PROJECT FLUSHING

New York City’s energy is unparalleled. Towering skyscrapers, iconic landmarks and busy streets deem it the most influential metropolis in America. The populous city is brimming with cultures and vibrant neighborhoods, each offering its diverse cuisine, entertainment, and backgrounds.

NYC is home to over eight million people, many of whom are superheroes—and not just the Marvel ones.

Within the bustling city that never sleeps, Chinese immigrants in Flushing, Queens have made immense sacrifices to build and expand their businesses. Though often unheard, their successes speak incredible volumes for their families and ancestors.

“I feel like my parents are too hard-working . . . .”

In 2000, **Jinqiu Gao** (left) and her husband (not pictured) came to the United States with nothing other than a shared ambition—“to build a fulfilling life and raise a loving family.” To make ends meet, they worked in several restaurants outside New York in hopes of achieving a stable foundation for their aspirations.
Fifteen years later, they opened *Red Mountain Noodle House*, a Chinese noodle restaurant that would authentically bring the taste of their homeland, Fuzhou, China, to America.
In an interview with Gao, she expressed her absolute devotion to supporting her family and the traditional values of economic stability, marriage, and raising children together—common goals shared among many Chinese immigrants.
Gao’s children contribute to her mother’s vision, helping out at the restaurant after school and over the weekends. In their unwavering support for their parents’ perseverance, 17-year-old **Isaac Jiang** (right) and her sister represent many immigrant children.

Since July 2017, Isaac has managed front-desk responsibilities, handling customer service, taking orders, and relaying them to the kitchen staff.
Reflecting on his parents’ relentless work ethic, Jiang admits, “I feel like my parents are almost too hard-working, in a way.” His extensive gratitude for his parents’ commitment to ensuring a bright future for him and his sister has fueled his ambitions to pursue higher education and “return the favor for [his] family.”

Isaac was one of the most intelligent classmates I knew in middle school. When my friends and I learned about his family’s restaurant, we would occasionally dine in, many of us having parents who came from a similar upbringing. Three years after our graduation, I decided to interview him and his mother. In such a large and busy city, a story like theirs can become seemingly small—yet, it hits closest to home.

“…the feeling of success to me, was when one could own their own home.”

Born and raised in Fuzhou, China, **Cyndi Wang** (pictured second to left) has lived a comfortable lifestyle since opening the New Happy Home Furniture.
In 1998, Wang and her parents immigrated to the United States in hopes of achieving the feeling of success, which “to [her], was when one can own their own home.”

When first arriving in the United States, Wang’s family encountered monetary struggles. Originally residing in a modest apartment in Manhattan’s Chinatown, they shared the rent with family friends but eventually wished to live independently. The larger housing market and similar demographic of Flushing made it an attractive location for the Wangs to prosper and seamlessly adapt to the new environment, as it did for many other Chinese families.

The store now offers a wide array of items, including office desks, sofas, bed frames, and mattresses. Primarily serving local customers in the past eight years since its opening in 2015, Wang hopes to expand the business beyond nearby residents in the upcoming years.