Marysville once had one of the largest Chinese populations because it was the gateway for immigrants heading from the S. F. bay area to the gold fields in the mid-1850s. An annual Bok Kai Festival each year celebrates Chinese American history in this region. I participated with several other authors of Chinese American history at the Northern California Chinese History Museum during this event that included a town parade, and the water ritual of "bombs" in which young men scramble to catch water bombs.
The festive atmosphere over the 2 days of talks added to the enjoyable social and intellectual exchange between the audience and the authors. I spoke on what life was like for Chinese in the American South during the Jim Crow laws era on Saturday after the big parade that was climaxed with a double dragon dance. On Sunday, using my identity as a Chinese American as a case study, I illustrated how this important aspect of a person is not a fixed or invariant aspect but one that ebbs and flows over time depending on the ethnic diversity of in areas where I lived over the years.
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