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Post by douglaslam on Dec 22, 2011 6:37:51 GMT -5
Onwards from the Lee / Chan village, we move on to Hup Shui Hou another Lee village. Travel is always by bus. Public transport is quite good throughout much of Chungshan. It never enters our minds to hail a taxi. SHE SPEAKS, YOU OBEY Some buses carry a conductress if flat fare does not apply. The conductress usually lets everyone know who the boss is. She pulls the passengers into line, and insists on large items be stowed to her satisfaction. There is no thank you or please from the conductors. Neither do the passengers. It is off peak, and there is plenty of room for all. On each occasion on our way to Nam Long town , the bus makes a detour to the depot where the driver and conductress dash inside the building and return with a metal container of a hot meal each. When they get to the terminus, then they can enjoy their meal. It is a Chinese custom for the employer to provide free or subsidised meals to the employees. For the out-of-towners, accommodation is also expected of from the employer. WE ARE THE LEES Hup Shui Hou is a pretty,quiet village away from the main road. There is much agricultural land around it. We can't see any large scale manufacturing. There is even a stream carrying clean water from the mountain. These older folks are gathering at the general store. They are happy to answer our questions, confer with each other in Nam Long dialect, then get back to us in Shekki dialect or main stream Cantonese. We can make sense much of the Nam Long tongue. It is rewarding in a way just to gain exposure to the different dialects. MY COMPANIONS Ming is the one standing, who had forty-three years of service with the electricity distributor. His knowledge of Chungshan is invaluable. In his junior years as a linesman, he travelled the county on emergency repairs after severe storm or typhoon. As a senior staff member, he used to attend monthly meeting at different locations throughout the county. Few people know the county as well as him. He is now retired, and has all the time in the world to accompany me on my trivial pursuit. On the right sitting with his foot up is Ma Gor my other travel companion. Though he is largely illiterate, he is a very likable fellow, and never pretends to be anything but a simple village peasant farmer. He no longer works on the land. His new calling is repairing or making new burial plots, and exhumation of skeletal remains. We ask him what are the kind of things he would find in the graves. He says there are usually gold rings, jade bracelets, and earrings. Sometimes, a pearl may be found in the jaws of the skull. Jade bracelets attain rich colours after a long period buried underground with the dead, and are said to possess special qualities which repel evil spirits. They are very much in demand. Normally, the hirers want the burial items returned. Others are quite happy for the grave exhumers to keep them. On one occasion, he and his helpers were excavating the grave of a village clan's progenitor. The grave dated back to the Ming Dynasty, and in it were three exquisite porcelain wine goblets. Two of his helpers kept one each, the third one was given to another helper who asked for it, and gave Ma Gor a small sum . The goblets would fetch big bids in any auction house. Ma Gor makes no secret that he had a good year this year. He made about RMB 60,000 or close to US$10k. He hires migrant labourers if the job is too big for one man. He says fellow village labourers demand equal share of the profits. For the migrant workers, he pays them an agreed amount, plus lunch, dinner or foot massage treats for a job well done. Most hirers also hand out red packets to all. Like all good father, he used some of that money to help his son getting a new home unit. Ma Gor is always my welcomed travel and dining companion. THE VILLAGE HALL A village hall with no genealogy book or jupu. This is more a place for people to gather and gamble.
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Post by helen on Dec 22, 2011 20:23:39 GMT -5
Thanks Doug - It's great to read your concise reporting. An insight to life in today's world.
