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So today is June 28th and I'm here with Cecil Fong and I will be interviewing him for the Chinatown Project. So just to start with the first part, we're going to talk about the background of Chinatown. So were you ever

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involved in the old Chinatown that was located in like downtown area, downtown Houston? Uh, well I–I wasn't involved, per se, but I remember going there. And long— the, you know, the—I

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remember when I was at Rice in the 70s, you know, I remember going to restaurants, there's a–there's a Sun Deluxe Restaurant in downtown Chinatown. And then there's a—the On Leong building, you know, downtown Chinatown. And I remember I was, I think I was

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actually the–the president of the—after–after graduation, I was President of the Association of Chinese Organizations, which is kind of an associate of many

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different Chinese organizations in Houston. And we used to have meetings at the—on–on the second floor of the On Leong building. Yeah, so–so that's really, I think

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the—so it was still—I mean, it was still, I guess, thriving I guess, in the sense, in the–in the 70s and into the 80s. You know, the—I think it only–only started, I think, going, going downhill when–when the center

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at Bellaire, I think, opened, middle—in the mid 70s. Oh okay, okay. So this old Chinatown started like back in the 70s? No, before that.

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You know, it started before that, it's a—if I—although I don't know the exact years when it started, but it is, it definitely started in—maybe in the 60s, if not even before, you know, it was, I think it started with the—in the On Leong Association.

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On Leong Association is the the merchant association for the Chinese merchants and they, they've kind of, you know, at the time, you know, the—when the Chinese merchants, they–they—when they want to do business, I guess in–in the

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Houston area that no one really wanted to, it was hard for them to start because they're immigrants and no one want to lend them money, you know, and–and so forth.

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And so they relied on each other, basically, you know, to–to lend each other money, to get businesses started. So the On Leong is kind of a merchant association of different merchants that come together to

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help each other. And so, and that's why—that's how it got started, you know, the On Leong Association, and then they, of course they–they purchased the building downtown, and they became kind of the center of the Chinese

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Americans during the, I think during at least the 60s, if not before, until the 70s. I think they've really, it's–it's really—you know, because that's just like any–any Chinatown in

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United States, you know, they–they basically formed because, you know, they really couldn't—and they were discriminate against, you know, where they can locate, you know, and–and

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so the Chinatown is really kind of the only place where they can kind of go and–and–and make a living and–and form businesses, you know, so–so that's the—it's all history, the Hou—the Houston Chinatown's probably no different

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than San Francisco or New York Chinatown, why they were formed, they were basically formed to kind of help protect each other and help each other do–do business in the United States in-in the early days, when there's a lot

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of, still a lot of discrimination against Chinese Americans. Yeah, yeah. And how do you spell the On Leong Association thing? On Leong is O-n, L-e-o-n-g.

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On Leong, in China, in Chinese it means... pa—I think it's "pacify," I guess, you know, so it's–it's a, it's really kind of pacified the people and their troubles.

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Okay, cool, cool. And then how many, about like how many restaurants or businesses or establishments were there back then in that downtown Chinatown? Or like how big of an area did they take up?

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It wasn't, you know, that big. It was maybe–maybe a block, you know, so, and–and I remember there is the–the—of course there's the On Leong building, you know, and then right next to

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it there's a Chinese grocery store. And–and then next to it there's a restaurant, a Chinese restaurant. And–and then there may be a couple of

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small businesses, you know, in the–in the same area, but it's pretty small. And then I think in the six—yeah, it maybe started in the–the 70s, you know, they–they—actually, they started

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expanding the footprint of downtown Chinatown. There was a, there was a Chinese entrepreneur, Bobo Lang . He was, he was really—he owned a

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restaurant called King Bo. And he—so he opened a restaurant there. And–and also, he also started, you know, acquiring buildings nearby to expand the Chinatown.

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And so I think at the height, I think maybe we have, maybe there are like, two, three blocks, you know, become two, three blocks of China, Chinese businesses, and including a movie theater, you know, they actually opened a movie theater right nearby.

