Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Chinese Culture Club
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 25, 2003
Modified Mar 6, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 25, 2003
Modified Mar 6, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Tonight, PBS airs a three part series, "Becoming American: The Chinese Experience," which spans the dynamic of Chinese in America from the 1800s to present. I'm definitely going to watch, beause I've always thought of myself as American before being Chinese...when cabbies ask me where I'm from, I tend to say "New Jersey."
Reviews of "Becoming American" from Newsday and The New York Times.
The PBS site for Becoming American and program showtimes on WNET/Thirteen in NYC
Amy Tan's book on Chinese mothers and their Chinese American daughters, The Joy Luck Club and Wayne Wang's heartbreaking film of The Joy Luck Club.
One part from Bill Moyer's interview with designer Maya Lin that struck a particular chord in me:
I think [my parents] were definitely wanting us to assimilate. I think they were dealing with having left a past and it was probably painful for them to talk about. And then my brother and I being the only Chinese Americans in a small mid-western community, I mean all I wanted to do was fit in. I remember there was a classmate when I got to high school who was I think his parents were from Eastern Europe, and he wasn't allowed to speak English at home. He had to speak the mother tongue at home. And I always felt sorry for him. To this day I might regret that I don't speak Chinese, but at the same time, I think there are two different ways. I think now in the generations you learn both.
I think it was probably very painful for my parents. Without really deciding upon it, they wanted us to fit in.
This is echoed in his interview with author Gish Jen, who wrote Mona in the Promised Land about a Chinese American girl growing up in Scarsdale and becoming Jewish.
I'll probably need to get the DVD of the series for my parents, so they can understand me a little more.
Tagged
america
Amy Tan
And I
arts
books
chinese
club
dvd
Eastern Europe
entertainment
film
high school
interview
Maya Lin
new jersey
new york
new york times
nyc
pbs
Promised Land
reviews
Rogers
television
The Chinese
the joy
The New York
the new york times
Tonight
Wayne Wang
WNET
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
In 1972, legendary documentarian William Greaves filmed a party he threw for Harlem Renaissance luminaries. With help from his family, "Once Upon a Time in Harlem" brings that decades-old footage to theaters.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 21, 2026 at 1:07 p.m. ET
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
Before they attempt to fend off LeBron James and the 76ers on Tuesday, the Knicks will have a chance to show off their winning mentality through their tunnel fits.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
Before they attempt to fend off LeBron James and the 76ers on Tuesday, the Knicks will have a chance to show off their winning mentality through their tunnel fits.
By
Sonia Rao
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
By
Sonia Rao
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .