Overview

Elizabeth Quan is now 90 years old. In this memoir, she relives two ""golden"" years she spent in rural China with her family. In the 1920s, they travelled to China from North America, where they experienced a foreign and astonishing world. This story is a first-hand account of a time forever lost to history, about a young North American girl whose immigrant parents want her to learn about her cultural roots. Told in lyrical prose, this is a short biography that explores the impact of immigration through travel, experience, and cultural awakening. MOONGATES DOTTED THE LANDSCAPE OF OLD CHINA. Ancient Chinese architects had sculpted stone piled on sculpted stone to form round doorways, with the spiritual symbolism of the full moon. To step through one of these doorways was to step into a world of peace and happiness.... And so it was in the 1920s that the Lee King family - father, mother, and six children, aged ten months to seven years - traveled from their home in Canada, across the Pacific Ocean, to inland China. There, they had the opportunity to step beyond the moongate into a land not yet touched by modern warfare or political unrest. The story of the moongate, tells of the two ""golden"" years the family spent with Grandmother in a remote village in the south, which hadn't changed for centuries. Step inside and live the long lazy days of a China forever gone. The moongate beckons....

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9781770493834

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Praise for Once Upon a Full Moon also written and illustrated by Elizabeth Quan: <br><br>. ..a poignant memoir...Quan's vibrant watercolors will help young readers follow the simple but vocabulary-rich text. -- The Washington Post Book World <br> <br> The watercolor illustrations offer windows on the world as seen through a child's eyes.... A fine memoir for middle-grade students. <br>-- Booklist <br> <br> Nothing short of enchanting... Quan's eye for the telling detail and her tone of wonder are made manifest not just in her text, but in her watercolours... <br>-- The Globe and Mail <br> <br>The story is true, and the cultural comments are both accurate and tender. The author's paintings are the highlight and the delight of the book. <br>-- Multicultural Review

Author Information

Elizabeth Quan is a Canadian watercolorist active in the art scene both nationally and internationally, and has been for over 25 years. She is known for her vital and organic impressionistic works which are included in hundreds of private and corporate collections. She was the last protege of Jack Pollock. Elizabeth holds a BA in East Asian studies from the University of Toronto, and was connected with the Chinese Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum for six years. She has published three books including- Quan, My Life My Art, and The Immortal Poet of the Milo -- three Chinese puppet plays. She was an active puppeteer for many years. She is widowed with three grown daughters and lives in Toronto.

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