sv evi

While on the passage to the Philippines, I had the idea that I would like to visit our ancestral home in the Chin village, Taishan county, Jiangmen city, Guangdong province, China to show my kids some of their roots and to pay respects to our ancestors. My Gung Gung (my mom’s father) was born in the Chin village and lived there until he was 9, when he joined his father in Aberdeen, WA. My Bac Bac (my great grandmother, his mother) wasn’t allowed to join her husband and son in the United States until around 20 years later, after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 promoted family reunification by removing numerical caps on immigration for citizen’s spouses. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a federal law prohibiting all immigration of Chinese people; originally supposed to last 10 years, it was in effect until repealed in 1943 by the Magnuson Act.

I had the good fortune to visit the Chin village in 1998, in the company of my Gung Gung and Po Po (my maternal grandparents), my mom, siblings, 2 sets of uncles and aunties, and 5 cousins. My Gung Gung and Po Po paid for our whole trip. I remember being blown away while walking around the few streets of the small village, entering our ancestral home, and seeing my photo on the wall. I remember thinking: what if my Gung Gung had never immigrated? What if I was born in this small rice-farming village? How different would my life be?

I figured that we were pretty close to the village in the Philippines, and it would be a good opportunity to visit. I filled out the 9 page visa application for all 5 of us, and we made 2 trips to the Chinese Consulate in Davao City. We each got 10 year, multiple entry visas! I reached out to my auntie Omi and my uncle Curt, and they helped me organize our trip by telling me which hotels to stay at and putting me in touch on WeChat with Gu Po, my Bac Bac’s sister’s daughter, who is the caretaker of our ancestral home. Auntie Omi also put me in touch with Xiaoning, a relative who had studied at UW in Seattle, and who lives in Taishan with his family. Uncle Curt suggested that my mom should come along and be our translator, because she speaks Toisan (the local dialect of Cantonese in the village), Cantonese and Mandarin. My Gung Gung and Po Po left a trust after they passed away which stipulates that money should be kept available to maintain the ancestral home and for descendants to visit the home. As such, our transportation and lodging costs were covered by the Chin family trust.

My auntie Omi is fluent in Mandarin, as she is from Taiwan. Even with her help, it was very confusing getting the details of the trip worked out. Sometimes I would wake up to 20 texts on the WeChat group thread. I used the automatic translation, which sometimes said things like “Well, Ping An and have a nice trip”. I booked a room at the Country Garden Phoenix Hotel in Jiangmen, as Uncle Curt told me to … but it turns out it is a chain, and there are 3 hotels that have the same name and Jiangmen in the address, so I had chosen the wrong one. We weren’t aware of this until Gu Po wrote on the group text that she wouldn’t be able to meet us at the hotel. Auntie Omi sorted it out. Ma and I linked our credit cards to our WeChat accounts, so that we could use WePay to pay for things in China. My mom spent 3 hours booking our train tickets on Trip.com from Hong Kong to Jiangmen, China with the help of her friend Jocelyn, who is from Hong Kong. It was definitely a group effort getting our trip organized!

We left our boat at 5:30 am on February 28th and took a baobao to the ferry terminal. Then a ferry, then a taxi to the airport. We had a direct three hour flight to Hong Kong. My mom was waiting for us there!

Next steps: Airport Express to Kowloon Station. Walk to West Kowloon Station through underground mall. Store big duffel bag in luggage storage place. Follow signs to High Speed Train Station. Fill out arrival cards and go through immigration for mainland China. At this step they pulled Luz aside and into a separate room, because they said her nose looked wrong according to her passport photo. They asked her when her birthday was, and luckily she answered correctly…she was allowed to join us on the other side.

We made our train! We were relieved!

All 6 of us piled into a regular sized sedan, an unofficial taxi, once we arrived in Jiangmen. It was only 30 yuan (a little less than 4 dollars) to get to the hotel.

For dinner, we walked across the street to some outdoor eateries outside a mall.

After dinner we went to the supermarket to buy a few things — here is where we found out that the WePay didn’t always work. Mine didn’t work at all, so I had to leave my bag with the cashier and go get Ma. Hers worked, whew!

Our first full day in China started with an amazing all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast in the hotel. There was such a huge selection of food, mostly Chinese and some Western food. The kids were amazed! I remember feeling the same way 27 years ago on our trip to China with my Po Po and Gung Gung. Then Mom and I went off in search of photo frames, because our family had decided to update the photos in our ancestral home. The Chin family has 51 current members!

