Hello Golden Gate

Hello Golden Gate is the epic generational saga of a family that was forced to flee their mother country and spent the rest of their lives looking for a place to call home. When author Olga Valcoff’s grandparents left behind everything they cared for while fleeing from the Russian Revolution of 1917, they became part of Asia’s White Russian community, where a diaspora of stateless refugees found comfort as they tried to rebuild their lives.

Two generations later, Olga was born in Japan and moved to Shanghai with her parents, always on the run from war, Communism, and political oppression. Hello Golden Gate is a factual record of Russian refugees in the Far East from the early 1920s through World War II and the Chinese Communist takeover of China.

At the heart of Olga’s story is a strong family bond that endured hardships, enjoyed good times, and never gave up hope. From illness, imprisonment, and wartime destitution to beautiful Japanese festivals and opulent Russian religious holidays, the vignettes in Hello Golden Gate let readers see what life was like in another time and place.