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Post by douglaslam on Jan 10, 2011 1:24:58 GMT -5
We head for Shanghai again by train after our short visit to Nanjing for our flight to Guangzhou, then Dongguan. There isn't much time for anything else after checking in the same hostel, so we just plan for our evening meal. A good buffet is my daughter's choice. A search on the net, she finds the Shanghai Pullman is in the neighbourhood. Big end of town The Pullman is impressive, it offers Bentley limos for airport transfer ( you pay of course). The buffet dining on the 49th. floor at 288 RMB / person is a little rich but not out of reach altogether. My daughter, to her credit, is a spend-thrift person, she does not chase after designer labels or brand name products, decides against the idea. We go instead to a restaurant on the lower ground floor just next to the Pullman. Who was to know we are to check into a Pullman-chain hotel in Dongguan 24 hrs. later. Music to while time by My aunt in Dongguan tells us on the phone ( public), to make our way to the People's Park, and she'll greet us there. While we are waiting, we are entertained by two disabled persons singing to recorded music. They sing in tune and are well supported. Lost in space We wait for quite a while, and because we didn't have a mobile phone, I can not call aunt. It turns out, while we are waiting at the main entrance, she is looking out for us near the bus stop and main road. Aunt's place is only minutes away from the park
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 11, 2011 3:56:09 GMT -5
My cousin in Dongguan booked us in the Pullman for two nights, but the hotel is overflowing with reservations, only one night is possible. He gave his credit card details at the counter before I could do anything. I am not comfortable with the arrangement. Do I really need this Here is our twin room. There is a glass panel which separates the bathroom from the bedroom. Raise the curtain and you can see through it. So what else is there This is the heated indoor pool and jacuzzi ( switched off.) There are also tennis and basketball courts, a gym, sauna, massage room, outdoor garden and even a small art gallery. Do I really need all these distractions? Do I really need these facilities to make my stay a happy one? I did make use of the pool and gym. I much prefer to stay at aunt's and talk with her. In the meantime Near to aunt's house, thieves are at work again. They stole the iron drain cover for scrap metal. This is a common occurrence in Dongguan and other cities. The brazen thieves even remove them in the middle of busy roads in the dead of night. It is your bad luck if you are caught out. The cover is replaced with a concrete one a day later.
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 12, 2011 3:54:09 GMT -5
Wind and water At my request, cousin drives us to the cemetery so that I can pay my respects to uncle. I only met him once, he was a very kind and compassionate army officer. This is no ordinary cemetery as there are no burials, only interment of the cremated remains. You would think each plot here is big enough for a proper burial which most people still want but forbidden to do . The siting is very desirable feng shui wise. It is facing water, the fish ponds, and has the backing of a hill. Each plot, which may accommodate two or more urns of ashes costs say $ 20,000 US or Aussie dollars, inclusive of land value and construction. There is also an annual maintenance fee. It is big business. It is a very warm day, just like summer. Guess who's coming to dinner It is actually a container of worms, edible worms which are now becoming an expensive delicacy. Seen here the worms are frozen solid. My aunt bought them for her special guests i.e. her siblings from HK. They worms are rarely available if at all in HK. But my daughter and I got here first. www.google.com.hk/images?hl=zh-TW&q=%E7%A6%BE%E8%9F%B2&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=ffEqTc3YMIK8cMbimaYJ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQsAQwAA&biw=1280&bih=878The worms thrive in abundance in paddy fields near river estuaries. They appear at rice harvest time about twice a year. Thus, they are called rice worms 禾蟲, wor chung in Cantonese. In my childhood, they were so plentiful and inexpensive, we used to buy them in large quantities, and preserved them by drying in the sun. When cooked fresh in stir-fry with eggs, the aroma wafting through the house is simply irresistible. Another popular way is to steam-cook them. Either way, it is a welcome addition to the seasonal variation to the diet and a rich source of protein. I am sure Woodson, laohuaqiao and tyuti1668 would be no strangers to 禾蟲. tyuti1668, what was the most you paid for a catty of the creepy, wriggling stuff? It used to be so easy to get a basketful of the delicacy. Just go to the paddy fields, or river shallows and scoop them up with a bamboo colander. Now, because of pollution, and wide spread use of pesticide, the worms are becoming hard to find and much smaller in size. This lot is likely to have been raised artificially. 禾蟲 can fetch high prices. My aunt paid 70 RMB for a catty, about 500 gm or 1 lb. My village cousin's wife paid 100 for a catty. They both want me to have a taste because it is one of the things people returning to the village often asked for. Others may want to have dog meat. The price paid / catty is more than a day's pay for most workers. The vendor would not haggle with you. Take it or leave it. Can you tell The dish on the right is the cooked 禾蟲 wor chung, we also have the chicken which was part of the offerings at the cemetery. Soup of the day is cooked with soft shell turtle and quails ( I think) and other tonic ingredients.
