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| Guangzhou Station |
We visited my husband's ancestral village last week and today we would be visiting my parents' villages in southern China.
We got up at 6am, and took a taxi to the Guangzhou Station. After presenting our passports to the ticket agent, we bought tickets to Taishan (63 Yuan per person).
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| We took the bus to my parents' village |
The bus left at 8:30am right on time and arrived at Taishan city at around 11:30am. My father mentioned Taishan City to us often when we were young.
He told us many stories about that city, therefore I paid special attention to this town as the bus approached this place. I could imagine my father as a young man traveling back and forth in this town.
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| We enjoyed the scenery on the bus to Taishan |
After arriving at Taishan City, we had to take a local bus to Dofu, (10 yuen /person, very affordable indeed!) and it took another half hour.
By the time we got to Dofu, it was around 1pm. We did not see any taxi at the Dofu bus station except for a couple of motor cycles and tricycle converted to seating passengers.
We opted for the tricycle and it took us another 15-20 minutes to get to Yachi's village.
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| I remembered those stories my father told me about his village |
Yachi's sister was there at the entrance to the village. She led us to her house and we met her parents and uncle. They had prepared a feast for us. We ate, got to know the family better and visited with them for a little while.
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| One of the ladies took us to my dad;s old house |
Ya's village was a small one with around a hundred residents. There was not much to see. Ya's sister booked a taxi for us and the taxi driver drove us to my mother and then my father's village.
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| The house has been vacant since my father left |
It was a lifelong wish that I could trace my root and visit my parents' villages. I was surprised that there were some who still remembered my parents and grandparents.
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| Weeds and plants have overtaken the courtyard of my father;s old house |
We were led to my father's house. My father left the village long time ago back in 1940's before the civil war broke out in China.
The house has since been abandoned and it has fallen in disrepair.
Many houses have been left vacant in the village as young people all went to the cities for employment.
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| My mom's old village |
After visiting my dad's village, the taxi driver took us to my mother's.
I was very emotional as I met and conversed with one of the elderly women who remembered my grandmother when I mentioned her name.
Tears swelled up in my eyes when I saw my mom’s village and house.
The same thing happened here with many of the young people having left the villages in the rural area of China
My mother's side family was better to do therefore her paternal house was one of the biggest and better built house.
Neither of my parents showed any desire to return to China to reside in their ancestral home.
However, my mother still has distant relatives living in the village and someone is currently occupying her father's house.
The population of the villages we visited have declined steadily and dramatically leaving only old people and the very young behind.
It seems to be a growing trend and a problem which the government has to deal with.
Then, we got a call from J. who asked us to return early so that he could spend more time with us.
We spent some time at J's place. Using some construction paper, we made some art work to decorate the shelves at his place. We were glad to be able to help him. J. seemed to like it too.
It was after 9pm before we went out to have dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the area. The cooked sushi were very good, much better than those we ate in Canada!! Wish we could stay for another two weeks or so!
R.T.
Taishan/ Guangzhou
China
0723, 2016
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