Yao Liang Lu

Yao Liang Lu was raised in Guan Zhou, capital of Guan Dong province in China. A little over two years ago he immigrated to San Francisco with his wife and son.

Mr. Lu was the manager of a major office building before coming to America. The building’s tenants were primarily marketing executives from various shoe manufacturing companies. Guan Zhou is an important center for shoe production, and buyers came from all over the world to negotiate with the occupants of the building.

NACAP-SCSEP, a federal program that prepares Asians over the age of 55 to succeed in the workplace, found a job for him with the Aquatic Park Senior Center, where he works in a training position. Mr. Lu is in charge of the movie program and Bingo, and he does data entry on the Center’s computers, among other tasks.

Mr. Lu enjoys surfing the Internet. He particularly likes reading about politics and economics online. Mr. Lu is not sure what career he intends to follow in America and he spends a lot of time on the computer exploring various options. His main focus right now is on learning to speak fluent English, and he says that his studies are progressing much more rapidly now that he has an opportunity to immerse himself in the language.

Studying and reading have always been very important to Mr. Lu. To use his own words, “Books are ‘promoters.’

“When I was 13 years old, the Cultural Revolution happened in China. It was like (all of the writers) were dropped into a deep hole. They were driven to farms, far from the city, to do farm work. All of the books in their homes had to be destroyed.

“My uncle, who is my grandfather’s sister’s son, is a writer. He made a decision to save a lot of books in my home. I liked to sit down on the floor to browse and read books I liked. It was a beautiful time. I could learn many things and get a lot of knowledge. It promoted me to grow up.”