Vincent: Tell us about your childhood. Where did you grow up? Where were you born?

Ping: I was born in China, Fujian. 

Vincent: What do you do for a living? 

Ping: I have a restaurant in Chinatown.

Vincent: Why did you come to Philadelphia?

Ping: My dad’s first stop was to come to Philadelphia. After several years, me and my brothers, my mom, we all immigrated to the U.S. 

Vincent: So you were born in China and you moved to Philadelphia? So what's your relationship to Chinatown?

Ping: That's my home. I’ve lived here since we came here.

Vincent: Why did you choose Philadelphia's Chinatown?

Ping: We came here because my dad's here. It's friendly because we all speak Mandarin. That’s a place we feel safe. First, my husband and his cousin had a restaurant in Iowa, so we moved to Iowa for like three years and then after we found this location, we opened Bubblefish and then we moved back.

Vincent: Is there any place in Chinatown that you feel is special to you?

Ping: Tai Lake, that’s the first restaurant we went to when we came here.

Vincent: So how has your relationship with Chinatown changed over the years that you've been here?

Ping: Well, we've been here for like, wow, it's almost 20 years. I see more people in Chinatown. I see a lot of people, they want to move into Chinatown.

Vincent: Have you seen any other changes in Chinatown? 

Ping: Well, there's restaurants that closed. You see many restaurants or maybe it's because of the COVID. The reason I love Chinatown is because, first of all, we have business here. Second, we are living here. So Chinatown, it’s just like our home. The buildings have a lot of young professionals. They like Chinatown because it's very convenient. You find everything in Chinatown. 

Vincent: What is your broader vision of Chinatown? What do you expect in the coming 10, 20 years?

Ping: We all know that Chinatown is blocked by several places. I don't know what's gonna happen in 10 years, but people are talking about the 76 arena. I know a lot of people are against the project so we don't know if it's good or bad. We know if there's an arena in Chinatown, I know it's going to be bad for us. As a restaurant owner, we know that the property tax is definitely going to be raised. The rent in Chinatown, and traffic, we know it will get worse.

Vincent: Do you see yourself staying in Chinatown for the foreseeable future?

Ping: Well, my older daughter is in third grade. So maybe, in a few years we will probably look for a good high school for her. So we may move. 

Vincent: You've been here for many years, has your opinion of Chinatown changed at all?

Ping: I have to say that, when I just came here I felt a little bit disappointed. It's America. When we got off the airplane, it's around 12, like midnight. So we didn’t see that many stores, actually no stores were open besides the restaurant. But in China around that time we can, there are a lot of stores open. So people, they walk in the street. Here it’s so different. Well, I know people were talking about, it's dangerous to live in Philadelphia. But here in Chinatown, I don't see that much. I think I still feel safe living in Chinatown. You can still walk on the street, if you go out to play when you go back, you’re safe to walk on the street. Chinatown, we feel like it's our home. So we try to keep the street clean. We can see PCDC, what they’re doing is they have people who clean the street every day. So when I think about Chinatown, it's not just a place you only go there for a restaurant. We have the Moon Festival, we have it every year. There's so many reasons they can just come into Chinatown to visit. There's a lot of festivals, of course, Chinatown is a good place to shop. There is a lot of convenience stores, grocery stores. 

Vincent: How would you say that your business is, currently? Do you think it's going well? 

Ping: Well, I think it hurts a lot. The business in Chinatown... well, right now. I think it's just everywhere. I don't think it's just Chinatown. But yeah, it changed a lot.

Vincent: How do you think your business has changed?

Ping: I think it's just because of COVID. So maybe COVID changed people’s lifestyle. They don't go out to eat as much as before, right? Bubblefish, we opened it up before COVID, 2015. More Sugar is like December 2018.

Rodney: When did you come to the United States?

Ping: 2003. 

Rodney: Were you a kid then? Were you a teenager?

Ping: I was 18. 

Rodney: You were 18? Wow. So all your friends were back in China?

Rodney: You left everything to come here as an 18 year old.

Ping: But with my family.

Vincent: Were you educated here?

Ping: I went for two years and then it wasn't, I think, at the time ,the environment for us. It wasn’t good. I dropped the school but my brother, he continued to finish his school. 

Vincent: So you said when you flew in here, you said you were a little disappointed about America. You know, my parents are like that too honestly.  But would you have liked to stay in China or would stay in Philadelphia?

Ping: China? Not because the language, it's so many things. But yeah, if I had a chance, I would choose China.

Vincent: Do you think America gives a better opportunity for your kids? Is that why you decided to come?

Ping: I was thinking, maybe one day if you go to college. Well, I hope they have a chance to go to China to take a look because China right now it's so different. It's huge, huge difference. So that's why I encourage them, learn Chinese, speak Chinese at home because they were all born here. English is their first language. So also the reason we live here [to Chinatown] is because they still have an environment to speak Chinese if they go to supper. They speak English at school, they speak English with their siblings. They don't speak Chinese at all. So, yeah, maybe one day I'll tell them when me and my husband, we get retired, we're gonna go back to China. So they'll be like, ah I want to go to China. 

Grace: Earlier, you talked about how the 76ers Arena would have a negative impact on Chinatown businesses. I'm wondering if other people in your community also agree?

Ping: I have friends who agree. Some people just support the project and some people don't want the project. I don't think it's gonna be a good project for people who live in Chinatown. I don’t think it’s good for business owners in Chinatown. Maybe they're going to bring more people, but I don't know if it's good or bad. It's just like more people but maybe you have more crime.

Grace: How would you describe Chinatown to someone who's never been here?

Ping:  I'll say it's a good place you can visit. If you come to Philadelphia, I'll say you're definitely gonna come to Chinatown. There is a lot of historical buildings. I just hope Chinatown is doing better and better. I'm not sure if the arena developers hear us. A lot of people like, oh, no, but I don't know if they hear us. I just hope Chinatown is getting it. We're going to stay here forever. 

Vincent: Thank you for your time.