A Cultural Awakening

David Lew is traveling halfway around the globe to better understand his family back in the San Fernando Valley.

On Tuesday, Lew and 1,000 other young Americans of Chinese descent will meet in Taiwan for a six-week cultural and language program subsidized by the island government.

For many of the 18- to 23-year-old participants--more than one-quarter of whom are from the Los Angeles area--the trip is a defining moment: They travel far from home for the first time, arriving in a land where they are suddenly part of the majority--no longer the lone Asian face in a crowd. They discover the full significance of their hyphenated identity, what it means to be Chinese and American.

The summer study tour was instituted by the Taiwanese government in 1965 to strengthen ties with hua qiao--overseas Chinese--a diaspora that has scattered ethnic Chinese in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. Alumni of the 33-year-old program include many prominent area residents, among them former Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo, actor Garrett Wong and Monterey Park Councilwoman Judy Chu.

“They learn more about their parents, people, land and history. They can talk to others in the same situation,” said Abraham Li, director of the Chinese Cultural Center, an unofficial Taiwanese consulate in Los Angeles Chinatown. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province. Consequently, the United States does not have a formal diplomatic relationship with the island government.

The program in Taiwan comes on the heels of President Clinton’s visit to mainland China. In Shanghai last week, Clinton declared that the U.S. strongly opposed the independence of Taiwan and would continue its support of a “one-China” policy.

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Lacking international recognition as a nation, Taiwan has attempted to foster goodwill and interest in the island through the program. Besides watching Chinese opera and martial arts performances, students attend two lectures on Taiwan’s foreign policy and its economy. Some alumni considered the lectures informative, while others dismissed them as propaganda. But many agreed that the trip made them more aware of Taiwan’s fate.

On the humid, banana-shaped island 7,000 miles away, students study Mandarin, party with newfound friends and learn about their heritage.

Lew, 20, has long dreamed of having a lengthy conversation with his 94-year-old great-grandmother, but Yee-Shee Wong speaks only Mandarin and Lew only English. By taking language classes and practicing with locals, Lew hopes to pick up the fluency that has eluded him. He already has the questions for his much-anticipated talk.

“I’d like to learn about her childhood, about her experiences,” said Lew, son of U.S. District Court Judge Ronald S.W. Lew. “I just want to get to know her better.”

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When the program started in the mid-’60s, it enrolled a couple of hundred participants. Now there are about 1,000 attending, housed on two campuses. And, as demand continues to rise, hundreds of others are turned away every year. Applicants learn of the study tour by word of mouth and advertisements in Chinese language newspapers.

The program is staffed by members of the China Youth Corps and educators from Taiwan and the United States, who volunteer to teach Mandarin, sword-fighting, dance and other cultural activities.

Attendees pay their plane fare and a $500 program cost, which partially covers room and board and entrance fees, and the Taiwanese government takes care of the rest. Participants pay their personal expenses.

Some critics in Taiwan have questioned the wisdom of subsidizing a program for nonnative students, arguing that the money would be better spent on domestic problems. In the past, Taiwan’s Yuan, or parliament, has cut spending to the Overseas Chinese Affair Commission, which administers the summer study tour. The program’s budget has since been restored, said Daniel Liao, former director of the Chinese Culture Center in El Monte.

“Through the program, youth see the people of Taiwan, they feel what the people of Taiwan feel,” Liao said. “Once back at home, they may support us with more reason.”

After the summer, participants’ bonds with each other remain, creating a network of friends that spans the globe. Big reunions are held yearly in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities with Chinese American populations. Business ventures, such as the marketing firm Asian Buying Consortium in Monterey Park, have also grown out of the trip.

Lily Chen, 23, a fifth-grade teacher in Canyon Country, viewed her 1994 trip primarily as a vacation. But, once back in the U.S., she said she started to follow the politics embroiling the island.

“It planted seed,” said Chen, who grew up in Simi Valley and Northridge. “I’ve come back more informed and asking questions. I’m paying more attention to what’s going on between Taiwan and China.”

The stronger connection with Taiwan is forged by the shared sense of experience, both with local residents and tour participants. For many, the program is a chance to complete the cultural puzzle of their identity. In the Valley--where Chinese Americans live in scattered areas--teenagers may struggle to find others with similar backgrounds.

Anita Chu, 22, grew up in La Crescenta and attended a high school with a predominantly Caucasian student body. Before Chu left last week, she said she looked forward to the trip.

“I’d like to meet more Chinese people, more friends in general. I’d fit in, be among people like me, other ABC,” Chu mused, referring to the acronym for “American-born Chinese.”

Her father, Ben Chu, said the trip balances tradition with assimilation. “We are Americans, in the mainstream,” said Chu, a retired engineer from the Department of Water and Power. “But children should keep some of their own [Chinese] culture as well.”

Bonding with new friends is a large part of the program’s popularity. In turn, many of the friendships evolve into romantic relationships--earning the program the notorious nickname “Love Boat.”

Relationships blossom over shots of diluted snake venom at Snake Alley, an open-air market with live reptiles; on long bus rides touring cultural sites; or at dance clubs named Kiss and Fever.

Many participants have two or three relationships during the program, chuckled actor Garrett Wong, who plays Ensign Harry Kim on the television series “Star Trek Voyager.”

“You’re among a large cross-section of your peers: geeky engineers, dorky girls, prom queens,” said Wong. “Obviously, someone will match your level of coolness.”

But beyond the socializing and sightseeing is an important lesson on family. Living in the culture of their parents teaches tour participants what no lecture could.

Roger Hsu, 21, of Northridge said he used to argue with his mother, who called him a jerk when he joked in a sarcastic manner.

“Now I understand that sarcasm hardly exists in that country,” said Hsu, a student at Cal State Long Beach. “I used to get frustrated, but now I can have a good laugh about it.”