Eleven years ago, Ho left a job as hotel manager in southern China to move to Boston. His two children have since graduated from area universities, but Ho continues to work in a lesser job than he had in China.
"Even though life in China is better, the population is too large. Competition is too hard," he said. "There are always going to be people looking for opportunities to get out."
Ho said he does not regret the move, but misses the cultural vastness of his homeland.
"It's like coming from a really big city, where you can get everything you desire, and then moving to a small town," he said.
China's tastes, though, have traveled well, and those looking to cook with small-town authenticity can stop by Wings Live Poultry for fresh ducks, geese, chickens, and more. Or walk the aisles of C-Mart Supermarket for noodles, fresh produce, shelves of spices, and tanks of live seafood.
Jewels shimmer in storefronts nearby, and other shops sell music and DVDs of recent Chinese films.
For physical remedies, turn into Nam Bac Hong Chinese Herbs in the shadow of Tufts Medical Center.
Shelves are lined with traditional treatments for everything from allergies to headaches to cancer. Most customers are Chinese, particularly newly arrived immigrants. Roughly one-third, though, are Western, looking for other approaches to a healthy life.
"Chinese medicine has a history of thousands of years," owner Patrick So said.
"With time, there are always changes, but . . . even with tall buildings, things stay the same."
It is a short walk from Nam Bac Hong back to the gate. On Sunday, Aug. 17, the streets along the way will be full of vendors and dancers for the annual August Moon Festival. For several evenings in early September, crowds will gather in a vacant lot nearby for Films at the Gate, an open-air showing of kung fu and classic Chinese-language films.
But most days, there will be the routine bustle beneath the gate that spreads on the wide plaza of the greenway. Beyond, the park passes through a narrow bamboo garden. It is slight and simple, red metal frames around green shoots, with a waterfall feeding a narrow stream. Yet the passageway transports quickly, and only a few steps into the high-rise surrounds of the financial district, it is hard to imagine all that is left behind.
Tom Haines can be reached at thaines@globe.com.