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 13, 2011 5:28:34 GMT -5
We make our way to Chungshan after Dongguan. It is the first time ever for my daughter, and the second time for me in 2010. The very next day, I get back to my unfinished business of finding out more about my Australian cousin's ancestral home and village. See my written and pictorial reports on earlier visit in June. Village life Here at Octo 2's place, the tradition of food preservation is still practised. Buc ( or bak) choy is lightly boiled before put to dry in the sun. Dried buc choy has high tonic and restorative properties in soup. I love the soup, which is usually cooked with pork belly.The fish is not your normal salted fish. It is called dried fish, not the salty variety. I think we are all familiar with the dried buc choy. It is highly prized as a gift, a humble gift, from villagers for the visitors to take home overseas. More on the autumn sun Here on the apron, which was empty in June, is now put to use for what it was built for. The golden threshed rice is out to dry, taking advantage of the autumn sun and little likelihood of rain. I used to see every avilable public space in use to dry rice grain when I was a boy in the village. Rice-threshing 打禾 was an activity people liked to watch, when three or four men beating the rice stalks in rhythm. It was the simple pleasure of village life, which was swept away in one swift stroke by one man.
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 14, 2011 4:06:53 GMT -5
Remember the days of the old school yard We stop at the local school. This is the building fronting the main gate. It is named after the principal donor, with the name in gold characters. The Yees give generously for the education of their young generations. I am equally impressed by the fleet of school buses. To the left is this building. Here at the portal, is an unsymmetrical oddity. Feng shui comes into play again. The right hand side is supposed to be a writing bush, whereas the left is an ink pad. It augurs well for a place of learning. Part of the playground. Notice : students have to undertake cleaning duties. Now, all these look idyllic, but here is the rub: the school built by funds largely donated by the Yee clan of Dip Shek overseas and in Hong Kong, is now turned over to migrant workers' children. I think it houses both primary and secondary students. It is totally against what I hold dear to : universality and equal opportunity in education. The village children and migrant children are segregated, they go to separate schools. The village children are now in a new premises. I just don't follow the logic. Children, regardless where they come from are China's future. Why this subtle discrimination and dichotomy ? One reason given is that the migrants don't pay their due. tyuti1668 can you tell us a little more about schooling in the villages because you know the working of China so much better than we do ?
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jan 14, 2011 4:40:13 GMT -5
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 15, 2011 3:16:45 GMT -5
Old home re-visited I have previously shown my Aussie cousin's ancestral home in my earlier pictorial report. This time I am paying special attention and taking more digital images. This is the staircase leading to the upper floors of the house. At first glance, there is nothing that stands out. On close look, left of the staircase, the back section floor is of concrete construction, the right front section is timber. I think it might have been a money-saving measure. Cement is introduced to China, to this day it is known by its colloquial Cantonese Hung Mo Nay 紅毛泥, red hair dirt. Cement in barrels, ( something I learned when I was doing a diaolou tour in Hoiping in June),had to be imported from England and quite expensive, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Europeans were called red hair, thus the name red hair dirt, meaning it is from Europe.The more formal name is 英泥 ying nay, meaning English dirt from England. Cousin's grandfather spared no expenses in making his castle secure. The difference is....... This is the third and top floor of the house. Those two openings in the wall are for gun emplacement. This is what makes the house standing out in the neighbourhood.The house has four storeys and has fortification features. Thus, it falls in the category of a diaolou. I don't think there was ever a shot fired in anger through those openings. Make a wish This is the well which is next to the kitchen and bathroom. Is it good planning or just good luck to have the kitchen on top of the water table? It is a great convenience. I did not test the water for cleanliness.
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 16, 2011 0:21:09 GMT -5
Village Central This is Dip Shek Village's ancestral hall, which I specifically asked to see. I am still not familiar with the village lay out because I have no chance to do a walking tour. We get here by car via a short , very narrow and unpaved track. This is because Ming is hardly able to walk for long and Octo 2 has an asthmatic condition. It is unusual to see a village hall as a stand alone building, not close to centre of village activity. It was turned into a school , and the large space outside was used as playground. The characters in gold on a slab of granite read Yees Great Ancestral Hall. The building was completely gutted, its soul ripped out, and everything else destroyed during Mao's rule and the Cultural Revolution. The granite slab was taken down and left on the ground for years. After Mao's death, subsequent fall of the Gang of Four, and opening up of the economy, the hall was finally returned to the people. The Yee clan rallied, to raise money for the hall's reconstruction. It can never return to its former glory. This is the rectangle inside the hall. The door to the left is the caretaker's quarter. He sleeps in the premises to deter thieves. Migrants are blamed for all manners of petty crime in the villages. The hall is very spartan, artifacts and relics destroyed are simply irreplaceable.
