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Culture. There is more than some irony in this
area of exchange, because little more than 120 years ago California workers and their legislators,
worried by an influx of Chinese coolies during the construction of the railroads, militated for
strict immigration rules that systematically excluded Chinese from reaching these golden shores
for six decades. Not until World War II demonstrated the strategic possibilities of an alliance
between China and the United States did things loosen up. But then China’s communist upheaval
after World War II created further barriers, and politics between the two countries can frequently
become rancorous.
As this mélange of Chinese and
California influences grows so intermeshed, any effort to truly disentangle the threads
threatens to rend the very fabric of 21st-century California culture.
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Today, the increasingly complex and interwoven economic and cultural influences
that connect California and greater China is typified by the fact, for example, that many
California real estate agents have to understand feng shui or the harmonic balance of elements
common in Chinese homes to close their deals. These days, it comes up a lot, says Angela Grubb,
a Bay Area real estate agent who was born in Shanghai. It’s just something that has become far
more commonplace. I know there are other agents [who aren’t of Asian origin] trying to bone up on it.
Real estate agents quickly learn not to show Chinese buyers homes that are located at the end of a
cul de sac, or homes where the front door faces directly into a cross street, or into the upstairs
stairway, which allows their vital energy, or chi, to drain away from the house. In some
configurations, having the stove next to the refrigerator can prevent a possible sale.
The popularity of Chinese and fusion food as well as dim sum serves as
another unmistakable sign of the blending of Asian and American influences, as does the popularity
of tai chi classes and meditation, Chinese medicine (including acupuncture), and Chinese calligraphy,
which have become so common in the lives of many Californians that to mention them in casual
conversation barely merits a raised eyebrow. As this mélange of Chinese and California influences
grows so intermeshed, any effort to truly disentangle the threads threatens to rend the very fabric
of 21st-century California culture.
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