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And so he—yeah, so he was, he was really instrumental in–in expanding the downtown Chinatown in the–in the early 70s, you know, so that was—yeah, so I, you know, before—I

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think before the, you know, the–the–the new Chinatown opened in the–in the middle, I think maybe the mid 70s in the Bellaire area, people start moving toward a new part of town. But–but he was actually, he was doing, yeah, he was

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doing well, you know, for–for a while, in the downtown area. Yeah, I think I was driving through downtown one time, and I could still see some of the Chinese businesses.

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I don't know if they're open or their buildings are just there. But yeah, you can still see like, the stories that were there. Yeah. Well, there is still a few Chinese businesses there. There's—yeah, there's still a few

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business there in–in downtown Chinatown. It's just that—I think they are, I guess they're doing okay, so they still, they're still in business, you know, services for people that maybe live around that area.

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So, yeah, so there's still, there's still a few business there, so it's–it's not completely gone. Yeah, yeah. And I guess like what type of people would visit those—that old Chinatown? Would it be mainly

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like immigrants? Or...? Yeah, I–I think, well of course the early days is all the—all immigrants, you know, all the immigrants goes there. That's kind of a, it's like a congregation

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place for the early Chinese Americans in the Houston area. You know, the—my–my wife, actually, you know, she's born in Houston. She says she remember

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going to the, going to the downtown, through the On Leong building, the second floor, that they have–they have Chinese movies every Sunday, you know. For the Chinese community, you know, so that was kind of the point of

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focus for the Chinese American to gather and socialize on a weekly basis, when everybody, you know, everybody's busy working during the week. And Sunday is the day where they kind of relax and get together.

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So–so the—yeah, so they had activities, you know, for the Chinese American, Sunday in–in On Leong area. And people go there to kind of, to–to socialize and so forth.

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So that was kind of a, you know, the early days definitely, that's–that's–that's kind of focal point for the Chinese Americans in Houston. And–and they, yeah, I think, of course I'm sure people still—there's still some early

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immigrants continue to going there. And–and maybe and nowadays, even though it's not the–not the thriving like it used to, but I think that there may be people that still maybe live around that area that still visit, you

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know, the old Chinatown instead of driving all the way down to Southwest for the new Chinatown. I see. Yeah. And I was—I'm just curious, like, why did–why did they choose downtown Houston to establish

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all these businesses? Did they like just so happen to live there–live there? Was there like a big Chinese population that lived near downtown? No, no—well, there–there are a lot of—of course, yeah, a lot of the, you know, Chinese

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population lived in the—old days, you know, they lived in the, you know, say the–the Third Ward or–or Fifth Ward, you know, because that's what's kind of the—that–that was the only part of

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town where they can, you know, they can—they are allowed to live, you know? Because there are–there are some parts of town where, you know, Asians or Chinese not–not welcome.

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So basically, they only, they're limited to the, kind of the downtown and near the town area where they–where they can live. So, and that could be, you know, I'm sure that's one reason why the–the

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Chinatown is–is–is built near there. There was a—yeah, in fact, there was a—I forgot to mention, there was also the Chinese Baptist Church, you know, it was downtown, you know, it was–it was downtown China—downtown

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Chinatown for–for a number of years before they moved to west of town. So–so that's, so that's most of the, most of the folks live in that area and that's why they settle around the Chinatown area and to–to live and–and–and

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do business in the early days. Yeah, I'm actually doing a podcast on the Chinese church network, including Chinese Baptist Church. History's really cool, yeah, yeah.

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Okay! Yeah, yeah, I don't—yeah, I think they moved to, moved out west in the, maybe in the—again probably in the 70s. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the history of CBC is like, super cool.

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I think it's really—it played like a really crucial part in the Chinese community. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of–a lot of Chinese Americans are Baptists. Yeah, yeah, mhm.

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Cool, okay, so now we'll move on to like the Chinatown now in Bellaire. So, do you kind of know what caused the Chinatown to relocate? I guess it wasn't like an official process. I assume it was like a

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gradual, businesses were just moving to Bellaire. But yeah, what attracted— It was—yeah. It's—yeah, because really, at that time, you know, the–the West, Southwest Houston, there's

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really nothing, you know, I remember like, you know, if we go—I think if you go beyond Fondren, for example, you know, there's all farmland, you know, open land. There's really–there's really nothing west of Fondren, you

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know, and even east of Fondren, you know, there's not–not, you know, not that many, you know, businesses and so forth. So, I think it was—I remember my–my–my college, my college, a friend in college, Chang

