Home Is Where the Heart Is

BORN in China is the companion book to the documentary Made in China by American filmmaker John Helde， which tells the story of expatriate American children growing up in pre-Mao China， and the cultural and political experiences that shaped their lives. I came across the documentary purely by chance and was instantly captivated by it. The concept of the film and subsequent book arose from Johns curiosity about his fathers childhood in China.

Tom Helde was born in Chengdu in 1920. He spent his childhood and teenage years in China， the most important period of his life and a significant period in world history， too. In 1935， Tom Helde returned to the U.S. Years later he got a PhD in History from Yale University， and started his career as a professor at Georgetown University. He talked very little of the past. In Johns eyes， his father was like all American boys born and raised in a typical American family –no links with China， a far and distant land. As time went by， the two generations never broached the subject of Toms past. Then one day， John happened to pick up an old photo album and inside he discovered photos of his missionary grandparents， George and Ruth Helde， and their young son. The story of his fathers birth in remote China suddenly came into focus.

John would soon find himself on a journey across the U.S.， looking for people who shared his fathers experiences， and then through China， from Shanghai to Chengdu and Changsha， in search of where the story began. As he progressed， he came across seven China-born Americans willing to impart their childhood memories and reflections on the unique experience. The China stories that feature in the book span from the 1920s and 1930s to the very beginning of this century， a period charting dramatic change and encompassing historic events such as the outbreak of the first civil war， the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression， and the founding of the PRC， as well as the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. in the 1970s， launch of Reform and Opening-up in the 1980s and finally， to 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Through memories and narrations， a century of events in modern China is unveiled from a unique perspective.

While these China-born Americans grew up in China， they would go on to pursue their further development in the U.S. Their life experiences unexpectedly offered them indepth understanding of Eastern and Western cultures； “genetics” of both Chinese and American cultures fused together in their spirits.endprint

BJ Rugh Elder was born in 1933 in Hunan Province. Her childhood was marred by the political turbulence of the War of Resistance against Japan. Later she spent a period in Shanghai till the founding of the PRC. Then she returned to the U.S. and had a successful career after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania， and then took up the pen to write when she retired. In 2007 she accompanied John to China to film the documentary.

Charlie Roberts， Tom Heldes neighbor in China， also experienced China during troubled times. In 1987， he returned to his birth place in Changsha and taught for a semester at a local middle school.

For the China-born Americans interviewed for Heldes project， China has many perspectives. For some it is a place that dwells in their memories； however， the feeling is so indistinct it is hard to fully comprehend – first， in the U.S.， returning to their motherland as a stranger， and then in China， traveling in search of their childhood， all the memories are there but everything has in fact changed.

John Helde made his first trip to China in 2004 on a quest to discover his grandparents life footprints. In Changsha， he even found the site of their old house. In the documentary， he narrates his feelings： Even though he never lived in China， his feeling of affinity with the country was so vivid that he felt as if he were at home， surrounded by family. His experience gave him a better understanding of “home.”

In both Chinese and American cultures， the importance of home is the same to every individual. Born in China covers multiple themes， from collisions between Eastern and Western cultures， to changes in modern Chinese history， and the universal values of home.endprint