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Post by douglaslam on Dec 23, 2011 6:36:57 GMT -5
Thanks Helen for reading. I didn't take the time to go to Gwa Leng which isn't too far from Dongguan where I spent a few days with my aunt. I have met member mugenpower168 or Kin on a few occasions, once when Henry was visiting our shores last December. Kin has never visited his home village and is keen to find out a few things such as is the village still standing? Sai Ah, his village is very close to Cheung Gar Bin, which is now a huge industrial site. I think many lesser villages were simply wiped off the map, and villagers sent packing to high rise buildings. Kin's fear was justified. Sai Ah is safe because the village is on a fork of the road which veers off from the big development. With Ming guiding us, we have no trouble getting on the right bus to find the village. Unlike many other villages, Sai Ah does not have a gateway, just a small sign with its name on it. Sai Ah hosts three clans the Zhu/ Chu, Hong / Hung and Yuen. This is for you Kin. The villagers are keen to learn about you and your father. NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T We are lucky to have stopped a villager who is patrolling the village on his bicycle. We are actually stopping at the steps ( not shown) leading to some trees and open space. When the question is asked about ancestral hall and points of interest, the man sighs. He points to the vacant land and says two village halls used to stand there. They were so badly neglected or damaged in the mad Mao years that village officials gave orders to demolish them. The hasty order to pull the halls down served the officials well because they sold the very valuable timber retrieved to line their own pockets. The columns and beams and other fixture were made of finest timber which resisted borers, white ants and did not rot easily.. SAI AH'S BEST As usual I look for older houses and possibly a diaolou or two. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Diaolous are also found throughout Chungshan but not in such concentrated numbers as Hoiping and Toishan. This is the better of only two our guide in Sai Ah can show us SECOND BEST? I think this is the other, which is clearly smaller in size. ANOTHER TREE.... another village square? No, this one is more like a roundabout. PARANOIA There is overwhelming obsession with home security anywhere I go in China. This building in Sai Ah looks more like a cage or prison than a home. Is this fear of home invasion or robbery justified? I don't know. The local residence knows better.
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Post by Henry on Dec 23, 2011 18:46:44 GMT -5
Hi Douglas,
This is a very nice home, so, maybe - there is reason for the security.
Henry
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Post by douglaslam on Dec 24, 2011 6:21:19 GMT -5
There is much to look at in Sai Ah, we try to identify the different crops growing. Ming knows a bit because he too had to work on vegetable plots to supplement dietary needs even when he was working with the electricity distributor. That was before the economy opened up. Ma Gor knows just about everything in the fields. LOOK, IT'S CLEAN There is a waterway skirting the village. Like waterways in most places, it is polluted. Sai Ah has a way to overcome it. It blocked the waterway, by sealing off a section to create a large pond. SWAN LAKE IT ISN'T The pond is stock with fish and there are ducks about. THE PRIMITIVE AND ULTRA MODERN A most incongruous sight, a satellite dish on top of a hovel. The hovel is probably home to tenant farmers tending the fish pond and fields. This is the village sheltered market. It is small because Sai Ah has only a small population, and there are bigger markets at neighbouring Da Ling ( member grantdin's home village) and Nam Long. It looks like the market is open for the morning trade only. SAI AH CENTRAL This is where people meet, a place for gaming and record keeping.
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Post by douglaslam on Dec 25, 2011 7:02:13 GMT -5
It is only a short walk from Sai Ah to Da Ling, the home of the Au Yeung / Aw Yangs who are a proud and cohesive group in California. Upon my return to Sydney, I found some of the people I have known for years are also from Sai Ah. One person told me there used to be a hill between the two villages. The hill is there no more, just a level paved road and new buildings lining both sides. Da Ling attracted my attention through the links provided by member grantdin some years ago. I especially wanted to visit the grave of the first female Chinese dentist qualified to practise in the US. We arrived at lunch time, and there was no one to turn to. Further, there was a funeral procession taking place. Chinese superstition being what it is, we all wanted to steer clear. It was on our second and third visit to Nam Long that I took the following shots. NAM LONG'S OWN This is one of two gateways in close proximity to each other. they do look fairly new. THIS IS A MARKET Section of the interior of a large indoor market. Market maketh the town, this is the proof. THE LULL The busy morning trade on market day is over, traders are taking a breather before the afternoon session. The stalls surrounding the indoor market are very vibrant and diverse. GOOD THING COMES IN PAIRS Two temples are next to each other. This is the one that has been restored. This one is awaiting the final touches and consecration by a senior monk / priest. It is here that we are mistaken for donors, and hastily welcomed in by a woman holding a book of donation pledges. PAY AS YOU LEARN This is a school dedicated to migrant workers' children. You'll find the same name in many towns and villages because the school is operated privately as a business concern. Education is segregated for reasons I don't quite understand. The children are all part of the nation's future. Why discriminate? THE OLDEST? This is supposed to be the oldest home in Nam Long. I can't see anything to distinguish it.
