I do remember the pressure to assimilate was intense among immigrant Chinese families in 1990s US. Many Chinese parents explicitly wished their children gain mastery of English so they would have better opportunities than them. Keeping Chinese language wasn't a priority 4 most
I also knew many kids who knew Chinese but CHOSE to only speak English. so to save both of us frm awkwardness, I would only speak Chinese if other person initiate convo in Chinese. Over time, Chinese became an intimate language that I would only speak w family
Our family language also shifted from Sichuanese to Standard Mandarin when we moved to US. Since my parents' circle were mostly Chinese students frm all over China studying in US. Dad's 1st language is 海宁话 frm Zhejiang. He prbly relieved not having to speak Sichuanese again
Mom decided Sichuanese too 土 country bumpkin and abandoned it all together til this day. So for the 1st time, we only spoke Standard Mandarin at home. I easily shifted into Sichuanese when visiting relatives 10 yrs later but they say I have some funky accent now.
1 of Dad's student frm Fujian visited us in Chicago. He asked do you guys have accent when speaking Standard Mandarin. I'm like no way. 10 yrs later I tried to use pinyin input to type 翁 but couldn't get it displayed, then I was shocked 2 learn it's weng not Ong in Mandarin!

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More from @CarlZha

7 Sep
During Vietnam War, Times Magazine had a “Chrismas in Vietnam” special to promote US troops sex tourism around Asia on Dec 22, 1967

The photo in Taiwan exposed how KMT created sex tourism industry catering to GIs. 200,000 GI visited Taiwan frm 1965-1970.
Japanese Colonial authorities on Taiwan started the women attended bath in Peitou hot spring. After Imperial Japanese Army left Taiwan, KMT used Peitou hot spring sex industry to cater to US troops.
Chiang Kai-shek esp ordered regulation on taxi, hotel and sex workers health check to cater to US GI because GI spend abt $200 per visit. Taiwan earned total abt 10 billion Taiwan dollars during Vietnam War. This part of Taiwan economic takeoff rarely discussed
Read 8 tweets
29 Aug
Kyrgyz living in Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan has
a storied past. I will make a thread abt their history navigating empires and nation-states

photo by Matthieu Paley
By 1600s, nomadic Kyrgyz were subjugated by Oirat Mongols who had growing increasingly powerful in the Altai region in their war against Khalkha Mongols in Monglia. Oirat power based in Ili valley of today's #Xinjiang
1 tribe of the Oirat Mongol confederation soon pushed out other Oirat tribes (Khoshot went to conquer Tibet, Torghut went to Volga river in Russia) to establish Dzungar Khanate in present day #Xinjiang/nearby regions. Dzungar Khan Galdan then drove Khalkha frm Outer Mongolia
Read 10 tweets
23 May
70 yrs ago today, Tibetan government delegate and representative of 14th Dalai Lama, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme signed 17 Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet on May 23rd, 2021.

Jigme presents Khata, traditional Tibetan ceremonial scarf to Chairman Mao in Beijing
*1951
signatures of Tibetan delegates on the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. May 23rd, 1951
Read 4 tweets
23 May
In contrast to the latest US army ad, this is recent Chinese People's Liberation Army recruitment ad
Part 2 of recent Chinese Army recruitment ad: Heritage and tradition
Lyrics translation: Who will leave their mark?

referencing Song dyn minister Wen Tianxiang who refused to submit to Kublai Khan, wrote poem while prisoner on Mongol ship: 人生自古誰無死,留取丹心照汗青
Everyone dies, but my loyal red heart will illuminate history annals forever
Read 16 tweets
22 May
Cdrama #TheLongBallad finished airing. It turns out #Dilireba's character Princess Li Changge and @Wulei's character Turkic prince Ashile Sun DO have historical parallels in Tang Dynasty!

A Thread
#迪丽热巴 #长歌行
Not much was written abt frmer Crown Prince 李建成 Li Jiancheng's daughter. But we do know abt Emperor Taizong's step daughter who married a Turkic prince. Her mother was a famous beauty but her Dad was killed in rebellion agst Sui Dynasty. Prince Li Shimin married her mom
In 629 AD, Tang Empire allied w #Uyghurs and Xueyantuo, launched a major expedition agst Eastern Turkic Khaganate in Mongolia. Illig Khagan fled to the tribe of Turkic Prince Ashina Zhong. Ashina Zhong captured Illig Khagan and sent him to Tang court.
Read 6 tweets
22 May
Mao’s grandson still appears in limelight bc his appearance and his grandpa. But it was Mao’s nephew Mao Yuanxin 毛远新 that was groomed for leadership during Cultural Revolution. 新 Xin in his name because he was born in Urumqi, #Xinjiang in 1941 where Mao’s brother worked
Mao's younger brother Mao Zemin was sent to USSR in 1938 via #Xinjiang for medical treatment, but outbreak of plague at Sino-Soviet border forced him to stay. He became finance minister to Soviet backed Xinjiang warlord Sheng Shicai and married Zhu Danhua
During Battle of Moscow in 1941 and in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, #Xinjiang warlord Sheng Shicai felt USSR power waning and US backed Chiang Kai-shek star rising. Sheng pledge allegiance to Chiang and purged Communists in Xinjiang. He ordered arrest and execution of Mao Zemin
Read 13 tweets

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