Summary

Chapter 1 recounts the years 1866 through 1871, when Fong Dun Shung, the author’s great-great-grandfather, left Dimtao, a small village in China, with two of his sons, and he began a journey towards the United States of America. He left behind his wife, daughter and two other sons in search of treasure or hard work—the family was poor and had few options. Fong Dun Shung, an herbalist by tradition and trade, travelled town to town to sell his herbs. However, due to unrest in China both politically (Britain and inside military groups devastating the countryside, killing millions, and causing famine) and socially (widespread addiction to opium, imports replacing homemade items), there were few customers. On one of his trips, a railroad scout spots him and offers a job to treat ailing Chinese laborers on Gam Saan, Gold Mountain, the name for the United States...