Help Rebuild Baolai's Dream

News Link: SFChronicle

Venmo Handle: @Phillip-Zhou-1

Paypal Handle: [email redacted]

My mother, Baolai Tang, immigrated from China more than three decades ago in the hope of owning her own business in San Francisco.

On Saturday, May 30th, my mom’s dream was destroyed when her store was vandalized and looted, leaving nothing behind.

She started off working as a salesperson at Grace Jewelers in 1991, and worked through blood, sweat, and tears to eventually become the owner in 2003 and bring the business to where it is today. Day after day, she would leave before I woke up and return right as I went to sleep. She worked these long hours, even through the holidays, with the hope of giving our family a better future.

Looking at the scene of the wreckage in front of the store’s broken gates last Saturday was a devastating experience for my mother. Seeing all of the effort and the time that my mother spent on the business vanish in the blink of an eye was heartbreaking for the rest of the family. As I helped her clean up the aftermath, I never thought that instead of sweeping dust off the ground, I would be sweeping up broken glass shards and bullet casings.

This business was her life and passion, and even now, she wonders what she had done to deserve this. Her business’s insurance does not cover civil unrest and looting, and as a result, she has lost hundreds of thousands from property damages alone, and a few million from lost merchandise.

At the age of 62, she has gone from the verge of retirement back to square one.

Our family has a culture of being independent and not asking for help to avoid putting a burden on others. However, for this one time and only this one time, I ask you all from the bottom of my heart to help her rebuild her business and her dream.


This fundraiser was created by her son for her, and all funds will go towards rebuilding her business and recovering from the loss of merchandise and property damage. Property damage includes windows, glass cases, doors, metal gates, etc.