Sino Wave

As the Asian, predominantly Chinese, influx continues into Foster City, the merchants follow.
 
The nearby European car dealerships have prospered through good times and bad. Although every demographic group aspires to own one of these pricey automobiles, there must be something about a German nameplate that confers über-status in Eastern cultures. After attaining U.S. permanent residence, new arrivals from Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrate by depositing an envelope of cash at the local Mercedes or BMW outlet and driving off with their four-wheeled symbol of achievement.
 
We now have two excellent dim sum restaurants, ABC Seafood and Mr. Fong’s, within a mile from our home. Thirty years ago I had to drive north to San Francisco or south to Mountain View—about 20 miles in either direction--in order to get a decent tea lunch.
 
In the 1970’s the first wave of Hong Kong-trained chefs arrived and rejuvenated San Francisco Cantonese cuisine with sharper flavors and quality ingredients, paralleling the culinary revolution that began across the Bay.  Some of the chefs and restaurateurs migrated south and established beachheads on the Peninsula, Millbrae’s Flower Lounge being the most prominent example.  Today the choices are legion, and one can satisfy one’s craving for dim sum or sushi without leaving one’s hometown.
 
Some of Foster City’s most prominent citizens are of Japanese and Chinese descent. We’ve had Asians on the City Council, and one even became Mayor a decade ago. 



As one further sign that Foster City has become an Asian redoubt, we have our own 99 Ranch, “America's biggest Asian supermarket chain with 26 West Coast stores and franchises in Phoenix and Atlanta [Wall St. Journal – 4/28/04]”.  When I went there last week, new German autos filled the parking lot, as shoppers were pulled in by the $1.49 per lb. special on short ribs.  The same individual who thinks nothing of plunking down $50,000 for a car, when an excellent one can be had for $25,000, will go out of her way to snap up eggs at 99 cents a dozen.


This store, which opened in a neighborhood in which the cheapest house is $800,000, prices each item at $1.25. It's getting a lot of traffic.