Disturbing the Dust: Memories and Recipes of China Alley

The Wing family of Hanford, California had had a China Alley restaurant in continuous operation from 1883-2006. Their saga began when Ms. Wing's great-grandfather fled China to escape political persecution. Pursued by government henchmen, he jumped into the Pearl River. Rescued, he found himself about a boat headed to California, where he ended up in the Hanford area. After working on farms and for the railroad, he returned to his family roots in the restaurant business and opened a noodle shop. This humble eatery blossomed into a successful Chinese restaurant. In 1958, the family opened the Imperial Dynasty, which served a unique menu dubbed Chinoise by the late Silas Spitzer and best described as a cuisine of classical French dishes reinterpreted though the ancient art of Chinese cooking. But first it was a noodle house.

Disturbing the Dust is a collection of revised issues of Ms. Wing's "Hanford Gourmet," originally published in the Hanford Sentinel. It chronicles the four generations of Wing clan cooks and chef, China Alley developers and preservationists. China Alley is a prime example of a unique and well-preserved California Chinese settlement community. Artfully interwoven, their stories, recipes, and images capture the Chinese American experience in central California from immigration to the present, from a thriving city within a city to contemporary efforts for its preservation, from simple noodle house to four-star restaurant.

Wing family memories will linger in the reader's mind. Their recipes will drive readers who cook to their kitchens and dining room tables. Ms. Wing's prose and presence in her telling these stories focused on home and family, tradition and exploration, the meeting of the past and the present - including her magical experiences on China Alley, of meeting her great-grandfather's ghost, and experiencing the sounds and aromas, the vibrant energy and colors of another time - will enchant those who by reading Disturbing the Dust, step into her reality of disturbing the dust of the past and hoping for a revitalized future for her beloved China Alley.