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This article was submitted by Joshua Tam, the great-grandson of Bing T. and Boy Jin Wong, and the grandson of Margie Tam. Joshua, the 2021 winner of the Roy and Gim Oi Lim Memorial Award, is an aerospace engineering student at Case Western Reserve University.

One of the most important recipes to my family is the Great Wall Restaurant’s sweet and sour sauce. The story begins with my paternal great-grandfather, Bing Tew Wong. He was born in China, in Gom Benn Village in 1914. He came to the United States in 1935, at the age of 21, leaving behind his wife, Boy Jin, and daughter Margie (my grandmother). 

By 1941, he had become a part-owner of the Chungking Restaurant in Riverside, California, with Voy Wong and Harold Wong, among others.

Shortly after World War II, in 1947, he returned to China for the family he left behind some 12 years earlier. After bringing his wife, Boy Jin, from China, he returned to Riverside, where two more children, Shirley and Benjamin, were born.  Eventually my grandmother, Margie, joined them in America. My great-grandfather sold his share of the Chungking Restaurant. They moved to the East Adams area of Los Angeles in the early 1950s. There, my great-grandfather embarked on another business venture with the opening of a market.

Within a few years, he decided to start his own restaurant. On April 10, 1955, having bought land in West Covina, he opened the Great Wall Restaurant on 232 South Glendora Street. The Great Wall Restaurant was a big success. The population of West Covina boomed during the 1950s, which contributed to the Great Wall becoming a popular destination. For the restaurant’s 10th Anniversary, in 1965, my great-grandfather rebuilt the restaurant with a second floor, adding extra space for banquets and bars. At its peak, my great-grandparents and all four of their children, Margie, Ben, Shirley, and Cindy, and their son-in-law, Terry Tam (my grandfather), worked at the restaurant.

In 1971 my great-grandfather and a group of local Gom Benn immigrants founded the Gom Benn Village Society whose membership consists of Southern California Chinese Americans who trace their roots to the same village. He served two terms as its first president. He was an advocate for the normalization of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. After President Nixon reopened relations with China, my great-grandfather was among the first Chinese Americans to return to visit China. Eventually he’d make seven trips back to China, including visits to Gom Benn. He contributed to a new garment factory, community center and school. 

My great-grandfather passed away in 1984. At the Great Wall Restaurant, Benjamin and Shirley took over managing the restaurant. In the 1990s, the restaurant won the San Gabriel Valley Tribune Best Chinese Restaurant for four consecutive years. But times changed. The Great Wall Restaurant eventually struggled to compete and unfortunately closed in 2001 — just before I was born. My great-grandmother died in 2005.

Today, restaurants come and go every few years. My great-grandparents built a business that survived almost half a century. The Great Wall Restaurant was known for being one of the first and most popular Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. Customers loved the Polynesian drinks and blend of American and Cantonese cuisines and came back for the hospitality and reasonable prices. 

I learned from my grandparents that one key to the experience at the Great Wall Restaurant was the sweet and sour sauce. The recipe is surprisingly simple: blend measured amounts of water, sugar, vinegar, ketchup, corn starch, and seasonings. The sweet and sour sauce went well with just about everything. It could be used as a dip or poured over pot stickers, dim sum, wontons, egg rolls, spring rolls, etc. The restaurant also used the sweet and sour sauce with deep fried chicken and pork dishes. 

Although it was just a small part of the Great Wall’s extensive menu, the sweet and sour sauce will be remembered for playing an important role in the success of the Great Wall Restaurant and my family’s history.