---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a…"
description: "\"I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a large Chinese-American family in Los Angeles.\" — Lisa See"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/lisa-see-2200_american-family_i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a_1735754.jpg"
---

#  I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a large…

![“I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a large Chinese-American family in Los Angeles.” quote by Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/lisa-see-2200_american-family_i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a_1735754.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/lisa-see-2200_american-family_i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a_1735754.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/lisa-see-2200_american-family_i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a_1735754.jpg)

> “I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a large Chinese-American family in Los Angeles.”

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker identifies as a mixed‑heritage individual from a large Chinese‑American family in Los Angeles, highlighting cultural identity.

**In simple terms:** Speaker is an eighth Chinese from a big LA family.

Key Takeaway

Embrace and explore multicultural roots.

Themes

identity heritage family culture

Mood

proud curious

Type

personal reflective

When to use this quote

- community events
- family reunions
- cultural festivals
- education programs

Key Concepts

sociology diaspora studies

Questions to Reflect On

- How does your heritage shape you?
- What challenges arise from mixed identity?

A Different Perspective

May face identity conflict or stereotyping.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[American family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-family/) [Chinese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chinese/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Los angeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/los-angeles/)

## Related quotes

> [Being from a very traditional Chinese-American family, my parents believed the only options to have a successful life were to be a doctor, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/being-from-a-very-traditional-chinese-american-family-my-parents/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [For me, my family is from Los Angeles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-fried/for-me-my-family-is-from-los-angeles/)

[Max Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-fried/)

> [Friends in the Midwest often ask me what it's like to raise a family in Los Angeles. I say it's just like where they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-levitan/friends-in-the-midwest-often-ask-me-what-it-s-like-to-raise-a-family/)

[Steven Levitan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-levitan/)

> [My family is still in Los Angeles. We listened to all sorts of music: Mexican music, oldies, soul, disco and rock &amp; roll. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-sandoval/my-family-is-still-in-los-angeles-we-listened-to-all-sorts-of-music/)

[Hope Sandoval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-sandoval/)

> [On the mission I brought a flag from China, I brought the stone sculpture from Hong Kong, and I brought a scroll from Taiwan.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-chiao/on-the-mission-i-brought-a-flag-from-china-i-brought-the-stone/)

[Leroy Chiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-chiao/)

> [Bruce Lee was the first star I idolized. Growing up as a Chinese American, there weren't many people like me on the big screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-wu/bruce-lee-was-the-first-star-i-idolized-growing-up-as-a-chinese/)

[Daniel Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-wu/)

> [I'm a Chinese American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-yuan/i-m-a-chinese-american/)

[Eric Yuan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-yuan/)

> [“As a Chinese American growing up in a largely white world during the 1920s and 1930s, a sense of social marginalization marked her formative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-m-ward/as-a-chinese-american-growing-up-in-a-largely-white-world-during-the/)

[Stephen M. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-m-ward/)

> [My parents came to America in the late 1960s because my father studied for a Ph.D. in Indiana. My mother joined him later. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-ng/my-parents-came-to-america-in-the-late-1960s-because-my-father/)

[Celeste Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-ng/)

> [The cultural pressure for a middle-class Chinese-American to walk, talk and act like a lower-class thug from Chinatown is nil. The same can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chatterton-williams/the-cultural-pressure-for-a-middle-class-chinese-american-to-walk/)

[Thomas Chatterton Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chatterton-williams/)

> [If I were to limit myself to the opportunities that were presented playing only Chinese-American parts, I would be virtually without a career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-were-to-limit-myself-to-the-opportunities-that-were-presented/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [When I was writing stories about Chinese American characters in my fiction classes, I'd get comments like, 'You should consider writing more universal stories.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-zhang/when-i-was-writing-stories-about-chinese-american-characters-in-my/)

[Jenny Zhang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-zhang/)

> [I'm Chinese-American, of course, and so it's very interesting to see China actually launch their own astronauts, becoming the third nation, following the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-chiao/i-m-chinese-american-of-course-and-so-it-s-very-interesting-to-see/)

[Leroy Chiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-chiao/)

> [If someone were to call me 'the next Amy Tan,' it would not be because - or not primarily because - we have similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-ng/if-someone-were-to-call-me-the-next-amy-tan-it-would-not-be-because/)

[Celeste Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-ng/)

> [I grew up in a Chinese American enclave where the person who lived down the street had literally lived down the street from my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-zhang/i-grew-up-in-a-chinese-american-enclave-where-the-person-who-lived/)

[Jenny Zhang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-zhang/)

