New State Park Trail to honor Chinese Immigrants
By Douglas Hsia
It was a beautiful day on the tenth day of Chinese New Year, a sizeable crowd of guests and California State Park colleagues congregated at Henningsen Lotus Park in Lotus. They were waiting for the dedication and cutting ceremony of the Gam Saan Trail. A trail that leads from Lotus to Coloma, the Marshall Gold Discovery Park. Gam Saan means Gold Mountain in Chinese. A Chinese name was adopted because there were Chinese burial sites found on the slope of the hill leading to the American River. That was the way the spirit of the dead flowing down, following the river and eventually crossed the ocean to reach its home.
Douglas Hsia of CACS saw its significance and banded CACS with Locke Foundation and the Chinese Benevolent Association of Stockton together to petition to the State Park, to give it a name that would commemorate the Chinese pioneer miners. The State Park totally resonated with the idea and the name Gam Saan was adopted. It was the first Chinese name adopted under the jurisdiction of State Park.
The Venerable Ru Hsian led a Zen Buddhist Ceremony. The smooth sound of chanting was to cleanse the ambient and calm the spirit. During the speech session, the director of the State Park, Armando Quintero, the superintendent Barry Smith and the supervisor Steve Hilton of the State Park reminded the audience that the planning of the trail took fifteen years because there were so many artifacts buried in the slope. They were so happy to see it all came together. It brought neglected narrative back to the public, a beautiful diverse fabric of our State is woven.
Representatives of the three Chinese organizations Douglas Hsia, Bennie Mar, Honey Lum and Brenda Fong took turn to share with the audience: the auspicious, historic value and their Chinese American experience in relation to this historic occasion. America is the only home many Chinese American know and home should bear our name plate. We thank State Park for giving us a name plate in our home.
When the ribbon was cut, drums rolled, gongs banged against a backdrop of flying banners, a group of colorful lions unleashed their dance, bringing the spirit of the occasion to a new level.
The event was then shifted to Coloma Marshall Gold Discovery Park for a lunch reception. In front of the Chinese Store, Wah Hak, stood the trio of Auburn Joss House Eric Chun. They sent out the sweetest Chinese melody with modern instruments. To complement the packed Chinese delicacies lunch, the renowned Chef David Soohoo volunteered to present a demonstration of jook, a historic staple meal of our pioneer gold miners. The guests got the taste of history in their palette.
CACS being one of the three proud petitioning Chinese organizations, we are thankful to those who made it out here for the historic occasion and those members who came out to help; Franc Martinez, Brenda Fong, Karun Yee, June Fong, and Honey Lum.
