First off, a few these questions may be slightly too recent for this subreddit, but I think the quality of the responses here are unrivaled.
I'm an American citizen with parents who came from China in the late 80's. I've always had a passion for history and the social sciences, but seeing that I grew up here my knowledge is mostly about the West. So the lack of knowledge of my own culture has been nagging me a bit.
I now go to a large university and I can't help but notice the huge population of mainland-Chinese students. One thing that strikes me is the massive wealth many of them have, driving $100k cars to and from school and wearing designer clothing. I know China has capital controls limiting the flow of wealth out of the country, so is it that the very wealthy student's families are circumventing them, or are the controls somehow not as strict as I imagined?
When my Dad came over for school, he was very poor and there were almost no fellow Chinese students to associate with. When I mentioned all these Chinese undergrads, he didn't believe it. At what point did universities start attracting international Chinese students? I know the start of the 90's coincided with the start of economic liberalization. How long did it take the new "middle"/upper class form? What are their main sources of wealth?
My parent's circle of friends consists entirely of fellow 1st-generation immigrants. Now I know due to restrictions on immigration that there was a huge period of no immigrants. My question is what happened to the Chinese communities that formed in the 19th century? What portion of the inhabitants of current Chinatowns can be traced back to them?
Also, if anyone has English literature to recommend with a nuanced view on modern Chinese history and the Chinese diaspora, it would be very appreciated! Heck, recommend me books about ancient China too.
mods: I know some of this really breaks the 20 year rule, but not all of it. So if you're going to remove the comment for that, I'd rather just edit out all the recent stuff and move the focus strictly to the historical circumstances of his father's situation.
can't help but notice the huge population of mainland-Chinese students. One thing that strikes me is the massive wealth many of them have
To summarise:
When your fathers generation was going to the US it was more with the financial support of the universities or different philanthropic groups. Not everyone was able to go, but those who did go were more likely able to based on their merits in comparison to the archetype of Chinese student in America today. That's not to say wealth wasn't incredibly useful back when he was heading West.
if anyone has English literature to recommend with a nuanced view on modern Chinese history and the Chinese diaspora…
Do a quick search on Amazon for "Chinese diaspora". There is a lot of literature, often written by members of the communities about which they're writing. There are also a good number of blogs that deal with the overseas communities. I'm suggesting you search rather than giving you titles or links since each of the books has their own approach, so it's better for you to just take a look and see if any interest you. For example you may not much care about the diaspora in Calcutta, India (though admittedly I don't know of a book about that particular community).
At what point did universities start attracting international Chinese students?
The major increases are all very recent. For example in 2013, there were around 235,600 students from the People's Republic of China. The year before, there were closer to 194,700. That's a pretty major jump in just one year, about 21%. In the past ten years, it's increased 40%.
what happened to the Chinese communities that formed in the 19th century?
They're still there. Or their descendants are. Not always in Chinatowns of course. But in general those communities just remained and continued on.
What portion of the inhabitants of current Chinatowns can be traced back to them?
This varies widely from Chinatown to Chinatown, even within North America. For example Chicago has becoming much more Mandarin-speaking (a sign of more recent immigration) as compared to the Min and other languages spoken by the much earlier immigrants. Language is a pretty good indicator of the changing face of Chinatowns in America. There was a BBC piece about New York specifically that gives some details for that community.
edit: Removed some parts that were less historical as per mod request. I hope the part about increases being recent, which I've left, is still acceptable despite the 20 year rule, since it's there to show that it is only in recent history that the numbers have been there.
China's economic liberalisation really began in the early 80s, not the 90s.