The event, “Food and the Chinese Diaspora” began over a year ago when my friend, Judy Lam Maxwell proposed that Cheuk Kwan, author of Have You Eaten Yet? and I, author of The Hakka Cookbook, talk about Chinese food around the world at a public event in Vancouver, BC. This dream finally took place at the Vancouver Central Public Library a few days ago. Kevin Chong, author and professor moderated our conversation.

I couldn’t believe that 186 people registered for this free event. Even if not everyone showed up, this promised to be a good crowd. After a short video from Cheuk and a slide show from me, Kevin guided our conversation about food and the Chinese diaspora. We talked about eating in Peru, strong Hakka women, authentic food, Hakka-Indian restaurants, recording recipes, pork belly, and much more. Since Cheuk and I both traveled the world to eat Chinese food to research our books, it was a fun and spirited conversation. View the discussion here.

The audience was the BEST–attentive, interested, and responsive. Many Hakka asked questions or made comments. I’ve always felt a warm welcome from my Canadian audiences. Thank you Vancouver!

Many THANKS to those who made it happen! If you missed the event, view Food and the Chinese Diaspora here.

• Judy Lam Maxwell for conceiving and organizing this event, and bringing it to the world.
• Candice Tanaka from Vancouver Public Library for setting up the event at the Central Library.
• Cheuk Kwan, author of Have You Eaten Yet?, for sharing his experiences, support, and wisdom.
• Kevin Chong, author of the Double Life of Benson Yu, for keeping the conversation interesting.
• Nooroogi Books who provided books for sale.
• Larry Chin of Chinatown Wonders who provided The Hakka Cookbook for sale.