Saturday November 1, 2pm – 3pm
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall
By donation to the Garden
Join us this afternoon as elder Bill Wong and his son Steven Wong read excerpts of the newly-published A Year in China, by Bill Wong and Joanne Poon. Joanne will also share stories related to the journal. With guest speaker Dr. Henry Yu, UBC History Associate Professor; and Todd Wong, longtime family friend and musical guest on accordion.
Owner Bill Wong operates Modernize Tailors in Chinatown and has done so for over sixty-five years. It seems like he has been in the neighbourhood for as long as anyone can remember. But in 1936-37, when Bill was fourteen years old, he and his brother Jack spent a year in China in his father’s home village. Bill kept a journal where he wrote about his daily experiences in a small rural village in the voice of a young Chinese-Canadian teenager. His journals are fascinating, not only for the glimpse into another time but also because they are written in older Chinese calligraphy. The sheer art of translation posed a pleasurable challenge for Joanne Poon who met and talked with Bill for a number of years as they translated and transcribed the journals that were written over seventy-five years ago.
Copies of A Year in China will be available for sale at the reading.