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Hua Yao , now his father then really had the–had the foresight, I guess, because his father is the one who bought—basically

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he just bought a piece of land, you know, right, you know, right there, where the current Jusgo Market is, you know, Bellaire and Ranchester, you know, he basically just bought a piece of land there, there was nothing there, it was–it was empty, empty land

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all around, so he just bought a piece of land. And, you know, he decided to build a shopping center. Okay, so–so he basically built the, you know, the–the Diho, the shopping center, you know, the—and then

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which is the very first building in the–in the southwest Chinatown. You know, at the time, you know, the, you know, a lot of people were wondering, you know, why did you choose to

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build such a remote place, you know, and then—and a lot of questions that whether people will come, you know, if you built the shopping center and the stores and restaurants, can people even come out that far, you know?

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So it was–it was really a, you know, I think—but he, you know, he, I think he had the faith and the foresight, you know, that–that it will succeed, you know, and–and–and good. You know, good for him and good for Houston, you know, the fact that

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when he did build the–the Jusgo Center, you know, with the–with the supermarket and number of restaurants, you know, and people just gradually go, you know, come out and to that area, and more and more, and–and because they were

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new, you know, the–the Jusgo Market was–was new, it's called Diho Market at the time. But yeah, it was new, and everybody wanted to see the new–new–new things, you know, and–and so, that become more and more popular, and people start going out there.

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As soon as that, you know, as soon as he built that Diho Market, then—and, you know, some-somebody else developed the–the Welcome Market right next to it, you know. And then–and then–and then soon after that, another developer

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developed the Dynasty Market building, you know, right next to Diho. So, pretty soon, you know, you had three, you know, three shopping centers: Dynasty, Diho, and Welcome, you know, they're all close to

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each other, you know. So that start build the mass, you know, of–of businesses would become, you know, very convenient for people to go for everything they need in–in–in Chinatown.

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So that's kind of, that's kind of how you got–got started, you know, it's just really one man's vision, you know, of—belief that, you know, something is leaving some Chinatown, you know, and he started one shopping center, and he just kind of, it grew from there.

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And then—and it grew rapidly from there, because—and–and a part of the reason is because the land is cheap, you know, those days. So it's easy to expand. And–and–and around there.

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So that's—so he kept expanding, you know, basically expanding west of Bellaire from there, and then kept going, and then it became bigger and bigger. And then–and then the Vietnamese

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American came over in the—in the–in the 70s, you know, and then they–they develop the—purchased a lot of land west of Beltway, Bellaire. And–and continued to expand a lot of the Vietnamese businesses

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west of the Beltway, you know. So with Hong Kong Market, I think came–came–came into being maybe 10 year later, you know, and that kind of set the tone for the–the—a lot of the business west of the

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Beltway of Bellaire, with the–with the Chinese and Vietnamese predominantly businesses. Yeah. And so, the businesses that were in the downtown Chinatown, did all of them move over?

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Or did they eventually run out of business because of that new Chinatown? Yeah, I think the–the–the business in the southwest Chinatown are predominantly new, new money, new

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people, that came over there. So there may be, you know, a few, a few businesses that moved over from downtown Chinatown, but predominantly it's new, new money, new people, and new

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businesses in the southwest Chinatown. So, a lot of business in old Chinatown, and just die, went away, you know? So, it was kind of a

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natural progression. Of course, a few, you know, a few–a few establishment like the, you know, the Chinese Baptist Church, they did move, you know, towards Houston on Katy. And I know that—I know the King Bo, King

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Bo Restaurant, you know, they–they–they have other restaurants in the southwest Chinatown as well, but that's only a few of the most of them. They just went away. Yeah.

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And when did the—I see—I know there's a lot of like banks in Chinatown. When did those start emerging? Ah, you know, the banks, I think they–they are—they came in, they came in maybe in the 80s.

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After the, you know, the—after the–the establishing of the southwest Chinatown, then I think that's in both east and west of the Beltway on Bellaire. Then, I think that's when kind of the banks noticed and

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decided there's–there's definitely profit to be made in the Chinatown area, because there's so many, you know, Asian businesses there. So, and yeah,

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and I mean, then there's of course the–the first banks, you know, they all, they started right there in Bellaire and Corporate with the, you know, the—I think, I don't remember which bank came in first.