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 17, 2011 4:41:43 GMT -5
Flying the colours of The characters in red read Fung Choi Tong in Cantonese. In Nth. America, it is better known as Fung Toy Tong in Toishanese, such is the dominance of Yee clan members from Sze Yup. Fung Choi or Fung Toy, wherever or whenever the Yees get together, it is always under this banner. This section of the village hall is aptly named to mark the Yees meeting place. www.yeefungtoy.org/world/Educate.htmlLet there be light This lanterns are there in the hall to mark the arrival of a man-child by the Yees. Every year a certain period is set aside during which the villagers are invited to lodge a lantern in the hall to mark the arrival of a male offspring. Sorry, males only. It signifies the continuation of a lineage and the child's name is entered in the genealogy book. Older male members born overseas, might have lanterns lodged on their behalf by relatives back in the village. It was common for parents to send money and instructions to do so. Can anyone of our older members recall their parents talking about it ? It warms my heart to the see the return of this beautiful custom which ensures the genealogy record is kept for perpetuity. Those who were born after Mao's ascension to power would not have this initiation and announcement to the world performed. I think I probably had this early rite of passage done before it was forbidden for many a long year. My clan brother Ming did it when his grandson was born a few years back. It is perhaps my poor PC skill, I just could not find anything in Chinese or English on this subject on the net. My knowledge on this aspect of our culture is scant at best. Tyuti1668, can you do better ? You are my best bet. Honour roll You don't need to know Chinese to spot the Yee family name. This is the long list of donors who contributed to the re-building of the hall. No one is neglected regardless of the amount given. But the major donors take honour of place at the head of the roll to the right. Money is still received for its upkeep and improvement. I dropped a hint to my cousin to make a donation.
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jan 17, 2011 4:51:10 GMT -5
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 18, 2011 0:03:26 GMT -5
Thanks tyuti1668. I knew you 'd have the answers. Is there anything in English for members who didn't have a chance to learn Chinese? Is this a custom practised only in parts of Guangdong? I know Sze Yup has something similar. I am all for the custom's revival, it has got nothing to do with superstition or sexual inequality as one of the articles ( sounds too much like propaganda) suggests. It is part and parcel of rural China, our continuing culture, let's not pass judgement. I hope more colourful customs like this can make a come back to enrich life's experience. I had glimpses of many of the old customs when I was a small boy in the village back in the early days of communism. I feel privileged. What about wor chung worms, do you like them when they are in season ? I always ask for them when I am back in the village. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neighbours and neighbourliness My repeat visit to Dip Shek, did not as I feared, bring annoyance to the people concerned. They welcomed me again unreservedly. Here I am at Octo 2's place. He speaks and I listen and ask relevant questions. Octo 2 is very enthusiastic about his village. I have seen him on youtube TV clips posted by tyuti1668 or mugenpower168. He is very knowledgeable and sociable. I am sure I'd have cause to call on him again when my cousin does make a trip to his ancestral village one day. Lady of the house I think I am asking her the same questions over again : do you know who built this house, did you ever meet your brother-in-law, cousin's grandfather? I forgot to ask if she knew cousin's grandmother, who went to Sydney with her oldest son in the 1930s. Next door neighbour with buck teeth. She is very friendly, and quite interested in what I am trying to find out. My ability to speak our native dialect makes communicating so much easier. The people don't look on me as an outsider.
