Under the banyan tree

[laohuaqiao]

Besides dialou, another landmark of most if not all villages in Taishan is the banyan tree (rong shu), subgenus of the tropical fig tree. It is a huge, sturdy, shady tree. In the old days, on late summer afternoons, villages folks would gather under the shades of the banyan tree, while cooling off, trading latest news from overseas, repeating for the umphteenth time old family tales, etc.