Asian-Richmond.Com: resources for Asian Americans in Richmond, Virginia

This first feature on Asian-Richmond.com introduces us to Mr. Roy Ligh, a real estate agent who was one of the first Asians to be born in Richmond. Through his eyes, we learn about what the Chinese community looked like starting in the 1930s, and how it has evolved into what it is today.

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A Richmond Original: Roy Ligh

As a Richmond-born Chinese whose parents had settled in Central Virginia in the 1950s, I had always assumed that we were among the first Chinese families here. That was until meeting 48-year old Roy Ligh, whose maternal grandfather immigrated to Richmond in 1932 from Guangdong Province in China. A native son of Richmond and product of Richmond Public Schools (he recounts, "I went through Mary Munford, Albert Hill, and Thomas Jefferson"), Roy belongs to one of the three original Chinese families that settled in the area: the Woos, the Lighs, and the Chins. And as the grandson of the Proprietor of the first Chinese restaurant in Richmond, he has been an eye-witness to the Chinese community's evolution from a tight-knit tiny community to a rapidly burgeoning and dispersed minority group.

Gordon and Louise Ligh, c. 1932

His father Gordon came to the United States from China as a "Paper Son" -- someone who had paid a Chinese resident in America to claim that he was a son-- arriving in New York where he would l ater meet his future wife Louise Ligh. It would not be until many years later when Gordon would reassume his original family name, Chin. By the time they moved to Richmond, Gordon's father-in-law (Roy's maternal grandfather) had opened The Oriental, Richmond's first Chinese restaurant, at 2nd and Grace Streets. As the restaurant grew in popularity and expanded, it relocated to 4th and Franklin Streets between the John Marshall Hotel and the Richmond Times Dispatch building. The Oriental specialized in the rich flavors of Cantonese cuisine, and Gordon, ever the quick learner, would soon become the premier Cantonese chef in Richmond-- and also father to two of the first Chinese born in Richmond, Bruce and Roy.

By the time Roy was born, the Chinese Community had grown from the original three families. However, it remained small enough to maintain a familiar closeness. To him, every older man was his uncle and every older woman was his aunt — he jokes that to this day, he is "not even sure which of these people were truly his blood relatives!" These Chinese formed the On Leong Association. Governed by a Board of Directors, On Leong established several rules that members voluntarily submitted to. One such rule included "no-competition" zones for Chinese restaurants - a new restaurant could not be established within a certain radius, thereby ensuring profitability.

The Oriental, after its move to Grace Street

Besides its role in policing the community, On Leong also served a social function that helped it enforce its rules. Located on Broad Street near Belividere Street, On Leong served as a meeting place. Roy remembers going with his father on weekends to watch the Mahjong games. Since the Chinese believed that you had to share your winnings in order not to lose good luck, he often received "Red Envelopes" -- small red packets filled with money, and in this case, money won from gambling! In a single afternoon, Roy might collect up to $30, quite a windfall for a youngster in those days!

In addition to On Leong, restaurants also served an important social function in the early days. During anniversaries, weddings, Chinese New Year and other festive events, the restaurants would hold spectacular banquets featuring authentic recipes. It was this restaurant culture in which Roy grew up in, and whose transformation he would witness first hand.

After graduating from college, Roy returned to Richmond where he started working as a cook at Mandarin Palace at the request of family friend Charlie Chao. Chao, originally a houseboy for an affluent Caucasian family in Windsor Farms had managed to save enough to start his business in the early 1970s. With its introduction of Szechuan cuisine in addition to the more common Cantonese-American dishes, Mandarin Palace marked a radical departure from the first Chinese restaurants in Richmond. And for Roy, this meant adding to the Cantonese cooking skills passed down from his father. Under the tutelage of Rongben Hsu, then a recent immigrant from Taiwan who enthusiastically shared his cooking skills, Roy was able to master new techniques and ingredients.

This talent for cooking would create new opportunities. His new family necessitated a higher salary -- and this was something that despite its success and Chao's friendship with the Lighs, Mandarin Palace was not able to provide. Luckily for Roy, a new restaurant would be making waves on the local scene. Combining the managerial acumen of Dick Du and the restaurant business expertise of Michael Kuo, Peking Restaurant rapidly bloomed at its original Westhampton location on Grove Avenue. Roy recounted that they were so busy that, "from 4:30 to 9:30, we never turned off the flame under the two woks." While assistants prepared the raw ingredients, Roy and another chef would use their consummate skills to cook delectable Chinese dishes.

Sadly, his years at Peking marked the end of Roy's work in Chinese restaurants. He had seen them grow from less than a handful specializing in Southern cuisine into dozens that offered all types of Chinese cooking styles. Moving on to local chains like Fridays and Steak and Ale where he served in a managerial capacity, he later ventured out into his own business: Cinema Draft House in the Westland Shopping Center. Showing intermediary movies (between first and second runs) in a casual atmosphere, it boasted a "Feature Dinner Cinema" on weekends, which combined a movie with a fine dinner of lobster tail and NY strip steak. Roy says, "A lot of people had already seen the movies but came for the dinner."

Roy with his mother Louise

Roy has since started working in the Real Estate business. He believes that one of his greatest assets as a realtor is knowledge of the region - a knowledge that can only be nurtured by growing up here. It is something that he hopes to share with all of his clients, and especially Asian Americans who are moving to the area and might not otherwise know about the myriad of neighborhoods.

Indeed, his pride in being Asian shines through: as a father of four, he beams, "my kids feel very proud of their Chinese heritage." He still reminisces about a different time, when the Chinese community was tighter and everyone knew each other, before the rapid population growth and diversification and subsequent suburbanization spread everyone farther apart. Some things from his youth have gone: the On Leong Assocation would gradually lose its influence as more Chinese moved to the area and other social structures like the Chinese Church started to take root. By the 1970s, the On Leong Association had all but dissolved. On the other hand, some things remain: Mandarin Palace still thrives in Stratford Hills Shopping Center, and Peking has since grown to encompass over a half dozen branches throughout the region.

And as for Roy - well, restaurants still run in his blood regardless of his success as a realtor: he still works as a bartender at The Playing Field. Not bad for this Richmond Original!

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