【25】 How about the Chinese grandparents? @ Oakland, Pittsburgh

I like to talk to elderly people, because they have gone through a life’s journey and are much closer to wisdom, peace, and true happiness. Especially, sometime I just can’t help but talking to elderly Chinese people because I would appreciate some young Chinese fellow talk to my parents and provide companionship if they ever come to visit or stay in Pittsburgh from time to time.

It’s true that America is a place for young international people if the elderly can’t speak English. Unfortunately most senior Chinese here couldn’t speak English. During my stay in Oakland, I had many chances to make acquaintances to several “grandparents” (In China, we call seniors grandparents whether or not they are actually related, and the middle-aged “aunt” or “uncle”). They are here general for three reasons: to visit their children for a short period of time, or to take care of their grandchildren for a year or so if VISA allows, or they have nobody else in China because their only child or their only son is here in the U.S so they had to move here after retirement.

Their world can be slow and lonely, especially if their partner has passed away. The grandpa and two grandmas in the above picture lived in my neighborhood for a while. I often dropped by to chat with them. It’s amazing how much they know about our Chinese culture and how helpless they are when they are here. For example, Grandma Li ( in the red coat) was a traditional Chinese doctor and loves reading Chinese history. After she retired about six years ago, she started to pick up some hobbies, such as gardening, decorating, painting, & calligraphy. She loved to live in Fuyang, the city she came from in Southern China, but after being hospitalized once for an emergency, her son asked her to move to Pittsburgh. Her two daughters didn’t object, for one is in Beijing and the other is in Australia. Both have their own lives and problems. Plus traditionally, Chinese parents would rely on their son to take care of them in their old age. Then she came to Pittsburgh, but is not very happy.

The other two, Grandpa and Grandma Chen, didn’t even speak Mandarin, and I couldn’t understand their Southern dialect, so it took extra energy to converse with them. Nevertheless, they are lovely people and they are very proud parents. One time, Grandma Chen came to my apartment to visit, saw some dirty dishes in the sink, then she rolled up her sleeves preparing to do the dishes for me. Of course, I didn’t allow her, and it took a “fight” to stop her from doing that. According to Chinese tradition, young people should not demand labor from the old, otherwise, young folks’ life duration would be cut short.

Grandma Li has moved out of my neighborhood to live with her son at the outskirts of our city. Being far away from Carnegie Library, she felt even more lonely, which I could tell from her tone every time we spoke on the phone. Grandpa and Grandma Chen went back to China and didn’t want to come back to America.

I wish Pittsburgh one day would have a China Town. That might make the City less lonely for those senior Chinese folks who come here to visit or stay.

I wonder what the situation is like in other ethnic groups for senior people. Maybe “Enriching a senior-friendly sub- community here in Pittsburgh” is a bigger issue for the City to ponder, for if we can enrich the young people’s parents’ lives, we have a better chance to keep them (both young and old) active here in our city.

Beer winning trivia @ Chinese

1. China’s famous one-child policy started to be applied in the 1970s. Three major aspects in this policy: delayed marriage and delayed childbearing; fewer children and healthier births; and one child per couple. In 1978, as the China’s reform and open policy became the most dominant national political direction, the one-child policy (also called controlled childbearing policy), became a national policy that was enforced by each and every of the five levels of government (village, township, county, city, and central government). On November 29th, 2001, the one-child policy was passed by the People’s Congress and written into Law. It took effect on September 1st, 2002. Nowadays, due to societal and family burdens as fewer and fewer children are left to take care of more and more elder parents/grandparents, as well as an economic need for a young labor force, the Chinese government is starting to open up the policy to allow some families in certain cities to have more than one child.

2. The age and race composition of Pittsburgh (based on 2012 American Community Survey 1 year estimate. Modified table)

Your ID @ Pittsburgh population

When did Pittsburgh’s population next have a positive incremental increase since the 1970s-1980s’ massive population decrease caused by the steel industry's downfall?