Wei-Hua Lee

ȯè¯´å°å·ž Wei-Hua Lee

In recent years, China has emerged from being a developing country to be an economic power house. More and more U. S. companies, including several from Indiana, have been investing and distributing in China because of its enormous market size and the largest population in the world. At the same time, growing numbers of Chinese tourists have been traveling to the U. S., mainly to the coastal cities and popular tourist sites. Although less visited by Chinese tourists, during this time Indiana did become a sister state with Zhejiang Province in 2009. Indianapolis then became the sister city of Hangzhou in 2014 and now over 10 Indiana cities have established sister cities in China.

Even more encouraging, Indiana Universities have attracted many Chinese students in recent years. In 2015, Chinese students accounted for 31.2% of the entire international student population in the U. S, reaching 304,040 which almost tripled the number from five years earlier. Of that total, around 4,000 enrolled at Purdue University and over 3,000 at Indiana University. Thousands more enrolled in other universities and high schools in Indiana. All of this has had a strong economic impact on those local communities.

At the same time, both the growing local Chinese community and families connected back in China have become more interested in the history, culture, and economy of Indiana - the Crossroad of America. Chinese people love to read and learn. Unfortunately, there has not been enough literature or information about Indiana written in Chinese language to satisfy their curiosity.

Asian American Today, a non-profit-organization, is in a unique position to introduce Indiana to the Chinese people in their language. In fact, one of our missions is to help Chinese immigrants immerse into main stream American society and publishing these articles and the book helps us achieve that objective. In 2013, Asian American Today began publishing a series of articles designed to introduce various aspects of Indiana life to the Chinese community, including state parks, museums, culture and history. A few of these articles were even republished in the Wenhui Reader's Weekly (circulation 50,000) and in the Airport Journal in Shanghai (circulation 100,000). These published articles have heightened the curiosity of Chinese people at both sides of the ocean. To follow this pursuit, we decided to publish a book in Chinese about the Hoosier state, entitled "Indiana Stories", with in-depth coverage of everything that would interest Chinese readers.

We are very proud that "Indiana Stories" was approved as a Legacy Project for the Indiana Bicentennial Celebration. The scope of this book covers the geography, history, nature, culture and people of Indiana, with a special emphasis on its uniqueness in America. Many scholars, scientists, and professionals, who were first-generation Chinese immigrants or visiting scholars, participated in this project. As the first of its kind, we believe that this book will attract broad interest amongst Chinese students, businesses, tourists and the local Chinese community. In return, as this knowledge propagates, Indiana may become even more of a focus for Chinese to study and travel, as well as a place to invest.