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Post by douglaslam on Dec 26, 2011 6:50:45 GMT -5
Food is an essential part of my travel experience in China. I am open-minded about all kinds of food available, though I do not particularly want to dine on wild game ( on conservation grounds), or dogs and cats. At the same time I have no qualms about eating dog meat if that is what my guests ask for or my hosts order it. Those of us who are brought up on dairy produce, you maybe disappointed to find cow's milk products are usually in short supply. Milk tastes different from Australia because it is reconstituted. True cow's milk is not readily found in shops, cheese may only be available in big stores like Wal Mart. I do consume dairy produce, but I don't miss them in China. Western-style bakeries are not what they cracked up to be. You are not likely to find bread rolls or crusty bread loaves. Pastry on display looks colourful, too colourful in fact. I think food colouring is used very liberally. It is catered for Chinese tastes. I bought slices of a raisin loaf to eat on the train. It was rather sweet for my liking. FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD I eat out up to three times each day on outings with my two companions. We have lunch at the better restaurants. Here we are having a serving of roast goose, salty chicken, and beef with bitter melon. Ma Gor loves a good local distill with his meal, but I have never seen him drink to excess. I always join him for a stiff one. No red wine or chardonnay for us. This is Hakka fare from a well known restaurant chain. We are having a soup for starters, salty chicken, dried bean curd sticks, vegetables and the tried and true sweet and sour pork ribs, wash down with cold beer. Back in the village, at one of the cheaper eateries. We are having salty duck and chicken, and lotus root soup. Ma Gor wants those meat dishes to go with his choice of liquor. STEAMBOAT ON A WARM NIGHT This is also back at the village. The restaurant is like a big barn, with a corrugated iron roof. There is no partition between the food preparation area, the kitchen, and the dining hall. It is doing good business because prices are reasonable. BTW the soup stock base for the hotpot is dog meat . That's what my guests prefer. We have a whole freshwater fish from the tank and beef. IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT...... The stoves are like blast furnaces. Get out of the kitchen if you can't stand the heat.
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Post by Henry on Dec 26, 2011 11:16:15 GMT -5
Hi Douglas,
Yes, some of the best food I have ever eaten has been in restaurants in China.
Yummy !
Henry
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Post by tyuti1668 on Dec 26, 2011 21:51:41 GMT -5
Ma Gor loves a good local distill with his meal. Local? Non Chungshan releated from nearby Nanhai (kiukiang.com) The largest "local": gcontent.oeeee.com/c/73/c73dfe6c630edb4c/Blog/4de/be2aa0.html . The "small" native one aren't that great for direct drinking The "impurities" (é…’å°¾) cause headache are much more in vol.
