there's the desire - either within one's own heart or the hearts of one's elder family members - to maintain ethnic cultural traditions. but there's also the hope to blend in with the majority. assimilation can be so extreme that, for instance, within a few generations a family's native tongue is no longer spoken. "i don't really see myself as just american, because i'm not like most of them, but i don't see myself as just chinese, because i'm not like most of them, either," says steve yang, 26, a philadelphia, u.s.a. native who has been an english teacher in china for three years. yang is part of the newest generation of tongbao - overseas-born or -raised chinese - returning to their ancestral land. like other expats, they hope to ride the money train of china's emerging economy. but there's also a personal connection, an emotional link that sometimes is only realized after a person arrives in china. "my parents got to the states 50 years ago. i definitely feel this is the place of my parents and grandparents. they're my heroes," says larry wang, 44, his north carolina, u.s.a. accent just barely flavoring his speech. wang, formerly a mechanical engineer, was transferred to taipei 14 years ago. then he spent time in hong kong, "pre-handover," as he says. based on his and others' experiences, he founded wang & li asian resources, which recruits both native and foreign-born chinese professionals and has offices in beijing, hong kong and shanghai. it has been relatively easy for tongabo to return, he says. "the mainland chinese, for many years, have had organizations that really try to maintain relations with overseas chinese. i have a friend who is of japanese descent, who said the japanese don't make it easy for foreign-born people to go back. but the chinese do." wang authored the new gold mountain, a guide for chinese westerners seeking success in their familial homeland, as well as know the game, play the game, a similar tome that advises locals who want to join multinational companies. five years ago, his clientele were 75 percent tongbao. though that number has shrank to about 15 percent today, wang concedes many who come here - especially those in their 20s and 30s -don't necessarily want to join the world of big business. "entrepeneurs enjoy this lifestyle. they see a need and work to fill it." wang says. on the other hand, "the younger you are, there's less risk and more cost-benefit, and those are the people who are here to 'find their roots.'" like susan li, the cctv-9 business news anchor. li, 26, gave up a stable job at the canadian broadcasting company in toronto because she "wanted adventure," but a month after landing here, she was hired at cctv-9. "i really feel privileged to be here," li says with her trademark enthusiasm. british-born erica wu agrees. "definitely in europe, people with my background, who have the opportunity to come to the far east to work, would take it," says wu, 30, managing director of eec beijing, an events company. "we have opportunities here that are not possible in britain." "repatriate" isn't the most accurate word for the foreign-born or overseas-raised, since many plan to go back west someday. but others can't imagine leaving china while it remains a socio-economic boomtown, whose riches are open to anyone with the know-how and desire to mine them. "as china entered into a burgeoning economy, my desire to come back here grew," says yanning li, 30, who started a web-based education company here eight years ago. li, from edmonton, canada, soon sold that business; she and her 27-year-old brother, da, now run deya, a consulting company for cutting-edge environmental technology businesses. "as i grew with the growth of china, [my parents] started to realize how wise my decision was." because they are chinese themselves, locals don't see tongbao as "carpet-baggers" - outsiders who arrive in an economically depressed area to make a quick buck. says california girl wendy mock, 24, a china radio international host: "i think some chinese see foreigners as just here on business, or to make money - but they see me and say, 'you're chinese, you should be here.'" and some are content to do simply that. like 29-year-old singer/actor peter ho, known among his chinese fans as he rundong, who only returns to canada to visit his grandmothers during the spring festival. he feels more comfortable in china: "i'm still more conservative, because of how i was raised." |