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 19, 2011 3:15:07 GMT -5
Food, glorious food It is now well past lunch time, we had late morning yum cha but not Octo 2. The least I could do to thank him is to have lunch together. We stop at a big restaurant, and he chooses from the tank live freshwater seafood. He also fancies a local distill to go with the meal. How do you like your frog, sir This is a specie of frog, long and ugly in appearance, but definitely not a toad, in the past it was not considered good enough for the table. It is now on the menu, usually deep-fried. We just couldn't finish off all the dishes. Look, no candles In the same evening, I host a small dinner for two round tables of guests. This is not dinner by candle light. It is not my scene. The restaurant is run by my cousin's daughter and her husband. Cousin's daughter spent many years living with my mother. She cried her heart out on the day of my mother's funeral. I am ever grateful for the companionship and help she gave my mother. There is no menu planning, she caters for the number of guests expected and that is just about it. This is village food, comfort food. Unlike dinner parties in the big cities, no one in the village criticizes or complains. No picky or finicky individuals. It is what they can expect and get. There are ten dishes in all, we have free range chicken, very tasty, pork, eel, ribs, pigeon. prawns, mushroom, vegetable, crispy deep-fried whole fish in sweet and sour, and calamari and cauliflower. The white drink is not milk, it is a blend of coconut milk and fruit juice. By eight o'clock it is all over, all left over is taken home in containers, table scrap for the family dog. Nothing goes to waste. That is the way I like it.
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Post by chak on Jan 19, 2011 8:44:54 GMT -5
Douglas, with no Chinese language skills, a current lack of time and money, I don't see a trip to China in my immediate future so, I want to tell you that, reading your posts here is the next best thing! I really enjoy following your adventures and love the pictures that go along with them! You must have thousands of photos. How do you keep them track of them all? Do you make hardcopy prints and put them in albums too or do you keep everything in digital format? "My Excellent Aventures in China" is a great title for this topic! Thank you! Carol
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jan 19, 2011 19:14:38 GMT -5
This is a specie of frog, long and ugly in appearance, but definitely not a toad, in the past it was not considered good enough for the table... "min gaap" nowadays don't look exactly as b4 Douglas, can u find the "scientific" name of the REAL one?
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Post by douglaslam on Jan 20, 2011 5:20:18 GMT -5
Sorry tyuti1668, I don't know what the scientific name is. And thank you Carol for taking the time to read my postings. That alone would make it worth my while. I can't thank web-master Woodson enough for granting me generous space for my trivia. In fact I have to pared down what I want to put on, I think I am rather long-winded. I want to be brutally honest with everyone, my PC skill is minimal. My daughter sorts the photos into different categories, saves them in the hard drive, She resizes my selection and uploads them on Photobucket image hosting site. I am a blue collar worker, I have no need to be computer-literate. The down side is I am dependent on my child(ren) to help me. But I am getting the hang of it slowly, at least my typing speed is a little faster. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VILLAGE CHILDREN ? Yes and no. These children are born and raised in my village. But they are from migrant worker's families. It is very unusual because the children neither understand our dialect nor Cantonese. They learn Mandarin in school and speak the parents' dialect at home. Children are supposed to be like sponges, they learn languages fast. It is hard to understand. Dining alfresco The children are having their evening meal. Two families are crammed in a small space. All five members of one family sleep in one bed.The kids are usually eating their food outside the tight confines of home. It is a like them / loathe them relationship between the villagers and the migrants. Migrants are blamed for the petty crimes, prostitution, indifferent to village's environs such as indiscriminately putting sewer lines which fouled up wells, and trash the place they rent. But businesses need them, factories, restaurants and the paddy fields can't function without them. All migrants in our part of Chungshan are called by the unflattering name of sweet potato man, woman, or child. In fact , they are all referred to by a different and perhaps a little demeaning "generic"name such as northerners in Sze Yup and elsewhere. Mind you, I can't detect any maliciousness in it. It is just that Cantonese do feel more sophisticated and superior to them. Tyuti1668 can you add to IT ? THE VOICE I am getting used to this man's voice over recent visits. He is a fellow villager in my age group, he calls out in our dialect " gas recharge". He does the rounds, collecting the empty gas cylinders in the morning and returning with full ones in the afternoon. Just like everyone else doing business, he also carries a phone for your urgent orders. The man was probably a peasant farmer who walked away from farming. Very few villagers work in the fields now. The land is leased to migrant workers. In the old days, you get your fuel for cooking by burning straw, fallen leaves, and deadwood. Now, it is a cash economy, you must pay for your fuel. What this man is doing could have been my lot. He does not have a set day off, he gets a low wage plus a small commission on each cylinder. I often ponder what if my mother did not have the foresight and intestinal fortitude to let me go to Hong Kong, what if the application was not successful, what if I had not the courage to smuggle into Hong Kong.. what if... If I were to remain in China, it is doubtful I could get an education. The fifties and sixties were embroiled in Mao's endless political upheavals culminating in the Cultural Revolution in 1966. I could not possibly do what Ming did, get a govt. job. I would be confined to the paddy fields working under the commune system. I may not get a chance to jump on the economic bandwagon and get into business. I could have been the one who is peddling the tricycle 365 days / year. It is a sobering thought. .
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