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Maybe Chase, you know. Chase came in first and then Wells Fargo came in right across the street, you know, and of course, and then the, and then the Asian, the Asian banks like East West Bank and—well,

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and it wasn't East West Bank back then, it was–was Metro, Metro Bank. And Don Wang, you know, he's another, another one of the early visionaries in the

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Chinese community. He founded the–the Metro Bank across the street, which has since been acquired by East West Bank from California. And–and then, of course, Southwestern Bank is at the

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other corner. So there's four banks right at a corner of Bellaire and Corporate, and–and then so they—and then once those four came in, I think, the other banks started coming in as well, to

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serve the people there in Chinatown area. I see. So what was like, the relationship between banking and like the Chinatown visitors? Like why did so many banks establish in Chinatown?

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They probably saw a need for something. Yeah, yeah, they definitely saw a need, you know, of course, all the–all the the Asian businesses, you know, they–they–they need, they need loans, you know, to start, you know,

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and–and definitely the–the banks in Chinatown area serve that need for the base of all the businesses in the–in the Chinatown area. And of course, you

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know, then when—then of course, the–the–the residents there as well as other Asian American community will be live in that area, they start a bank there because it's like, there's—it's easy for them to do their bus—do the

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banking while they are shopping or eating in the Chinatown area. So yeah, it was kind of a, you know, natural progression. And a lot of the Asian, you know, Asian Americans, they–they like to feel a closeness or–or kinship,

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you know, with the Asian American businesses, you know, so they–they–they like to patronize them and because, and because they speak–they speak the language, you know, a lot of the–the bank, the staff at the bank, they speak

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Chinese or Vietnamese or other languages of the area, of the community, you know, so that really helped. So that—so it really, yeah, it—I think they really, the Chinatown businesses, including the banks, they really, you

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know, serve the needs of the—especially the early immigrants that come here, you know, that need help with–with financial support or language assistance, you know, and it really helped early immigrants settle in the Houston

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area. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. And then, do you also remember, or like know, what types of people would visit this new Chinatown in the beginning? Would it be the same people as downtown Chinatown, or the new

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residents around there? Yeah, well, well, yeah. I think at the time, you know, like in the–in the–in the 70s, you know, you have

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the—of course you have, they always have the folks from Taiwan and Hong Kong, and in the early days, you know, and then in the 70s, a lot of refugees came from Vietnam and after the end of

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the Vietnam War. And–and then, of course, in the, you know, in the–in the—after that, the 80s and then till now, most of the immigrants are came from China, Mainland China.

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So there's a continued influx of immigrants to the Houston area. And then, you know, these–these new immigrants as they come in, they, you know, they–they almost all went to the

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southwest Chinatown area. Because it's—it is closer to where they live. A lot of them live in that area or in Sugar Land, you know, or–or–or other places, even if

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they live in, you know, Katy or other areas, it's not that far to get there on the Beltway, you know. So, it's just convenient, you know, to—for the people to go to Chinatown area. So

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yeah, definitely all the new immigrants as well as old immigrants, you know, they started going to the southwest Chinatown, because of the, because of the convenience to–to where they live. Right. And do you happen to know like around when the new

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Chinatown started shifting into like a more modern kind of development? Like how it is today is very different from how it was in the beginning, I assume, with all these like, modern shops targeting like the younger population.

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Yeah, I think that's a, that's more of a recent phenomenon, you know, in the last 10 years. Yeah, in the early days, it's all, you know, it's mainly, you know, the banks and–and–and China restaurants, mostly Cantonese

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restaurants, you know, maybe a few or, nine or others. And then in supermarkets, you know, those–those–those are mainly, mainly, yeah, that's why people go there, go to Chinatown for.

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But I think with the, with the–the influx of the—of course I mentioned with the influx of the Vietnamese refugees, they–they develop all the business west of Beltway on Bellaire, you know, so they–they–they spent a

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really fast—you know, especially after the–the establishment of the Hong Kong Market on Bellaire and Wil—and Wilcrest area. So, and–and so the—in the—and then of course they—and then the recent, more

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recent immigrants, you know, from China, you know, they–they–they opened more business, you know, they opened up more restaurants, it's like Sichuan or Hunan, you know, type of restaurants that cater more to the Mainland Chinese taste.

