“Midnight at the Dragon Café” and the Canadian Newcomer Experience
This month I was reading the Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates – Toronto's One Book Community Read 2011. Being a recent immigrant myself, I found the story fascinating. It also resonated with a personal connection since I had a chance to talk about it with my younger friend Debby. She also works at the library and is a daughter of Chinese immigrants. Debby's father came to Canada in the early 1950s and opened a Chinese restaurant with her uncle in the little town of Espanola, Northern Ontario. Years later he moved to Toronto, married and opened another Chinese restaurant. (In the photo below he reminds me of Su-Jen's brother in the book – handsome and smartly dressed young man, his future in front of him…)
This is a photo of Debby's father in his 20s in his restaurant, Espanola, Ontario, 1950s. (Photo credit: Debby's family archive)
Debby is kindly sharing her thoughts about the book and how it resonated with her own experience growing up in a family of Chinese immigrants:
"Midnight at the Dragon Café" left me speechless in the way that Bates described the images of immigrant life in the 1950s. Su-Jen’s father reminded me a lot of my own hard-working, ghay-fu, bitter-swallowing father. Often, he had told me that life is never easy, but that I would have a much better life, because I was living in Canada. This is one of the prominent and reoccurring themes in the book and in my family's life – sacrifice."
"The restaurant that my father owned with my uncle catered to all varieties of people, but particularly the westerners or lo-fons that lived in Espanola. Both Canadian and Chinese fast food was served as they adopted the Canadian culture and created a diner-style restaurant providing burgers, fries, and soft drinks along with cigarettes, chocolates, candies, and tiny trinkets like jewelry and pins. Many years later, I am told that their restaurant was very popular and did very well in its time. Whether or not they suffered any racial discrimination or hardships in adapting to Canadian life is something that my father has never told me. I fill in the blanks and assume that like Su-Jen’s father, he simply disregarded any negative and hateful comments he received. He had always believed that strength and success came from being humble and modest and that hard work paid off in due time."
Debby's father Chinese restaurant, Espanola, Ontario, 1950s. (Photo credit: family archive)
Every year in April we people of Toronto are welcoming not only Spring, but also our library's "Keep Toronto Reading" – the city-wide literary celebration of books and reading. Many library branches invite authors to discuss their books (here is a list of events). One of the focuses of "Keep Toronto Reading" is the "One Book" choice for a community read. This year's "One Book" is Midnight at the Dragon Café – there couldn't have been a more relevant story for new immigrants in Canada or children of immigrant families.
Join us in reading Midnight at the Dragon Café – the first novel by author Judy Fong Bates who lives in Toronto. It is the story of the young Chinese girl Su-Jen and her family who own the only Chinese restaurant in predominantly "white" small town in Ontario in the 1960s. The style of the book follows the daily events of Su-Jen's growing up, while beautifully revealing the passions, hard work, aspirations and heartache of her immigrant family and their dreams for a better life in Canada.
Debby's story continued:
"As a Canadian girl born and raised in Toronto, I was privileged enough not to experience the discrimination that my paren'ts and many other Chinese immigrants have gone through. Like Su-Jen, I was taught to always be obedient, quiet, and to always respect my elders or face shaming and dishonouring my family and myself. I am greatly indebted for my paren'ts' quiet sacrifices and their unspoken hardships to provide a better future for my siblings and myself.
Like in most traditional Chinese families, speaking freely of feelings and emotions is not common. Reading "Midnight at the Dragon Café" as well as many other books that talk about the immigrant experience has helped me gain a deeper understanding of what my paren'ts have endured in their lives. Their silent strength in everything they have done has given me a newfound inspiration to want to dig deeper, to look closer, and to discover the true lives of my paren'ts immigration path and history."
Debby's father Chinese restaurant, small town of Espanola, Ontario, 1950s. (Photo credit: family archive)
To learn more about "Midnight at the Dragon's Café" and its author – watch this video part of the opening talk with Judy Fong Bates on April 1, 2011 at Toronto Reference Library, as published on TPL's youtube channel.
Here are the other three parts of the interesting discussion with the author of "Midnight at the Dragon Café" – part 1 (begins with a performance by Starlight Cantonese Opera Company), part 2 (the video that you see above), part 3, part 4.
23 thoughts on ““Midnight at the Dragon Café” and the Canadian Newcomer Experience”
The novel “Midnight at Dragon Cafe” by Judy Fong Bates illustrates the pathway of a famaily trying to blend in a foreign community. Similar to other families, we will go through struggles to blend in a new place. However, the arts (stories and music) can effect us, they keep us connected to our roots. The arts remind us of our past time and spark the hope of our future. Also, the arts provide a great way to express ourselves in a foreign community just like Su-Jen’s family.
Su-Jen is struggling between two cultures.In one hand,she wants to be the good girl in her paren’ts’eyes. On the other hand,she wants to escape from the constraints of Chinese culture. She has less memories back in China. She wants to act as a Canadian. But somehow she is hardly to be accepted by lo fons.
Dear Judy Fong Bates:
My thesis is that Lai-jing considers Canada a terrible place to live.She hates her nerghbours,the lo-fons and the environment.She is isolated and isn’t used to her new surroudings.
The novel illustrate the attitude to money and marriage of the traditional chinese families. They treat money as the most important material in the world and believe work and save are the best way to earn more money. Also, they consider themselves as foreign of a country and culture, so they treat marriage as a business that can help their families to live in a better life.
The novel of Midnight at the Dragon Cafe illustrates Su-Jen goes to Canada at the age of six. She has to accept a new environment around her. She learns and gains friendship and also endures observing a painful relationship among her family mumbers.
As the result, Su-Jen turns into a mature,positive and optimistic person.
