An Immigrant's Story

Daochang Zhong came to Canada to make a better life for his family. Six months later he was dead.

By Brodie Fenlon, Toronto Sun

The 40-year-old parts assembler was just two minutes away from his low-wage job at a Newmarket electronics factory when his bicycle suddenly veered in front of a Pontiac Sunbird at the intersection of Mulock Dr. and Leslie St. It was Jan. 16 of this year, the heart of winter, but the skies and roads were clear. Weather wasn't to blame: Police said Dao-chang Zhong made a strange hand signal, crossed two lanes of traffic and was run down by a 19-year-old driver who didn't stand a chance of stopping. No charges were laid.

He was a PhD in mining, who only six months earlier had left a prestigious job as an associate professor of electronics at Shandong Agricultural University in Tai'an, a city of 5.5 million in the western Shandong province of China. Lacking a licence and too poor to afford a car, Zhong was doing the best he could, cycling to work from the rooming house where he lived on nearby Clancey Cres. The factory job was new, a step up from the dishwashing gig at a Markham Chinese restaurant, which he had quit a month prior.

Now he lay dying on the cold pavement of Newmarket, still a stranger in his adopted country, his family a world away. Doctors at Sunnybrook hospital, where he was transferred, couldn't save him.

Photo of Daochang Zhong (on the left) taken during the company's Christmas party in 2005.

Zhong's story made headlines and topped newscasts in the local Chinese media. It failed to register in the English media. In the months that followed, Toronto's Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking communities rallied together, held benefit concerts and raised $70,000 for Zhong's widow and child, who they flew to Canada. A lawyer offered his services for free. A Vancouver organization donated air tickets to fly Min Zhang and daughter Yi Zhong to Toronto, where they were greeted at the airport on Feb. 16 by a throng of concerned strangers.

More than 30 separate Toronto-area Chinese organizations signed up to help. Hundreds of people attended two benefit concerts and $70,000 was raised for Zhong's wife in less than two months. Zhong was a good person, a life-long learner who continued to study even after he earned his doctorate, Min Zhang said. He had a reputation for always being willing to help others. He loved his parents and took care of his siblings.

Photo of a dedicated group of volunteers who raised funds and cared for the Zhong family.

"We had never come to Canada before. Facing the unknown and coming at such a tragic time, we felt lost," Zhang recalled. "But I felt such warmth seeing so many people at the airport ... People I didn't know were extending a helping hand." In many ways, Zhong's death helped connect the established Chinese community from Hong Kong and the new community of mainlanders. "These fundraising events made those two communities understand each other," Tam said. "That's Zhong's legacy."

In fact, Min Zhang and Yi Zhong would like to stay, to pick up the pieces of Zhong's dream. A soon-to-expire visitor's visa stands in their way. "Canadians are very nice people and Canada is beautiful," Yi Zhong said quietly. "It's a country of freedoms."