China-magic-town and the search of roots.

Last Thursday I had the chance to be in San Francisco for a work commitment and after my meeting was over, I stopped at Chinatown with my friends Beth and Moling to see an exhibit at the the Chinese Culture Center. For more Chinatown pictures you can check out my flickr folder here.

The exhibit was put forth by the Chinese American Youth Program  called "In Search of Roots."  This is a program founded over a decade ago with the purpose of helping young Chinese Americans explore their roots in China by visiting their maternal and paternal ancestral villages in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Providence.  The program ends with a Chinese New Year exhibit in which the participants get to share their family history with their family, friends and the community. 

My friend Moling's niece, Kristina Lim, was one of the participants in this project. I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to share with Kristina and Moling the beauty of their ancestral history. The exhibit was carefully, and beautifully, presented. I felt like I was walking inside a giant scrapbook enhanced with simply THE BEST creative and artistic energy, journaled with the utmost love and passion. I wish I had had more time to delight in the stories of all the participants in this project! There was so much history in those walls. Reading Kristina's essay brought many tears to my eyes. If you live near the San Francisco area, this is an exhibit you will not want to miss! They have planned several activities for this weekend, so I hope you get to visit their exhibition at the Chinese Culture Center , too.

Edited to add:

Kristina was featured in video interviews at BBC and Reuters.  Click on the links to see the videos. I also found out that the book with all the essays and stories is available here.