‘GENERASIANS’ Tells the Stories Behind Asian Canadian Family Businesses and What Comes Next

In RepresentASIAN Project®’s new docuseries, succession isn’t just about business, but identity, expectation and what it means to move forward.

On any given day inside a family-run restaurant or shop, there are two timelines running at once. There’s the past — the recipes, routines and risks that built the business — and the present, where a new generation is quietly reshaping it in real time.

That tension sits at the heart of GENERASIANS, a new docuseries from RepresentASIAN Project® in partnership with Eye Dot Studio that turns its lens toward a moment many immigrant families know intimately, but rarely speak about openly: the transition between generations.

Premiering on March 22 on YouTube, GENERASIANS follows Asian Canadian family businesses at a turning point. Founders who built something from the ground up — often through sacrifice, risk and resilience — are beginning to pass the torch. And the next generation must decide if they accept, and what to do with what they’ve inherited. Across the series, that handoff is anything but simple.

Ca Vo and Nick Vo of Nick’s Jewellery in Toronto. Photo: Boris Melev.

Through deeply personal storytelling, the series explores the tension between tradition and change, between honouring what came before and redefining success on one’s own terms. It’s about cultural expectations, financial pressures and the emotional reality of stepping into something that was never just a job, but a family’s life work.

At a time when conversations about immigration and identity are often flattened into headlines or stereotypes, GENERASIANS offers nuance. Asian Canadians are among the most entrepreneurial communities in the country, and family-run businesses remain a cornerstone of immigrant life. But the realities behind those storefronts — including quiet disagreements, lingering pressures, and bringing these businesses into the modern era while preserving what made them successful in the first place — are seldom seen.

Michael Liu and Joanna Liu of Yueh Tung restaurant in Toronto. Photo: Boris Melev.

This series brings those stories into sharp focus, spotlighting three Ontario-based businesses, each with its own history and set of stakes.

First, there’s Yueh Tung Restaurant, a beloved Chinatown institution and Canada’s first Hakka restaurant. It was opened in 1986 by husband-and-wife team Michael Liu and Mei Wang, and is now lovingly spearheaded by the pair’s daughters, Joanna and Jeanette Liu. With that transition comes a deep sense of responsibility not just to the business, but to the people who built it.

As Jeanette tearfully shares, “I want [our parents] to see their recipes survive, and I really want them to be proud of themselves, to know what they’ve contributed to not only our family, but the city.”

Then comes Nick’s Jewellery, which specializes in custom jewellery and jade (sourced from Asia), and is owned and operated by Huong Tran and her Ca Vo. The couple arrived in Toronto in the 1990s from Vietnam with little to nothing, but were keen to maintain Tran’s father’s work as a jeweler back home with their own shop. Over the years, that shop has become a Little Portugal mainstay. Today, the couple shares two sons, one of whom — Nick Vo, the namesake — is keen to take over and have his parents rest and retire.  

Nick Vo, Huong Tran and Ca Vo of Nick’s Jewellery. Photo: Boris Melev.

Finally, there’s Great Fountain, a hidden gem and Hong Kong-style restaurant in Scarborough’s Dynasty Centre that opened in the early 1990s, and has since become a food court staple thanks to Jack Peng and Eva Lin. The pair expanded the spot in 2015 alongside their daughter Anna Peng, who has been pulling shifts at the eatery since she was in school, and has since propelled Great Fountain into a social media juggernaut (itsInstagram boasts nearly 40,000 followers).

Eva Lin, Anna Peng and Jack Peng of Great Fountain Fast Food. Photo: Boris Melev.

Each episode of GENERASIANS captures transitions like these and the conversations families don’t always have publicly: who will take over, what should change, what must stay the same and what it costs — personally and professionally — to move forward, if at all.

Blending interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and personal reflections, episodes run 10 to 15 minutes, offering a deeply human look at ambition, obligation and belonging.

GENERASIANS will debut on March 22 at 8pm EST, with episodes rolling out on YouTube and across RepresentASIAN Project®’s platforms. Whether you’ve grown up inside a family business, stepped away from one, or simply wondered what it takes to carry a legacy forward, this is a series that will resonate. Watch GENERASIANS on YouTube and follow RepresentASIAN Project® for new episodes.