When the more than eighteen million visitors poured into the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, they encountered a vision of the world born out of San Francisco’s particular local political and social climate. By seeking to please various constituent groups ranging from the government of Japan to local labor unions and neighborhood associations, fair organizers generated heated debate and conflict about who and what represented San Francisco, California, and the United States at the world’s fair. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition encapsulated the social and political tensions and conflicts of pre–World War I California and presaged the emergence of San Francisco as a cosmopolitan cultural and economic center of the Pacific Rim. Empress San Francisco offers a fresh examination of this, one of the largest and most influential world’s fairs, by considering the local social and political climate of Progressive Era San Francisco. Focusing on the influence exerted by women, Asians and Asian Americans, and working-class labor unions, among others, Abigail M. Markwyn offers a unique analysis both of this world’s fair and the social construction of pre–World War I America and the West.

JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • The acclaimed chef behind the Michelin-starred Mister Jiu’s restaurant shares the past, present, and future of Chinese cooking in America through 90 mouthwatering recipes. ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle • ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Glamour • “Brandon Jew’s affection for San Francisco’s Chinatown and his own Chinese heritage is palpable in this cookbook, which is both a recipe collection and a portrait of a district rich in history.”—Fuchsia Dunlop, James Beard Award-winning author of The Food of Sichuan Brandon Jew trained in the kitchens of California cuisine pioneers and Michelin-starred Italian institutions before finding his way back to Chinatown and the food of his childhood. Through deeply personal recipes and stories about the neighborhood that often inspires them, this groundbreaking cookbook is an intimate account of how Chinese food became American food and the making of a Chinese American chef. Jew takes inspiration from classic Chinatown recipes to create innovative spins like Sizzling Rice Soup, Squid Ink Wontons, Orange Chicken Wings, Liberty Roast Duck, Mushroom Mu Shu, and Banana Black Sesame Pie. From the fundamentals of Chinese cooking to master class recipes, he interweaves recipes and techniques with stories about their origins in Chinatown and in his own family history. And he connects his classical training and American roots to Chinese traditions in chapters celebrating dim sum, dumplings, and banquet-style parties. With more than a hundred photographs of finished dishes as well as moving and evocative atmospheric shots of Chinatown, this book is also an intimate portrait—a look down the alleyways, above the tourist shops, and into the kitchens—of the neighborhood that changed the flavor of America.

A history of our time.

Mr. Chinatown: The Legacy of H.K. Wong is the story of Henry Kwock Wong, better known as H.K., a second-generation Chinese American who became such a popular and influential personality in San Francisco's Chinatown from the 1930s to the 1980s that he was nicknamed "Mr. Chinatown" and "Mayor of Grant Avenue" by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and residents of Chinatown. A businessman, entrepreneur, restaurateur, sportsman, journalist, author, promoter, historian, technical director, watercolor artist, and family man, he left an indelible mark on San Francisco and Chinatown. In fact, it could be said that H.K. laid the foundation for today's Chinatown. With his extroverted, upbeat, enthusiastic personality, and infectious laugh, H.K. was so avid about building a positive image for Chinatown, that in 1987, the San Francisco Examiner posthumously selected him as one of the 101 most memorable San Franciscans over the past hundred years, in celebration of the newspaper's centennial. From acting as a one-man press bureau for the entire Chinese community to building the Chinese New Year Festival and Parade and founding many Chinese sports clubs, he promoted Chinatown to the community. He also co-established the landmark Empress of China Restaurant, brought the first major archeological exhibition to travel outside China since the end of WWII to San Francisco, The Exhibition of Archaeological Finds of the People's Republic of China, as well as numerous other art exhibitions from China. Additionally, he worked as a technical advisor for the movie Flower Drum Song. He also worked as a liaison between Chinatown and numerous governments and organizations, both nationally and abroad. H.K. was energetic, exuberant, and worked tirelessly to promote San Francisco's Chinatown and its cultural traditions. In writing this book, in addition to paying homage to H.K.'s significant contribution to San Francisco's and Chinatown's history, the author honors the integrity of who H.K. was, which can best be summed up in H.K.'s own words: "I believe in doing what you can in the sense of being able to help, particularly when something can enhance life for all of us."

“A fascinating novel, similar to Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha . . . A revisionist portrait of a beautiful and strong-willed woman” (Houston Chronicle). A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year From Anchee Min, a master of the historical novel, Empress Orchid sweeps readers into the heart of the Forbidden City to tell the fascinating story of a young concubine who becomes China’s last empress. Min introduces the beautiful Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid, and weaves an epic of the country girl who seized power through seduction, murder, and endless intrigue. When China is threatened by enemies, she alone seems capable of holding the country together. In this “absorbing companion piece to her novel Becoming Madame Mao,” readers and reading groups will once again be transported by Min’s lavish evocation of the Forbidden City in its last days of imperial glory and by her brilliant portrait of a flawed yet utterly compelling woman who survived, and ultimately dominated, a male world (The New York Times). “Superb . . . [An] unforgettable heroine.” —People “A sexually charged, eye-opening portrayal of the Chinese empire . . . with heart-wrenching scenes of desperate failure and a sensuality that rises off its heated pages.” —Elle