Taiwanese Chinese

Meet Hsiao-Hung Pai. My name is Hsiao-Hung Pai. I come originally from Taiwan and I am ethnically Chinese.

Heritage
I grew up in the capital city of Taiwan, which is Taipei. Taipei has around 6 million inhabitants and suffers from severe pollution. These conditions contradict one of Taiwan's old names, Formosa, meaning " beautiful island". I left Taiwan in 1991 initially to study Cultural Theory in Cardiff. I met John there and we got on married in Taiwan.

About the Community
There are around 400,000 Chinese people living in Britain, including 50,000 in London. I've been working as an editor of the Chinese Who's Who project, which will profile 1,000 Chinese people to tell their stories about how they have struggled to establish their lives and careers in a country not of their origin. It will also include a directory of the Chinese community and business organisations. We welcome your suggestions, whether you are Chinese or not.

For more information see www.chinesewhoswho.co.uk

Celebrations
Chinese New Year festival and celebrations are known to most people in Britain. You can see dragon and lion dances in Gerrard Street during the celebrations and hear firecrackers. For Chinese people, this is more of a time of family reunion. On New Year's Eve, people go back to their parents and enjoy a large meal. It is custom that children get ""hongbao" (which are new notes nicely sealed in a red envelope) from their elders.

Food
As the majority of Chinese in Britain come from southern China including Hong Kong, the cuisine has more of a Cantonese flavour. Other types of Chinese cuisine come from Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan. Rice is the main staple food in the south of china, whereas wheat is more favoured in the north. An authentic Sichuan dish could burn your mouth if you are not used to hot chillies and loads of ginger but the tastes could stay in your mouth for such a long time that really makes it worth the while! When I want to eat out locally I normally go to the King of Kings on Barking Road in East Ham. If I want a light afternoon meal, I will normally go to the Golden Dragon in Gerrard Street in China Town.

Living in Newham
One of the important reasons why we chose to move to and live in Newham is because of the cosmopolitan feel of the place. It's great to be neighbours with people from all ethnic backgrounds and feel comfortable walking on the street without being conscious of looking "different". We love the liveliness in Green Street, the food at the Nigerian Palace (off Green Street) and the music at club Afrique in Canning Town.

Language
Mandarin is the official spoken language of China. But the language spoken by the majority of Chinese people in Britain is Cantonese. If you wanted say hello in Chinese, try "ni hao" and "Zai jian" for goodbye.