After 12 years working in a kitchen in Kingston, New York, Chinese immigrant Chen Xiao Bing, 40, is now his own boss.

With $13,000 borrowed from fellow migrants, Chen bought a Chinese restaurant business in Clinton, Missouri, two years ago.

"This is my second home now", says the native of Fuzhou, China, who received his American citizenship in 2009.

He is both chef and deliveryman at the 80-seat "China Buffet", which he runs with the help of a kitchen helper from Honduras, two American waitresses and his wife Madam Dong Mei Yun, 38.

The couple have three children. His two older daughters, aged four and two, are back in China to learn mandarin.

Their youngest was born in a Clinton hospital two months ago.

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Owner and chef Chen Xiao Bing, 40, cooks a broccolli and beef dish on a Wednesday morning. The former concierge at a hotel in Fuzhou picked up his culinary skills working at a Chinese Takeaway joint in New York. He chose Clinton as the place to start a own business for its better air quality and because it had only one other Chinese restaurant.