I’m reading Chinese Americans by Kwong and Miscevic. I’m barely into it and I’ve learned:
- America’s favorite cherry – the large, sweet and succulent Bing – was developed by Ah Bing, a Chinese immigrant horticulturalist, in 1875.
- Lue Gim Gong, the father of the Florida citrus industry, developed the frost resistant orange tree in 1888.
- The best doctors in the old west were Chinese traditional herbalists (btw: the Chinese knew how to prevent scurvy by at least the 1400’s).
- The Chinese American community had it’s share of gunfighters.
- Keno was brought to America by Chinese immigrants – originally called “pak kop piu” (white pigeon ticket).
- 25% of miners by 1850 were Chinese.
- it was no coincidence the large #’s of Chinese laborers came to the US during the heat of the slavery debate that lead up to the civil war. And plantations in the south sought to replace African American slaves with Chinese indentured workers (who didn’t get the vote until the 20th century?) That didn’t work out.
There’s so much from this book I don’t want to forget. I will post again on it ASAP, but I only get to read it during my son’s nap and sometimes before bed.
