INTERVIEW: Fujian Chinese family builds life in US

By Daniel Leaderman Nov 11, 2009, 4:04 GMT

Washington - In a dusty, basement office in Washington's Chinatown district, a Fujian Chinese family is working its way toward the American dream.

Zhi Chen works for a bus company that runs daily shuttles between Washington's Chinatown and the Chinatown in New York City.

Her two children are spending a warm afternoon playing behind the counter and watching TV. A trio of customers sit quietly along one wall, waiting for the next bus.

Chen is probably in her mid-30s, and her grasp of English seems to extend only as far as selling bus tickets. As happens in many immigrant families, her 9-year-old daughter, Chenying, speaks better English and acts as interpreter.

Chen came to the US from Fujian a decade ago and has a highly sought work permit, the so-called green card. She's been working for the bus company for four years, and her husband works for a different bus company in Wilmington, Delaware, about 175 kilometres way.

She sends money home, but said her parents haven't spent it on a large mansion like many Fujianese with children who live abroad.

Typical of Fujianese-American children, Chenying and her brother, William, 6, who were born in the US and are US citizens, spent their first few years living in Fujian with their grandparents. Each came back to the US at age 3 to start school.

Many children who come back to the US after spending their first years in China face difficult adjustments. But Chenying and William had smooth transitions, Chen says.

They live with their mother in a small apartment in Washington, and they like school. Chenying likes science said she wants to be a teacher. Her brother, who declared an affinity for Naruto cartoons, wants to be a soldier.

When asked what was the biggest challenge she faced in coming to the US, Zhi Chen smiles and shrugs. 'English,' she says.