That initiative was shown quite well, when the transcontinental railway was built. The Chinese workers laid track, bored tunnels, & built bridges over some of the worst terrain on earth.

After the building of the railroad, & subsequent racism against them, overcame these obstacles.

I still remember, many years ago, in science classes, the click of the abacus during tests. While most students used slide rules (before computers), the Asian-Americans 
used the abacus. 

An they generally got the best marks, which at that time was a B, or A (quite uncommon), and respected because we knew they worked.