, Juily

Yan, Frank

Los Angeles

PT1H40M41S