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And–and of course, yeah, you know, say the last 10 years, I think the–the second generation, a lot of the second generation Asian American start to get more engaged and involved and open more.

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Yeah, or we—I could guess what you would say is more "modern" restaurant that cater more to the Gen X and the newer, new generation. So which is really great to see, you know, because then you got—now you have really a good, you know, good mix of

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old, I mean more traditional, as well as modern restaurants, you know, and–and more different businesses, you know, a lot of professional services also there, including like lawyers and medical offices.

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And–and yeah, so it's basically a town, you know, that serve the needs of, you know, all the Asian Americans, you know, whatever the—whatever their are the needs might be. So, I think it's–it's–it's really thriving, you know, being built up, first with the

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Vietnamese in-influx, and then with the Mainland Chinese influx, and now with the–the–the second generation younger Asian Americans getting more involved. Yeah, so it's very diverse, I think, you know, in the sense

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of businesses in Chinatown area. Right. And do you remember what was like the first restaurants that were there? Are they still there now? Ah, well, I mean, in

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the–in the–in the—a lot of them are gone, you know. So I remember there are the... in the–in the–in the Diho or Jusgo area, there was the Yuan Ten, Yuan

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Ten Restaurant. There, they—I think they may be the—they may be there originally, you know, maybe only–only–only one or two that's—that was there since the building of the

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Diho Center. Okay, so they were, I think they were there since the early days. I think there is a, maybe another restaurant like in the–in the Dynasty Market, the Le

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Lai Restaurant there. Maybe–maybe Vinh Hoa, may be there since the–since the building of the center in the–in the 80s.

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Yeah, that's a few. I think that's a few. That's–that's–that's still around from the–from the early days, but not–not many, a lot have changed over since the early days.

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Yeah. Okay, cool. And then these last few questions that I have are about the Chinese Community Center that I know you have been a part of.

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Are you still on the board? Yes, yes. Still on the board. Yes, I was the, I was the chairman for–for a number of years and I step off as the chairman, but I'm still on the board.

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Okay, cool. Yeah, I used to go to the CCC with my mom on Saturdays. That's a big part of my life. Aha, okay, you went to Chinese school there? No, my–my mom actually taught a Chinese class there.

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Yeah. And then I took art classes, I think. I think the–the couple that ran the art classes, I think they have their own studio now or something. I see, I see. Okay, okay, okay, good!

00:31:01.800 - 00:31:14.080

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the CCC has been kind of a, I think, incu-incubator, you know? Mhm, yeah, yeah. Do you happen to know Joseph Chen? Yes. Yeah. So he was—was he one of the founders?

00:31:14.870 - 00:31:30.280

Yes, yeah. Okay, okay, yeah. Joseph Chen, Joseph Chen is a—is one of the founders for the–for the CCC. I think they—actually CCC, they, you know, they started in—they

00:31:30.280 - 00:31:44.660

just–they just a little, little place. Actually, they started a little place in–in the Diho Center. They rented the place, you know, the—in the Diho Center, you

00:31:44.660 - 00:32:02.120

know, when the Diho Center was built, or shortly after, you know, they–they–they rented a place there to start, to start CCC. And–and then primary early days, it was—it may be showing, you know,

00:32:02.460 - 00:32:17.100

showing Chinese movies, you know. And–and they started the, you know, the Chinese classes in–in there, in the early days. So it was already a Chinese, mainly a Chinese school, you know, that was started in

00:32:17.140 - 00:32:28.100

the–in the early 70s. Mhm, okay, that's cool. Yeah, he's a pretty close family friend of ours. But yeah, we didn't know.

00:32:28.570 - 00:32:39.670

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was—yeah, that was, you know, that was a—that's another success story, you know, the CCC, you know? How it grew from basic kind of one room, you know,

00:32:40.610 - 00:32:57.130

facility, and you know, and now to be a, you know, two story, multi–multi services center for–for–for everyone, not just the Chinese.

