1949: New York Not Very Different From Shanghai

Chinese-American Dr. Tsu Yao moved around a lot during World War II--from Beijing to Shanghai to Hong Kong to Shanghai--as his mother sought the safest location. They eventually moved to the deep interior of Chongking--a trip that took six months. They arrived a few months before the war ended. (see posts one, two, three.)
After the war, Dr. Yao's father--who worked with the Bank of China-- was recruited to develop the charter rules and regulations for the newly created International Monetary Fund. (est 1945). He came to live in Washington in 1946.
“But there was hardly any money in the IMF," said Dr. Yao. "Cause it was right after the war. After he wrote up the regulations, there was not much to do. He thought it was a very boring job. So he came back to Shanghai.”

But he still held a diplomatic passport. 

So, when China--instead of falling into a peaceful celebration at the end of WWII, entered into a civil war that the Communists won in October of 1949--Dr. Yao's father was able to use that passport to get his family out of China.

In 1949, the whole family moved to New York city. Dr. Yao felt right at home. 

Shanghai 1949

New York 1949

"Because I'd lived in in both Hong Kong and Shanghai, which were both very international cities, I did not find it very different.  New York City was just much bigger and people were better dressed."

Yet while New York City was cosmopolitan, he was in for a bit of a shock when the family traveled to Georgia and the Carolinas in 1954. 

“It was the first time I ran into the segregation issue.  We stopped and saw these water fountains (one for “colored” and one for “whites.”) We weren’t sure which we should go to. So we decided to use both.” 

(...to be continued. Next: China Revisited--Even in Three Weeks There Was Tremendous Change)