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Post by douglaslam on Dec 27, 2011 0:54:26 GMT -5
IT IS MY PARTY I think the tradition started in 1993, on one of my infrequent visits back home, the previous one being in 1983 with my wife and two older children. My mother longed for my return home as any mother would. I went alone as I just didn't have the means to take the family during school holidays in the high season. For long years my mother was subjected to humiliation and bullying because of the family's overseas connections during the Mao years. We owned land and fish pond, we were the oppressors and class enemy. When Hu Yaobang was Party Secretary, one of his priorities was to abolish the class struggle which torn society apart. There was deep distrust, and people turned on each other. In the Cultural Revolution, mother was made to wear a dunce cap, pick up pig poo on the streets. My village cousin's young daughter, who lived with her helped to do the unpleasant tasks for her. Anywhere my mother wished to go, she would need permission. She was once turned back at the village gate, her short trip to Shekki to seek medical help was denied. Now, in 1993, class struggle was brushed aside. Mother wanted the world to know her son was home, she was secure because her son in the gold mountain would provide for her She set off a string of firecrackers and with the help of neighbours prepared the rituals to thank the gods and ancestors. She wanted me to entertain all those people who were close to the family or kind to her in those dark years. I obeyed without question. One year, my return home also co-incided with her birthday. She wanted a double celebration with the dinner party. It so happened a village aunt in Sydney, who was married to a Louie, was visiting Dutou with her husband. They accepted my invitation. It was a great honour for mother because guests from overseas came to her party, she was very proud. It meant so much to her for what she had gone through. She was no longer the down-trodden one. Since 1993, on every trip home, which is now happening more often, I always try to fit in a small dinner party. It is my way of honouring and remembering my late mother. LET THE PARTY BEGIN The dishes are brought out not in any particular order except for the soup. SMILES ALL ROUND It looks like everyone young or old is enjoying the village fare. The woman in red and her two children to her right live in my house. I see the children grew up before my eyes over the years. Her husband just misses out on the photo. I think she is Tanka, China's boat people. Both she and her husband do the LPG run, collecting the empty cylinders and returning with full ones. She is a lovely, likable person and the steadying influence of the family because her husband often gets drunk. She would not hesitate to lock him out at night. It is a seven day / week job. She used to paddle a trike, and lug the heavy gas cylinders up high buildings. Now, she uses an electric bicycle, to make her job easier. I think I am a generation (or two) above her husband. THERE IS MORE I have no idea what is on the menu, I simply agreed to three tables. Ming helped to finalise the numbers. The restaurant owners are known to me. NO BODY GOES HOME HUNGRY There is plenty of food for everybody, hunger is gone together with Mao. At the centre is a pigeon dish. It used to be very popular. These days there is just so much choice. The cost is RMB 2,000. It is money well-spent, and I always make allowance for. tyuti1668, I wish you did join us for the party. You are always the closest to the action. The liquor is still local to me because it is not an imported variety I tell my guests for my next dinner party, I hope to introduce my future son-in-law. Henry, you are a regular visitor to China, you are invited to my next village party. The invitation is also extended to our regular contributors. Let's party.
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Post by Henry on Dec 27, 2011 10:27:11 GMT -5
Hi Douglas,
Wow, the food looks so good.
During my visit to Sydney, you fed me so well !
I am waiting for the chance to take you and your family to restaurants in China, Hong Kong, or when you come to the US - then, I will try my best to fatten you up a little.
Henry
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Post by helen on Dec 28, 2011 2:16:44 GMT -5
Hi Douglas - so many great stories of your life. My husband and myself visited his parents in Canton in 1980. We were lucky to get his parents to migrate to NZ a couple of years later, and they came out with his 90 year old Grandmother, who was returning to NZ after being in China between 1957 and 1980. Times had changed for Grandmother, but she was delighted to return to her old country and family. Sadly she had a fall and died about 4 weeks after her arrival back to NZ. Your traditional party looks like a great time - and the food fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by douglaslam on Dec 28, 2011 6:15:24 GMT -5
Henry, yes, I had a good time during your brief visit. Let's hope we can get together again before too long. You have much to teach me. Helen, you,too, have a very interesting family saga to tell. REMEMBER THE DAYS OF THE OLD SCHOOLYARD The sign reads Nam Mun School. It is a kindergarten. Nam Mun is tyuti1668's village,it is next to mine and only minutes away on foot from my place. It was formerly a primary school which has now moved to a new location. Children are seen doing exercise before being ushered into classrooms. This maybe the only exercise they get because most school children are now drop off or pick up on motor bikes, or cars, some ride bicycles, a few choose to walk. There are even motorbike taxis and trikes to take children to and from schools. Fewer and fewer children need to ride a bike or walk. As China's middle class expands so does the nation's waistline. Overweight and obesity is creeping up, with it diabetes and cardio-vascular disease. MEALS ON WHEELS There is a small square opposite the school. A cooked food stall on wheels is permanently on site everyday. A BIGGER PICTURE As you can see business is booming for this food seller. He maybe one of the hidden rich men because his overhead is small and he has a captive market. Nowadays, if I were to point a camera at children in Australia as I do here, I'll be screamed at, demanded to delete the images or worse,calling the police. The same scenario may apply in most Western countries. You just can't point a camera at children whether you are in a park or on the beach and take pictures. This is child protection gone mad. It is insane. There is no sense of balance and rationalism. Fortunately, I can do it here in China. I like taking photos of children as you shall see later. I hope China will never lapse into the lunacy of zealots in the name of child protection.
