The smell of homemade dumplings drifted through Tracey Li’s cozy kitchen in California, a reminder of the life she left behind in China.
Li, a Chinese mother of two daughters, immigrated to the U.S. from Guangzhou at the age of 23 and has lived here for over 30 years. Before immigrating, though, she led a normal life growing up in China, engaging with her native culture.
“My dad worked at Jinan University, and we lived inside the faculty housing,” Li said. “I grew up there, went to kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, and finished college there.”
Like many other immigrants, Li had her own traditions and lifestyle before moving to another country. For many immigrants, tradition isn’t about nostalgia; it’s about preserving their culture and identity, even as it evolves and changes after they have lived in a new place.
Why immigrants come to the U.S.
Many immigrants come to the U.S. for a variety of push and pull factors. The U.S. has a distinct culture that differs from that of many other countries, partly due to the large number of immigrants who come to the U.S., which can sometimes be a significant cultural shock.
According to the Pew Research Center, Asian immigrants come to the U.S. for many different factors, such as being with family, for economic opportunities, education opportunities, conflict or persecution, and more. These diverse factors demonstrate that each immigrant is unique and arrives in the U.S. under different circumstances.
Li didn’t originally plan to move, but when a foreign professor came to her college and gave a lecture, one of her classmates told her that she thought Li would one day go to the U.S. to study. This one comment shifted Li’s mindset, and it would determine much of her future.
“Sometimes, I went to my dad’s office and saw lots of newspapers from the U.S. and England,” Li said. “And it opened my mind. I realized that the world is not just China, and there are other countries outside.”
Li’s realization that there were more opportunities beyond her comfort zone eventually led her to move to the U.S. to pursue her master’s degree at Fresno State University.
While Li came to the U.S. in pursuit of a better education, some immigrants arrive with different goals. For example, college student Yenifer Gonzalez immigrated to California from Guatemala at the age of 17 in pursuit of the American Dream.
“I moved to the U.S. because I wanted a better future, a better life,” Gonzalez said.
Meanwhile, Elin Ekenheim, now a sophomore at Carlmont High School, moved to the U.S. from Sweden when she was 2-years-old, following her father’s job opportunity.
“We were only planning to live here for a year or two until my dad could either switch jobs or work remotely,” Ekenheim said. “But then my parents fell in love with the country, so we just stayed here.”
Despite their different stories, immigrants like Li, Gonzalez, and Ekenheim represent a much larger group. Over 15% of Americans are first-generation immigrants, according to a Pew Research Center study. That means over 50 million people are immigrants, a growing group that continues to shape America’s cultural landscape.
Adapting to a new culture
Culture doesn’t stay frozen once someone arrives in a new country. Instead, it adapts. But adaptation often brings challenges. Many immigrants experience cultural shock, which can cause stress and even affect their mental well-being, according to the National Library of Medicine.
One of the most immediate shocks for Li was the food.
“When I first got back from the airport, I was very hungry, and my host family offered me some cantaloupe, which is common in the Central Valley, but not so much in China,” Li said. “Tears started rolling down my face because the food here was so different from what I was used to in Guangzhou, but I eventually adapted to it. In China, the food is fresher and the heat is hotter. The taste is very different, and Chinese cuisine is definitely tastier.”
For many immigrants, food is both a cultural shock and a means of preserving traditions, like the dumplings Li often makes. Gonzalez also said that Guatemalan culture is centered on food, and the easiest way to preserve elements of her culture was to visit places that sell similar foods.
“I always try to cook and embed the food and what we celebrate into my life,” Gonzalez said. “I’m planning to engage my kids with this in the future.”
Like Gonzalez, Li also wanted to pass her culture on to her kids. One of the main things she tried to preserve was the Chinese language, so her children would be able to speak to their relatives and even read it. She also speaks to them in her native tongue, and they visit China fairly often.
“I stress to them to maintain the language,” Li said. “So when they were very young, I took them to a Chinese immersion elementary school, because Chinese is very hard to learn. You have to learn it when you are a little kid. If they didn’t know Chinese, it would be a pity.”
Likewise, Ekenheim’s family preserves their culture in similar ways.
“We kept Swedish culture alive through the language, because we only speak Swedish at home,” Ekenheim said. “We also participate in the holiday traditions, like lighting a candle every Sunday of December before Christmas, and in urban legends.”
Traditions such as language, food, and holidays help immigrants maintain a sense of identity — but identity can shift over time as people connect with both their original culture and their adopted one.
Evolving cultural identity
According to Giulietta Cerruti, a relocation expert who assists immigrants and expatriates in settling into new countries, cultural adaptation often involves both preservation and change.
“First immigrants sometimes think integration means forgetting their original culture and giving their kids only the new one,” Cerruti said. “I often advise people to pick what is best in each new culture, and adapt to that while remaining proud of their origins. The key is education, intention, and being ready to accept that some elements of your background may shift while others remain strong.”
Li reflected this idea that cultural identity changes and evolves when one is immersed in a new country, intermingling with one’s native culture.
“Sometimes I feel American, and other times I feel Chinese,” Li said. “At work, I follow American values, and in politics I lean American because I’m a Republican. But I also recognize my Chinese side because I speak the language, shop at Chinese grocery stores, and cook traditional foods.”
Like Li and countless other immigrants, Ekenheim also feels a sense of balance between two cultures.
“I feel like I’m a mix of both Swedish and American because I’ve grown up and lived here for most of my life, but my parents play a really big part in keeping the importance of my Swedish culture,” Ekenheim said.
Cerruti noted that this sense of blended identity is common among immigrants.
“People can feel part of another country and still keep their original culture,” Cerruti said. “It’s common and actually beneficial. Learning the language and participating in local culture helps integration, but it doesn’t mean losing who you are.”
Immigrants continue to arrive and thrive, and their culture will remain a significant defining factor of American society. As younger generations build bridges between their roots and their surroundings, the definition of what it means to be “American” continues to expand.
Cultural fusion — the blending of traditions, practices, and ideas — is a central feature of American life. It shapes how the U.S. continues to reinvent itself through the people who call it home. Sometimes, this can be something as simple as Chinese dumplings steaming in an American kitchen.
“I don’t feel like I have to choose one culture,” Li said. “I can be both.”