00:32:57.750 - 00:33:10.310

But all the different residents in the Southwest Houston as well. So that's kind of a success story. Right, yeah. I was looking at the website and then the list of services was just like,

00:33:10.310 - 00:33:17.640

super long. I had to like scroll many times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the largest, you know, largest Asian-based

00:33:20.340 - 00:33:33.660

community center, you know, in th– in the southwest United States. So yeah, it's really, I think really, you know, I think the–the key to its success is really now,

00:33:35.770 - 00:33:50.390

now focused on expanding out beyond the–the Chinese school. It's, you know, to include the different social services, you know, the—like the job training, and elderly

00:33:51.590 - 00:34:10.580

services, and summer camp, and daycare, all these social services for low and moderate income residents. And–and that's where you can get the—you can rely on—you can get funding from foundations as well as the

00:34:10.720 - 00:34:29.160

government for those service for low and moderate income citizens. I think that really, that became the predominant part of the CCC. Yeah, nowadays, and Chinese school is just a small part

00:34:29.810 - 00:34:46.990

of the CCC nowadays. So, I think that's really the kind of the key though, to its success, able—the ability to–to serve different residents, diverse set of residents, not just the

00:34:47.150 - 00:35:00.680

Asian community. Yeah. And how did people like hear about the CCC back then? Was it just by word of mouth or did they do a lot in like public–public, or—

00:35:00.990 - 00:35:16.420

No, it's–it's–it's—well, it's really, it's really word of mouth, you know, and that's mainly word of mouth. And especially the—of course, the Chinese schools, you know, that's word of mouth. But then I think, you know,

00:35:16.470 - 00:35:33.110

the—a lot of, there's a lot of Chinese school form, you know, since then in the Houston area, you know. So–so the Chinese school become smaller and smaller part of CCC in–in recent years.

00:35:34.200 - 00:35:49.300

And then on for the–for the social services, that's also, you know, where a lot of that is, you know, the word of mouth, as well as publicity to the–to the immigrant community around

00:35:49.300 - 00:36:05.050

CCC, you know? So a lot of them are Hispanic, Hispanic and Black. And yeah, so, you know, then we—yeah, we use different forms of publicity to try to get word out to those residents.

00:36:06.360 - 00:36:22.950

And that, you know, that they can come to CCC, you know, for childcare or after school programs, you know, and–and, yeah, so, we do–we do

00:36:22.950 - 00:36:38.670

publicity to the apartment complexes around there. And, you know, of course, word of mouth through the current clients or customers that we have. And yeah, and then it's—yeah, now

00:36:39.830 - 00:36:54.300

we have, every year we, you know, we have a New Year festival. Yeah, New Year festival. So that's another way to let the community know about CCC. And, you know,

00:36:54.300 - 00:37:09.550

and–and–and the services that we have. And, of course, and—yeah, I learned a lot of that also, you know, the–the more we do, the more we can deliver the results.

00:37:10.940 - 00:37:31.960

And that also allow us to communicate the funding from, you know, from United Way and other foundations because, you know, we are proven that we can deliver t–t–the results using their funds, you know, the successful

00:37:31.960 - 00:37:49.940

success builds success. And so it's a–it's a gradual process over the years. To grow to the size that we have now, to–to serve more and more people I guess, in the

00:37:50.040 - 00:38:05.800

area. And now, you know, the other recent, more recent focus is–is on the seniors. The rapidly aging populations, and more and more seniors need the services now than before.

00:38:06.510 - 00:38:20.640

So that's–so that's kind of the recent, more recent growth area, I think, for CCC. Yeah. Are most of the seniors that CCC serves like immigrants

00:38:22.030 - 00:38:35.580

visiting like their children in the States or have they been in Houston for a while? Well, I would say the seniors are, yeah, a lot of them have been here for a while. But they—they're almost all,

00:38:35.760 - 00:38:53.690

well yeah, almost all immigrants, you know, they're all first, first generation, predominantly first generation. And–and lot of them, you know, the–the—need–need–need a, need assistance with English, you know, for

00:38:54.150 - 00:39:10.840

example. Yeah, but–but they—yeah, they—so they're–they're–they're predominantly first generation, third generation immigrants, you know, who–who has worked, you know, a lot of them have worked in the–in the

00:39:10.840 - 00:39:27.890

Houston area, but have since, you know, retired. And so they're now kind of enjoying the fruits of their labor, so to speak, you know, and–and so it's a way, it is a way for the–for the senior to kind of socialize and get together and

