Chinese New Year – Encore presentation of From Resilience to Celebration: San Francisco’s Chinatown

Rebroadcast presentation will be viewable on a one-time basis on Library Website or HERE  Registration not needed. 

Celebrate Chinese New Year with a one-hour dynamic slideshow with commentary by Dick Evans and Kathy Chin Leong, sharing their beautiful photo book, From Resilience to Celebration: An In-Depth, Virtual Pictorial Journey Inside San Francisco’s Beloved Chinatown.

Moderated by Gregory Yen

Recently released photo documentary book San Francisco’s Chinatown brings history, culture, tourism, and traditions to life with never-before-seen images.

Viewers are encouraged to pull up a computer, pour a cup of jasmine tea, and cut a slice of mooncake while enjoying this one-hour romp, celebrating San Francisco’s Chinatown past, present, and future.

About the Presenters: Project originator and photographer Dick Evans and New York Times freelance writer Kathy Chin Leong shed light on a community that has proven to be resilient against all odds. For two years, Evans scoured the streets taking breathtaking photos, making friendships with merchants and non-profit leaders along the way. This is his third book on San Francisco neighborhoods.

A second generation American-born Chinese and native of San Francisco, Leong partnered with Evans and conducted more than 100 interviews. She often used her elementary Toishan dialect to connect with residents who were, at first, hesitant to talk.

Dick Evans is a San Francisco-based photographer with an interest in documenting the colorful and rapidly changing neighborhoods of the city. Born into a ranching family in Eugene, Oregon, he graduated as an engineer from Oregon State University and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in management from Stanford. He has spent his fifty-year career in the global metals sector, living in five countries and multiple locations in Africa, Europe, and North America.It was during these travels that he developed an appreciation for the diversity and richness of different cultures both global and local, and an interest in documentary photography.

Kathy Chin Leong, a lifetime career journalist, covers travel, technology, business, art, architecture, and anything that piques her interest. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Books, Sunset Magazine, and other nationally-recognized publications. Growing up in a bi-cultural environment, Chinese at home and American at school, she is typical of many who struggled with identity issues, eventually learning to embrace their Chinese heritage. While she has travelled the globe to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, she has rediscovered her Chinatown roots through collaboration on this book that has been the journey of a lifetime.

Gregory Yen is Asian-American, a pharmacist, and a lawyer, based in New Jersey. He is highly interested in the Asian-American experience and preserving Asian-American history. As a father to three sons, he knows one of the best ways important history (such as that captured in San Francisco’s Chinatown) may be passed onto the next generation would be through discussions and literature like this.