This article is part of the ESC Club’s “Crossing Borders, Building Futures” oral history project, documenting the experiences of Chinese families living in and around the San Diego-Baja California border region. The ESC Club is a student-driven organization operating under the nonprofit Amazing Grace Institute, dedicated to multicultural communication and STEM education.
Based on an oral-history interview conducted by ESC Club students Jonathan and Alex
A Life Shaped by Movement
For Candy, identity is not limited to one country. Born in Guangdong, China, she moved to Mexico with her parents when she was still a baby. Her family’s relocation was tied to the restaurant business: relatives already living in Mexico invited her parents to join them and help with their work.
“They moved to Mexico for work, basically for work,” Candy explained. “My uncles have a restaurant in Mexico, and they invited my parents to come here to Mexico to help.”
Her family’s experience reflects a broader pattern among Chinese immigrant families, where relatives already established abroad help newer arrivals find work and stability. Candy said that for many Chinese families in Mexico, “one of the parents or family invite their other family in China to work in Mexico.”
Although she was born in China, Candy spent nearly all of her childhood in Mexico. She attended kindergarten there, went to school there, and formed friendships in the community where she grew up.
“Basically, I grew up in Mexico.”
Growing Up Between Chinese and Mexican Communities
Because Candy arrived in Mexico at such a young age, Spanish became the language she learned first. She made Mexican friends and learned Mexican customs, food, and everyday life naturally through school and her neighborhood.
Still, she also remained connected to her Chinese background. She explained that there were not many Chinese children where she lived, but she was fortunate to know some Chinese friends while growing up.
“I still have some Chinese friends that I grew up together [with], and I think that’s very lucky because I could learn more about my own culture,” she said.
Candy recognized that other Chinese children in Mexico did not always have the same opportunities. She remembered that some Chinese students struggled to connect with Mexican classmates, especially when language made communication difficult.
“The Chinese kids don’t really want to play with the Mexicans… because they don’t speak either Chinese or very, very well Spanish,” she said. “So they have their own Chinese group of friends.”
She also recalled seeing Chinese children face bullying in school. “When I was in kindergarten, the Mexican kids used to bully the Chinese kids,” she said.
Even with those challenges, Candy felt that she was generally able to connect with people around her. Mexican culture became a real part of her life, not something distant or unfamiliar.
Learning Language Through Family, Friends, and Dramas
Language has been one of the most important parts of Candy’s journey. She speaks Spanish, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taishanese, the dialect connected to her family’s hometown in Guangdong.
At home, she spoke Taishanese with relatives. Spanish was the language of school and everyday life in Mexico. Mandarin came later through entertainment, friendships, and her own interest in Chinese culture.
“I learned Mandarin through the dramas and games.”
She later picked up Cantonese through Hong Kong dramas and after marrying her husband, who is from Hong Kong. “Since I married my husband, he’s from Hong Kong, so then I could practice more of my Cantonese,” she explained.
For Candy, dramas were more than entertainment. They gave her access to languages that were not always available through school. She said that Chinese classes were difficult to find in Mexico, so watching Chinese media became one of the main ways she learned.
“Watching dramas can help you to learn a language,” she said.
Her experience shows how culture can travel across borders through television, music, games, and family conversations. Even while growing up outside China, Candy found ways to strengthen her connection to Chinese language and culture.
Food, Family, and Everyday Culture
Candy’s home life blended Chinese and Mexican traditions. Her family cooked Mexican foods such as tacos and nachos, while Chinese food remained an important part of her identity.
When asked about her favorite Chinese food, Candy chose dim sum. When asked about Mexican food, she quickly named tacos, especially carne asada tacos.
However, she said that tacos in Los Angeles are not the same as tacos in Mexico.
“Of course, no. First, the price. Then, the taste,” she said when comparing Los Angeles tacos to the ones she grew up with in Mexico.
Candy also grew up attending Mexican celebrations, including quinceañeras. She described them as major celebrations for young girls, with large dresses, dancing, and family gatherings.
“That’s the biggest birthday party,” she said.
Although she does not celebrate every Mexican tradition herself, she understands the culture deeply because it shaped her childhood. “I can understand everything in all the culture in Mexico,” she explained.
Education and a Career Across Borders
Candy studied international business in college in Mexico. During her final semester, she participated in a student exchange program in Spain, where she met people from many different countries and experienced another Spanish-speaking culture.
She said that studying abroad helped her meet people with different backgrounds and languages. “They of course speak different languages, and they are also learning Spanish,” she said.
After college, Candy worked as a translator before becoming a buyer for an automotive company. Her translation work involved moving between Chinese, Spanish, and English, skills that would later help her in her current career.
Today, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and works with suppliers in Mexico. Her job requires her to travel to Mexican cities about twice a year, making her career another example of how her life continues to cross borders.
“At my current job as a buyer, I manage all our suppliers in Mexico. Each year, like twice a year, I need to go to Mexico to different cities to visit them.”
Her ability to speak Spanish and Chinese has been especially valuable. She explained that companies often need people who can communicate with both Chinese and Mexican workers, suppliers, and business partners.
“Your Mexican background and your ability to speak Spanish is like an advantage for you in finding a career,” she was asked. Her answer was simple: “Yes.”
Facing Challenges as a Woman
Candy’s career has also shown her some of the barriers women can face in cross-border work. During her interview for her current job, she was told that the company did not usually hire women for the buyer position because the job involved traveling alone to Mexico.
“For your position, they don’t really hire women because they need to travel to Mexico to visit the suppliers,” her manager told her. “They know that traveling to Mexico alone is dangerous.”
Candy did not let that stop her. “I was like, ‘Oh, okay, but maybe I can try,'” she remembered.
Today, she has proven that she can manage the role and its responsibilities. Her story shows that women in international careers may face additional doubts or safety concerns, but they can still build successful paths through confidence and experience.
Feeling Like a Tourist in China
Although Candy was born in China, returning there does not always feel like returning home. Most of her close family now lives in Mexico or the United States, while only some relatives remain in China.
When she visited China two years ago, she felt disconnected from places and family members she had not seen often.
“I didn’t really recognize them or even the place,” she said.
When asked whether she feels that she belongs in China, Candy answered honestly: “I feel like a tourist.”
Her response reflects a common experience for people raised across borders. China remains part of her identity through family, language, food, and heritage, but Mexico is where she grew up and built many of her earliest memories. Los Angeles is where she now lives and works.
Rather than belonging to only one place, Candy’s life connects several places at once.
Looking Forward
Candy hopes to continue learning languages and traveling. She said she would like to visit more places in China, including Beijing and Shanghai, and she also hopes to see Norway’s northern lights one day.
When asked what advice she would give her younger self, she gave a short but meaningful answer:
“Learn more languages.”
For Candy, language has opened doors to friendships, education, travel, work, and cultural understanding. It has also helped her stay connected to the different communities that make up her life.
Her story shows that crossing borders does not mean leaving one identity behind. Instead, it can create a wider understanding of home, culture, and opportunity. Candy’s journey from Guangdong to Mexico and then to Los Angeles demonstrates how family, language, and persistence can build a future across countries.
Source: Oral-history interview with Candy, conducted by ESC Club students Jonathan and Alex.
