23. chinese american - by kalos - half sugar, light ice

i was in china for a week-and-a-half last month — specifically, chongqing: the southwestern city where my mom grew up and where i spent a good chunk of my childhood. this was, however, my first time going back during chinese new year — and boy did it hit different. it was ten days of eating and driving around and eating and fireworks and going to movie theaters and eating and more eating. there is, i think, no time when china feels more chinese than during chinese new year. and being there during this most potent and significant time kicked up a lot of thoughts about my own identity and how i think about china. and so — like, i imagine, countless generations of “second-gen chinese american kids who have a worldview-altering trip to china” — i wrote about those thoughts. enjoy! and for all you chinese americans (or other hyphenated americans) reading this, please don’t be a stranger to the reply box :) -k There’s a scene in American Fiction, the new Jeffrey Wright movie, where two broth

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