Kuan Lin is a specimen "successful" immigrant, having spent the greater part of his life in the US and made plenty of friends there, who are now giving him their energetic support. During the course of our interview we gained some telling insights into the secret of his popularity.
We put in a request with the chef for one of the house specialties, for both a personal taste of the restaurant's quality, and a photo opportunity. Before Kuan Lin went off to supervise in the kitchen we insisted that we would pay for our order, to which he simply waved his hand, saying softly: "This is something money cannot buy."
Our photographer Huang Lili was interested to see group shots of the staff in former years among the celebrity photos, and hoped to shoot copies of them. Hearing this, Kuan Lin climbed atop a chair, pincers in hand, and personally removed a picture from the wall, then climbed down again and delicately removed the print from its frame. Having put a man of his advanced years to all that trouble, we did not even contemplate photographing any of the other pictures.
Before the interview ended, Kuan Lin showed us his precious 45-year-old autograph album. At the back were recent news clippings about the demonstration, which we hoped to make copies of. At the door, Kuan Lin gave us careful directions to a copy shop and without further hesitation allowed us--whom he had never met before--to drive off with the irreplaceable collection. Feeling quite apologetic on account of this, we thought it only right to express our appreciation by leaving photographer Huang Lili behind as "collateral."
[Picture Caption]
A group shot of restaurant staff in 1959. Nothing has changed much since then. Long-lasting cooperation of that sort is rare anywhere, whether in America or China.
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