The couple hoped to find success doing the same when they moved to Houston in 1968. China Garden originally opened just north of downtown, at 1119 Jackson Street, in a former paint store.

Marian and her husband opened China Garden in downtown Houston over 35 years ago. What started as a restaurant quickly became a place full of friends that Marian considered part of her family.

Now -- with the Rockets' arena and other development heading toward them -- a new Houston will discover what always attracted the old one into this China Garden of Eden.