Rodney: All right, Max, say your name

Maxime: Maxime Liang

Rodney: And where were you born?

Maxime: I was born in Lancaster, PA.

Rodney: And what year? OK so. Where are your parents from? What are the history of your parents?

Maxime: So my mom was born in Cambodia and she moved to France when she was really young and was just raised outside of Paris. Basically, her whole life and then came studied in England in London and then came to the US to study more English. And my dad was born in Vietnam. And then he immigrated to Lancaster.

Rodney: What was their heritage?

Maxime: Yeah. Yep. They're both Chinese.

Rodney: And where is. There any part of China where their families are from?

Maxime: I'm not sure. OK, let me go ask actually.

Rodney: And then what dialects do they speak?

Maxime: My dad speaks Vietnamese and Cantonese and my mom speaks Cantonese to Joe and Mandarin.

Rodney: Do you speak any?

Maxime: Yeah, I studied Mandarin in college for 2-3 years and then I was raised with two Chow and Cantonese.

Rodney: Oh, OK.

Maxime: So I wouldn't say I'm fluent in it, but I could definitely understand and I can say a few things. 

Rodney: So you could speak Cantonese and Mandarin. Wow, OK, I didn't know. Little bit, a little little bit.

Maxime:I think I picked it up pretty fast, like to the point where I could be fluent if I used it more often.

Rodney:So what was it like growing up in Lancaster? Were you aware about being an Asian American growing up in Lancaster, was that ever in your thought?

Maxime: Yeah, definitely. I knew I was different because obviously my skin color and being surrounded by a bunch of white kids, you kind of stand out. There is an Asian market in Lancaster. There is a tiny Asian community, but it's not centered like Chinatown in Philly. So it's kind of more spread out in the sub. There were a few Asian families, but. No, not a crazy amount.

Rodney: All right. So after that, where did you go from when you graduated from high school?

Maxime: When I graduated from high school, I came to Temple University in 2019, I studied international business with a concentration in Asian studies and marketing.

Rodney: So you automatically did that when you first came to Temple. Did you know when that was?

Maxime: Yeah, I came into Temple wanting to do international business and then they had me declare a concentration and a point of study. Within the major and also with international business, you have to pick a language. So I picked Asian studies, concentration was marketing and then chose Mandarin as my language of study.

Rodney: What made you go to international business?

Maxime: I really love to travel and I'm hoping that that could take me to places that. Maybe it'd be harder to get to, I guess.

Rodney: Did you travel before hand?

Maxime: Yeah, yeah, my parents and I and my little brother.

Rodney: Where have you gone?

Maxime: We've traveled a good bit around Europe. Because my mom's family's from Paris and we traveled around the US and we've done some South America.

Rodney: Did you ever get a chance to visit China?

Maxime: Not yet. My parents were waiting for us to get a little bit older so that we can. Maybe it's really expensive. So maybe we could appreciate it a little bit more when we are older.

Rodney: OK. So why Asian studies?

Maxime: I felt like that made the most sense to me; doing Asian studies there. I think there was Latin American studies and European studies, and I think Asian studies kind of made the most sense.

Rodney: Was Chinese history a part of the curriculum?

Maxime: Not Chinese history, but Asian history and Asian culture. 

Rodney: OK. Did you have any curriculum in Asian studies at all in high school?

Maxime: No, no. But when I took AP world history, we covered some dynasties in China and stuff, but nothing in super particular.

Rodney: When you were taking these Asian studies class in temple. Did it make you reflect more upon your heritage as an Asian American?

Maxime: Yes– that and taking Mandarin classes definitely because it's weird to be taking the language and your teachers expecting a little bit more from you because you're Chinese and I just couldn't get up to their standards.

Rodney: How did it make you feel?

Maxime: It didn't make me feel really anything, but it was like kind of an eye opener like ohh, maybe I should probably do something about it. Maybe try a little bit harder. Or you know they didn’t make me feel bad or anything, but like definitely like I should do something about it.

Rodney: So when you went to Temple. Did you already know about Philadelphia's Chinatown?

Maxime: Yeah, I did. My family would always go there to buy groceries because it was a lot cheaper and we would buy vegetables and fruits and stuff from the Asian markets in Chinatown or the Vietnamese markets on Washington Ave. And then we go out to eat or something at dim sum. I remember it as a kid, but I didn't like it because I didn't want to go grocery shopping with my parents.

Rodney: How long did it take you? To drive there, I mean, you're coming from Lancaster.

Maxime: Yeah, yeah, it took an hour and a half– so it's a good drive one way out.

Rodney: Do you have any thoughts about Chinatown around that time when you were a kid?

Maxime: I didn't think too much of it, of course. I love the food. I love eating food, but no, I was kind of annoyed by Chinatown just because I had to go there to go grocery shopping. That was like the only thought I remember of it. That was like the only thing kind of just annoyed that I had to go grocery shopping. But other than that, nothing. Yeah, too particular. I did like it, though.

Rodney: So when you're at Temple, or now today, because you just graduated from Temple, How has your view changed of Chinatown compared to when you were a little kid going there when your parents took you.

Maxime: For sure. So when I was at Temple, I would normally just go to Chinatown. Either with friends or by myself to take pictures because I'm a photographer or mostly go eat out and. So if I were to go out and eat, which I normally don't do, it would always be at Chinatown. It kind of makes me feel at home a little bit more than like eating somewhere else. 

Rodney: Why does it make you feel at home?

Maxime: It's nice to see people that look like you and also just hearing people speak Chinese, watching  the old grandmas and grandpas look for their vegetables and stuff at stands. That's kind of nostalgic. Nice to see that. Just brings me back to my childhood a little bit.

Rodney: What does Philadelphia Chinatown do for you being there because you're like from Lancaster, right? What perspectives do you have of it now that you know that you go there from Temple.

Maxime: I think for me it's a really good place for me to kind of reconnect with my heritage and culture, but also it's just I think it's really nice to see. The older generation is able to find a community to be together because often a lot of Chinese families are immigrants. So when you see the older generation come together and kind of feel comfortable in a place that's totally foreign and create a really nice community to flourish and thrive. I think it's really nice to see. Because, yeah, they're in America, and obviously everyone speaks English. But in Chinatown you don't have to speak English. There's plenty of businesses– salons, restaurants, anything you can think of in a big city. So it's really cool to see that.

Rodney: And how about for you personally?

Maxime: For me, yeah, so I think. It helps me reconnect, right? So I can practice my Chinese and eat Chinese food. It kind of brings me back to my parents cooking. It’s nice also for me to show my friends kind of my background a little bit. Just like through the food and through the culture. And so I think that's really important for not just myself, but other people to kind of see different cultures like there's no real other place that you can kind of to do that and almost feel like you're immersed in a totally different place within the city, so I think that's really, really cool.

Rodney: Do you have any opinion about the importance that Chinatown has for Philadelphia?

Maxime: It's really important of course, for the Asian population right. Also it brings in a lot of tourists just to the restaurants and stuff like in Chinatown, you don't just see Asian people, you see a bunch of different races and stuff– different types of people go in and try foods and stuff. And that's really important because if you don't have a place of other cultural significance, then it just becomes dull. Your city is just super dull and America is supposed to be a melting pot, right? So if you kind of destroy that epicenter for different cultures then, I don't know. I see Philadelphia as a very diverse place. Just coming from Temple– so if you were to eliminate Chinatown, that'd be kind of strange. 

Rodney: OK. Is there anything else you want to say about Chinatown? 

Maxime: I don't think so. I think we covered most of everything.

Rodney: OK. Yeah, Max, thanks for doing this.

Maxime: Yep, no problem.