See has been one of my favorite authors for some time, and this book is what put her there. I read this book several years ago, but still remember it like it was yesterday.
Having a blended family myself, it was wonderful to know that See's family blended or not held on to the history of the family with pictures and stories.
You get a great history lesson with out knowing it. There is racism, secret love and marriage, family affairs and scandle, big business and failure.
I have told everyone that if they find this book, get it- it has to be the best read. ( )

I read On Gold Mountain slowly, with days between chapters to think about new ideas. On Gold Mountain was many things to me.

It was an eye-opening revelation to me of how racist our laws and immigration policies were towards the Chinese, up until our recently.

It was an amazing journey into Chinese society both in America and in China.

It was an uplifting and hopeful account of how, in spite of everything, Chinese immigrants were able to come to America, work, and prosper.

It was a heart-breaking indictment of the treatment of the Chinese by our government and big business, particularly the railroads. The suffering and death of so many people has gone too long unnoticed in our history books.

It was an amusing commentary on the foibles of human nature, and how love truly can triumph over it all, down through the generations.

It was an incredibly well-researched, well-documented and remarkably frank story of one Chinese immigrant and his numerous descendants.

In the developing field of social history, and using social history to illuminate a genealogy, On Gold Mountain is a seminal work, published five years prior to the ground-breaking "Bringing Your Family History to Life through social history" by Katherine Scott Sturdevant. As such, it is a remarkable example of the professional standards to which the social historian/genealogist may aspire.

Although the family history is rife with bi-racial marriage, multiple wives and concubines, infidelity and divorce, Lisa See presents the story in a sympathetic and factual manner, and avoids sensationalizing her family history. It is as much about the family business of importing Asian art, furniture and folk items, and other businesses the younger generations developed, as it is about the personal history of the family.

I would recommend Lisa See's book to anyone planning to write a social history; to all high school and college students in classes on U. S. Government, sociology, immigration, and capitalism. I would also recommend it to anyone who likes a good work of non-fiction about real people. ( )

I spent a precious day off reading this fascinating family saga straight through because I couldn't bear to put it down. It reads like an epic novel, but in fact it's the true story of generations of a Chinese immigrant family in the U.S. ("Gold Mountain"), and specifically in Los Angeles, revealed through See's personal quest to learn more about the Chinese side of her family and its secrets. An essential volume for anyone who cares about putting a face on L.A. history. In the summer of 2000, L.A.'s Autry Museum had a major exhibit (also called "On Gold Mountain") based on this book, exploring the history of Chinese in America from the 1790s to the present. -Kerry

very interesting ( )

Out of the stories heard in her childhood in Los Angeles's Chinatown and years of research, See has constructed this sweeping chronicle of her Chinese-American family, a work that takes in stories of racism and romance, entrepreneurial genius and domestic heartache, secret marriages and sibling rivalries, in a powerful history of two cultures meeting in a new world. 82 photos.