## More by Lisa See

> [“the birth of the twins and what happened to them, although traditional, has transformed me as irreversibly as soaking cloth in a vat of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/the-birth-of-the-twins-and-what-happened-to-them-although-traditional/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [When the sun is shining, think of the time it won't be, because even when you're sitting in your house with the doors shut,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/when-the-sun-is-shining-think-of-the-time-it-won-t-be-because-even/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [Snow Flower was my old same for life. I had a greater and deeper love for her than I could ever feel for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/snow-flower-was-my-old-same-for-life-i-had-a-greater-and-deeper-love/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“When she reaches the ground, she looks from the old woman to me. A moment of confusion. Then recognition. I know her too, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/when-she-reaches-the-ground-she-looks-from-the-old-woman-to-me-a/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“huigan—causes us to turn inward and reflect as the liquor coats our tongues, shimmers down our throats, and then rises again as fragrance. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/huigan-causes-us-to-turn-inward-and-reflect-as-the-liquor-coats-our/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“...maybe writing doesn't require sacrifice. Maybe it's a gift to experience emotions through our brushes, ink, and paper. I wrote out sorrow, fear, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/maybe-writing-doesn-t-require-sacrifice-maybe-it-s-a-gift-to/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“You can always count on people to crowded your party when you’re in glory but you should never dream of people sending you charcoal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/you-can-always-count-on-people-to-crowded-your-party-when-you-re-in/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [Let those who believe, believe. Let those who doubt, doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/let-those-who-believe-believe-let-those-who-doubt-doubt/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [It used to happen in villages and towns in China that they would have - I guess you'd call them beauty contests - where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/it-used-to-happen-in-villages-and-towns-in-china-that-they-would-have/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“So many mistakes. So many errors. So much tragedy as a result. In that moment I understood that the cruelest words in the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/so-many-mistakes-so-many-errors-so-much-tragedy-as-a-result-in-that/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“Yes, she had held her family together, but at what cost to herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/yes-she-had-held-her-family-together-but-at-what-cost-to-herself/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“When in the world did anyone die from a dream?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/when-in-the-world-did-anyone-die-from-a-dream/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [But, you know, I just did a big trip in the spring to Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand, and that's when I bought a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/but-you-know-i-just-did-a-big-trip-in-the-spring-to-vietnam-and/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [“Maybe that's what we're all like with our mothers. They seem ordinary until one day they're extraordinary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/maybe-that-s-what-we-re-all-like-with-our-mothers-they-seem-ordinary/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

> [Model communes are the ones where the leaders lie the best and the biggest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/model-communes-are-the-ones-where-the-leaders-lie-the-best-and-the/)

[Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

[Explore all 178 Lisa See quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/)

## More American family quotes

> [In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. Heritage Foundation political scientist Robert Rector has worked up figures showing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/in-comparative-terms-there-s-no-poverty-in-america-by-a-long-shot/)

[P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/)

> [We want American families to feel more confident in life. We want the next generation to know that yes, the best days of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/we-want-american-families-to-feel-more-confident-in-life-we-want-the/)

[Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/)

> [“At the very same time that we witnessed the explosion of white celebrity moms, and the outpouring of advice to a surveillance of middle-class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-j-douglas/at-the-very-same-time-that-we-witnessed-the-explosion-of-white/)

[Susan J. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-j-douglas/)

> [To my way of thinking, the American family started to decline when parents began to communicate with their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/to-my-way-of-thinking-the-american-family-started-to-decline-when/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [“We are taken through the pursuit of the American dream, the establishment of the American family, and a smattering of suspense and intrigue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-allgire/we-are-taken-through-the-pursuit-of-the-american-dream-the/)

Nikita Allgire

> [Now we have black and white elected officials working together. Today, we have gone beyond just passing laws. Now we have to create a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis/now-we-have-black-and-white-elected-officials-working-together-today/)

[John Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis/)

> [I was completely naive about the business of being an actor. My family didn't go to the theater or to the movies. We watched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mcdormand/i-was-completely-naive-about-the-business-of-being-an-actor-my-family/)

[Frances McDormand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mcdormand/)

> [“...when President Clinton, on the anniversary of his election, spoke in the church in Tennessee where Martin Luther King, Jr., had delivered his last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-himmelfarb/when-president-clinton-on-the-anniversary-of-his-election-spoke-in/)

[Gertrude Himmelfarb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-himmelfarb/)

> [We had a very upwardly mobile economy, and that peaked around the 1950s when the typical middle-class American family consisted of a father with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/we-had-a-very-upwardly-mobile-economy-and-that-peaked-around-the/)

[Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/)

> [The truth is that family values, as used by the American Family Association, Dan Quayle, and the southern Baptists, has nothing to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-sullivan/the-truth-is-that-family-values-as-used-by-the-american-family/)

Morris Sullivan

> [When I was a kid I got so much help from the Church. When I was a kid, our family was so poor they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-woo/when-i-was-a-kid-i-got-so-much-help-from-the-church-when-i-was-a-kid/)

[John Woo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-woo/)

> [There is no institution more vital to our Nation's survival than the American family. Here the seeds of personal character are planted, the roots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/there-is-no-institution-more-vital-to-our-nation-s-survival-than-the/)

[Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/)

> [You know, yeah, my dad is white - he's American. His family has been in this country for many, many, many years. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-zegler/you-know-yeah-my-dad-is-white-he-s-american-his-family-has-been-in/)

[Rachel Zegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-zegler/)

> [I think health care reform is challenging and challenged. We will see what happens, but this is a difficult topic that touches every American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blunt/i-think-health-care-reform-is-challenging-and-challenged-we-will-see/)

[Roy Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blunt/)

> [You hear a lot of dialogue on the death of the American family. Families aren't dying. They're merging into big conglomerates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/you-hear-a-lot-of-dialogue-on-the-death-of-the-american-family/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

[Browse all 155 American family quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-family/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a large Chinese-American family in Los Angeles.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Lisa See"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a-large-chinese-american/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "American family"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a-large-chinese-american/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/lisa-see-2200_american-family_i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a_1735754.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/lisa-see-2200_american-family_i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a_1735754.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28e/lisa-see-2200_american-family_i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a_1735754.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I am an eighth Chinese, and I come from a large Chinese-American family in Los Angeles.” — Lisa See",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Lisa See",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I am an eighth Chinese, and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a-large-chinese-american/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/i-am-an-eighth-chinese-and-i-come-from-a-large-chinese-american/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
