Chinese Americans lament: Had we known China would develop like this, we would never have left!

Video: They were the first generation to flee China back in the day. Chinese Americans lament: Had we known China would develop like this, we would never have left! 他们是当年最早逃离中国的一代人，美籍华裔哭诉：早知道中国能发展到这样，我们绝对不会离开！

The generation that fled China back then now wants to return but cannot. Chinese Americans cry out: If we had known China would be like this, we would never have left!

"If I had known that China would be what it is today, I would never have left the homeland back then." This was a message from a Chinese American father to his daughter in 2025, moving countless overseas Chinese to tears.

This video tells the real stories of three young Chinese Americans. Their parents left China in the 1980s and 1990s to pursue the American dream, spending decades working in restaurant kitchens and as supermarket cashiers. As part of the ABC (American-born Chinese) generation, they were raised with the notion that China was poor and backward. Yet, as they grew up, they found themselves neither accepted by America nor connected to their Chinese cultural roots.

当年逃离中国的一代人，如今想回却回不去了，美籍华裔哭诉：早知道中国是这样，我们绝对不会离开！

"如果早知道今天的中国会是这样，我当初说什么也不会离开祖国。" 这是一位美国华裔父亲在2025年发给女儿的消息，看哭了无数海外华人。
本期视频讲述三位美籍华裔年轻人的真实故事。他们的父母在80-90年代离开中国追求美国梦，在餐馆后厨、超市收银台度过了几十年。而他们这一代ABC（美国出生华裔），从小被教育中国贫穷落后，却在成长中发现自己既不被美国接纳，也失去了中国文化根基。