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Post by douglaslam on Dec 29, 2011 4:51:27 GMT -5
I spent a few days in Dongguan with my aunt before setting off for Xi'an. Aunt has a house in town which is close to her favourite eating places, markets, transport and a big park. The house was built on land allotted to her husband who was a senior PLA officer with the local command. The house is big enough for a large family. She chose not to live with her children because she likes her independence and convenience. Her children insisted on a live-in helper just in case. AN IDEALIST I did not know my aunt at all until the 1970s. She ran away from home when I was just a toddler, to join the PLA in her late teen. She was swept away by the promise of a new China. She ended up marrying her CO. I find her a very considerate and kindly person. In the morning we go to yum cha, do a short walk or shopping at the market for our lunch or evening meal. Other times, I love talking with her or watching TV together, Aunt recalls watching her father, my grandfather, leave for Vancouver for the last time. She was about six years old, the year was 1935 or 1936. Granfather left very early in the morning to avoid seeing the buffaloes in the fields, which was considered unlucky. Aunt hid behind the door, she was aware what was going on. As was the Chinese custom then and now, there was no hugging or kissing as aunt saw her father off. It was not until October, 1973 when I brought grandfather home did she see her father again. Such was the high cost to the Chinese families whose providers were in the gold mountain. Grandfather was the lucky few who could make many return trips home. A WALK IN THE PARK A big park is just two minutes away, by opening time at 5:30, a small crowd is waiting for the gates to open.The park is not always a quiet place. Here, we have a large group of about two hundred people or more exercising en masse. There is full power amplification for participants exercise to music. YESTERDAY'S ROOSTER A game of shuttlec-ock is underway. It is a popular game in winter, and any number can play. The idea is to keep the shuttleco-ck in the air. I remember watching the game played in the village square when I was a little boy. The shuttlec-ock was topped with beautiful rooster feather on a round pile of paper, and weighed down by an old coin with a hole. OPERA IN THE PARK There is an area set aside for lovers of Cantonese opera and song. Two singers, probably accomplished amateurs,are belting out excerpts from a well known opera. As I was nurtured in my childhood in Hong Kong watching or listening to period Cantonese dramas with singing, I can work out what the story is about. It is called Blizzards in the Sixth Month 六月飛霜. It is a sad, sad story of great miscarriage of justice. A high official is alerted to what is happening because the heavens open up with a snow storm in the middle of summer. He must right the wrong. This is to do with the Chinese mindset that justice must prevail. It is only a matter of time. Members like tyuti1668, Woodson and laohuaqiao would have heard of the story. IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE, PLAY ON This is the ensemble that accompanies the singers. I can see the traditional instruments in play. By listening to the percussion, I can visualise the action on stage. Such is the beauty and simplicity of Cantonese music. The player on the bottom far left finds time to puff on his cigarette between bars. He winks at me as I take the shot. NOT MY CUP OF TEA Yet, another group singing. this time without accompaniment. The people are led by a lead singer. The lyrics are on display. I stay to listen to well known folk tunes, But when the group breaks into a revolutionary song, singing its praise to Mao, it is my cue to leave. CAST YOUR INHIBITION TO THE WIND ( OR WATER) Go to any park or open space, you'll find people doing any number of things without any inhibition. They sing, dance, practise kung fu, anything at all except the taboo subject.
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Post by tyuti1668 on Dec 29, 2011 7:25:08 GMT -5
...It is called Blizzards in the Sixth Month 六月飛霜... Read the story background if understand "old" written chinese (文言文)。
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