No Passport Required

(lively music) In 1848, '49, the Chinese were interested in coming to California and Nevada in pursuit of gold. They heard the rumors of gold and how you could be immediately wealthy. In the 1860s, it was decided that the West needed a transcontinental railroad and that the Central Pacific said, "If the Chinese can build the Great Wall of China, "they can help us build this railroad." And they started with a small group who were the 50, then 100, then 1,000, and eventually, we estimate anywhere between 11,000 and 15,000 Chinese workers on the Central Pacific. In every major community that they went through, they would have a Chinatown built right near the railroad tracks because the Central Pacific would lease the land to them, and they could build their Chinatown. The Chinatowns generally had restaurants, so there was an introduction of Chinese food from the railroad workers to the local population. And particularly after 1900, it was very fashionable to quote, unquote, eat Chinese food. (powerful music) I can't imagine a neighborhood anywhere in this country, big city or small city, that doesn't have that staple Chinese-American restaurant. And this, for me, is pretty amazing. They're not owned by the same people, but yet, we expect the same thing. It should be fast, it shouldn't be that expensive. It should taste exactly the way my Chinese restaurant in my neighborhood does. How is that even possible?