00:39:27.980 - 00:39:40.990

keep up the fellowship, you know, with other seniors they–they–they have known. So, but—it's, yeah, it's—so, but they, yeah, they–they came from what–what I would say, they probably predominantly are

00:39:40.990 - 00:39:50.550

mostly Houstonians who's been here for a while. Okay, okay, cool. And were these services, at least in the beginning of the CCC, were they

00:39:50.760 - 00:40:08.120

free? Were they offered free? Or like, did they cost something? They–they—yeah, well, we–we have a, it's a mix—we have a mix, you know, mix of free services, you

00:40:09.120 - 00:40:23.960

know, whether funding come from the government or–or–or foundations, you know. So a lot of social services are free to the low and moderate income citizens, you know, like job

00:40:23.960 - 00:40:40.550

training or–or elder care, you know, or... or different, you know, the after school programs, you know, they–they are free for moderate income. And then, so

00:40:40.550 - 00:40:53.670

there tend to be a lot, you know, some of them will also be like a sliding scale. For example, like childcare, you know, it's free for the low and moderate income, but then, you know, we have the means that we have, you know,

00:40:53.670 - 00:41:12.170

then we charge you. We charge a fee, you know, so fee-based. You know, so–so that's true, almost all the social services we offer, you know, it's a sliding scale based on–based on your means. And, of course, Chinese schools

00:41:12.170 - 00:41:25.720

predominantly fee-based. The—everybody, you know, the—it's a fee-based program that we–we offer. And then–and then the—and then a lot of the–the–the,

00:41:28.520 - 00:41:42.070

like the people there, there are like community organizations, you know, also they come, and then they–they will hold events at the CCC. In those cases, you know, they know,

00:41:42.070 - 00:41:56.190

they pay–they pay a fee to rent the space for the–for the community events, you know, so–so it's—yeah, I would say, you know, it's pre-predominantly

00:41:59.630 - 00:42:15.130

funded by the, fund by nonprofit foundations and government. And–and–and those services are free, but then maybe, I would say maybe another 20% that's

00:42:16.190 - 00:42:24.120

self–self pay or fee-based. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, cool. That's all the questions I have. Is there anything else that you wanted to

00:42:24.190 - 00:42:40.130

add about anything? No... no, I'm glad to see, you know, the–the growth of the, you know, the–the–the Asian American community

00:42:40.180 - 00:42:55.700

in the Houston area, and–and–and the diversity that it has now, you know, from–from every, you know, every nationality, you know? Because when you have—you know, it's–it's–it's great to see, you know,

00:42:55.700 - 00:43:11.440

the–the Chinese, the Vietnamese, you know, and of course, we have the—we didn't talk about the–the–the South Asians, you know? They also have rapid growth in the Houston

00:43:11.870 - 00:43:29.430

area. And there's a–there's a Gandhi District, right–right north of the Chinatown area, you know, Hillcroft and Southwest Freeway area. So–so that has come up, you know, also in the last 20 years, to serve an

00:43:29.460 - 00:43:42.010

immigrant population. And, you know, so, you know, so the—if you look at the–the Southwest Chinatown area, you'd be—you can—you say, you can say it cover

00:43:42.280 - 00:44:00.570

predominantly Chinese, Vietnamese, and South Asians in the–in the area. Of course, the Koreans, they are primarily in the I-10 Bengo area, the Korean concentration

00:44:01.450 - 00:44:17.340

over there. And–and now with the expanding population, there is a Chinatown in–in–in West Houston, in Katy. Yeah, so that's a new Chinatown, you know, so–so that's—could be known as like the third

00:44:17.340 - 00:44:33.630

Chinatown, I guess, in a sense for Houston area. So it's–it's good to see, you know, the growth of the Asian Americans' community in the Houston area and–and–and the growth of the, you know, the Chinatown to serve

00:44:34.830 - 00:44:50.240

the diversifying population that we have. And, you know, we're going to get more and more immigrants coming in to the Houston area. So I think the, you know, the Chinatown or Asiatown, I think it's a–it's a great

00:44:51.110 - 00:45:03.060

way to serve especially the early immigrants, these early immigrants, as they come to Houston and make them feel more at home and welcome in the new country. Right.