Comparing the traditional Chinese family with Su-Jen’s family what Lee Kung and Lai Jing did is serious. The novel shows the characters in a special family. The love affair between a mother and her step-son almost breaks the family.Everyone in the family loves each other and treasures the family. The affiar makes us sad.
The novel Midnight at the Dragon Cafe illustrates the different life style between a traditional Chinese and other communities. The friendship between Su-jen and Charlotte shows the differencs between their family and their day to day life.
Lai-Ling considers Canada a terrible place to live. She hates her neighbours. Lai-ling hates to speak English because she is too old to learn English. Lai-ling doesn’t like the relationship with her husband and her daughter because she thinks her husband is so poor she needs more money. Her daughter speaks English, so they can’t communicate with each other.
In my view, the reason why Su-Jen’s paren’ts and Uncle Yat keep their Chinese culture alive in Canada because they are hard to accept a new culture easily at their ages. In the past of their lives in China, they have already had a strong concept of Chinese culture such as how they celebrate the festivals base on the Chinese custom,what are their Chinese manners , what are their regular Chinese meals. Therefore, they keep following their hearts in the rest of their lives in Canada to do what they used to do in China.
Chinese culture is very important to chinese people who have left their mother country, China, and start a new life without everything they know. People keep it alive in a new country not only because Chinese culture have many positive parts that we should learn for, but also it can bring the feeling of home to the chinese people. So it’s not thing wrong that Su-Jen’s father keeping it in Canada. However, learning other country’s culture is also necessary, but I can understand that it’s very hard to accpet the new culture.
The book “Midnight at the Dragon Cafe” was quite encouraging to read because it expresses a lot of interesting facts. First, in the book there are so many secrets. The relationship between the mother and the step son is not good because they ruined the relationship between the family. Secondly, the friendship between Su Jen and Charlotte is a good example to every reader because they get to know what a good friend is. Lastly, Su Jen should have revealed all the lies she knows.
I enjoyed the book so much.
I had a great time reading the book also it showed me how new comers have a hard life in Canada because of community and how the culture is different .
It showed how sacrifise is important to keep the family happy and also how the paren’t are so caring for Su-jen and her happiness.
The story felt so lively and showed how a family is really important also what a true friendship mean.
this book is really emotional
The novel Midnight At The Dragon Cafe illustrates a child, Sujun was caught between two cultures. The life for her in Canada was very difficult. She had to learn everything new there and struggle between accepting new culture and not forgetting the traditional chinese culture.
the novel i read i think there have lot of family problem,all the problem are come from money ,marrige,and different culture ,i find some code about the different between canada and chinese culture,her father alway teach her traditional chinese family rule.this effect sujen into canadian culture.
The folk art from China the Midnight at the Dragon Cafe shows us the White Snake Goddess. This brings Su-jen’s father back the memories about past times in China. In addition,for Su-jen, these art give her a chance to know her roots about who she is. Finally, for Su-jen’ mother ,the art express herself through the main characters in the stories. We can know how Su-jen’s family lives in Canada.
The novel Midnight dragon cafe illustrates the highlights of Su-jen life who belong to a chinese family and came to Canada.This novel descibes the memorable friendship between Su-jen and Charlotte.They help, appreciate and support eachother in every walk of life.
Su-Jen’s family’s attitude toward marriage is connected to money , they think Chinese tranditional marriage is that Chinese should be married to Chinese. And they figure out that working hard and save money in Canada can get a better life. But in my opinion, they should change their minds to accept the lo fon’s life,so that they can get the happy life and it would be better for the little gril Su-Jen.
Sacrifice is the main theme of this novel , every one in the family sacrifices. Su-Jen(the daughter) sacrifices for her family by hide the secret between her step-brother and her mother. Su-Jen’s father saves money and works in his restaurant to get more money for the family. Su-Jen’s step-brother Lee-Kung could marry with Chong’s daughter but because of the economic condition of his family, the girl married to someone else. Also Su-Jen’s mother does not know any English, she cannot communicate with others, but she has to live in this small town for her daughter Su-Jen.
Su-Jen thought that canada was a new country to her at first. she experienced many things when she was at school, her father’s restaurant, and different new communities. like the river, her best friendship with a girl whose name is Charlotte also dead when they went to that place together. There are also three different stores appeared in this novel, it shows us about different kinds of relationships about Su-Jen. After that rough time, they began to hate that country and struggled their lives.
The novel illustrates the relationship between the family members and showed that everyone is responsible for this love affair and Lee-kung and Lai-Jing is the people who should be blamed.The Su-Jen’s family has some differences with the Chinese traditional family.The secret makes the family has no honesty among the family members.It was so hard for Su-Jen,such a little girl to keep such a serious secret and tried her best to keep the family from broken.The mother and the brother are very selfish so their affair should be blamed .Although it’s hard for Lai-Jing to live in Canada and she had sacrifice a lot, she is still selfish because of this love affair.
The novel “Midnight at Dragon Cafe” by Judy Fong Bates illustrates how each family member sacrificed in some way to achieve the peace and harmony. The reason why the family wasn’t broken is because the sacrifices each one of them made. When the family came to Canada, a brand new experience, it was very important for each one of them to stick to the family. Although some bad thing happened, they still stayed united by sacrificing themselves so that they could survive in he new country.
The book “Midnight At The Dragon Cafe” was a very interesting and intelligent book to read because it has a great impression about what’s happening in the world, how people are living, and what kind of problems a lot of people are facing.On the other hand, the book is very nice by having all these impressions about people’s lives, also it encourages a lot of students to finish the book up till the end to know what happened between the characters. Finally I really love the book and how you expressed your feelings in it. Thank You So Much 😀
What are some of the thesis in the book