Next Ma and I went shopping for jade pendants. In Chinese culture, jade holds immense significance, symbolizing health, fortune, and longevity. Its hardness and beauty represent moral integrity and wisdom. I have a jade pendant from my Po Po. I wanted to get jade pendants for my kids, and we also got them for all of my nieces & nephews. We went to a friend of Xiaoning’s shop in Jiangmen, about a 30 minute taxi ride from our hotel. In China, it’s all about the guanxi — connections and who you know. We had a fast and furious shopping spree. We weren’t able to pay with WeChat — luckily Xiaoning said he would pay for the jade, and we would work out how to pay him back later. Then we rushed back to the hotel to meet the driver who would take us to Taishan (who Xiaoning had organized and paid).

Meanwhile Riki and the kids were on their own for about 4 1/2 hours with no money/credit cards/way to buy anything. Riki also had no cell service, since he didn’t buy a SIM for such a quick trip. They walked to a nearby park and tried to communicate with a 9 year old boy. Everyone was fascinated by Riki’s crossword puzzle.

Ma and I were busy in our hotel room putting the labels with names on them into the frames, and I didn’t get the text from Gu Po that she was in the lobby for about ten minutes. I told Ma I would bring her up to the room, and I rushed down with the kids to meet her. Gu Po has a beautiful huge smile. She is almost 80 years old, but her hair is jet black with just a few grays — she has never dyed it. She is very spry. She also has a very big heart and kind soul. She’s one of those people who make you laugh and make you feel welcome, even though you have very little language in common. In my stumbling Mandarin, I asked her to come with me to the hotel room to meet my mom. She said no. I was like, uhh, what do I do now? I pointed to the lobby chairs, and mimed should we sit down? She said no. Hmm. We were supposed to have dinner in about 30 minutes with Xiaoning, Xiaoning’s parents, Xiaoning’s daughter, and the Chin village chief (and neighbor to our ancestral home). I texted my mom, all flustered, and asked her to come down. Then Gu Po said she would come to the room. Whew! We got in the elevator, and I had forgotten my key card, so I couldn’t make it go. Then I forgot what floor we were on. Luckily the door opened and Ma was standing there! They chatted away in Toisan, and Ma showed her the framed photos that we would be hanging.

Dinner was a veritable feast. Xiaoning had made the reservation, in a private room of the restaurant. There were so many courses, all delicious. There were huge oysters, steamed fish in a giant bowl, a chopped veggie and meat dish that you wrapped with lettuce leaves…

When I asked Xiaoning how we could pay for dinner, he said it was already done, and it was his treat. I protested, but he said, I am the host in Taishan. When I come to Seattle, you can treat me. It was so kind of him!! We also sorted out that the chief’s nephew would pick us up in the village and drive us straight to Hong Kong the following afternoon, and Xiaoning would pay him via WeChat. I would pay him back for the jade and the van ride…somehow. Luckily I was able to pay him using my Wise account.

The following day Gu Po met us at 8:30 am with the village chief and another driver. She had organized all the supplies for the baibai ceremony, where one pays respects to one’s ancestors by bowing with hands pressed together.

It was about a 30 minute drive to the Chin village. Gu Po told us that often when she goes to check on our ancestral home, she won’t see anyone at all in the village. She said that there is nothing left there for young people; everyone has gone to the city.

We pulled up in the driveway in front of our ancestral home, and the patio of the chief’s home. A woman and a man with all silver teeth met us. I’m not exactly sure who they were — the man helped hang the photos, and the woman helped prepare the offerings for the baibai. Someone told me that my Gung Gung had helped her family long ago.

We entered our ancestral home…I didn’t really remember it in detail. It’s dark inside — no electricity. Gu Po and the other woman opened some shutters on the 2nd floor, so light came in. There are two sets of steep staircases, from first to 2nd floor, and from 2nd floor to the rooftop terrace. There was a kitchen almost just as you entered — a stone stove with a place for burning the firewood, and wok-shaped holes above it.

There are two adjacent rooms to the main room on the second floor, for sleeping.

Gu Po prepared bowls of candies, a plate with a whole boiled chicken on it, fake paper money, and firecrackers on the table. Then she lit the incense, and it was my mom’s turn to do the baibai. Mom held the lit incense, bowed 3 times, and repeated what Gu Po said. Then it was my turn to do the same. Finally Tomu, Jade, and Luz just bowed 3 times (without holding the incense or saying anything). We did it first facing the offering table, then facing the shrine. Then Gu Po climbed the ladder to put the lit incense in front of the shrine.

The village chief burned the paper money. Someone set the firecrackers off outside the door (which scared us all!).

Next Gu Po chopped up the chicken, and we all had some.

After the baibai, the kids, Riki and I walked around the village while Ma stayed with the two guys to hang all the photo frames (15 in all). Here are some photos from the rest of the village.

When the people came out of this home, the man said to me in Mandarin, “ni gung gung de baba gen wo gung gung de baba _____” your Gung Gung’s father and my Gung Gung’s father are ______(related/brothers?). I said, really?! and shook his hand, and his wife’s hand. Pretty mind-boggling to be related to a random person also coming to pay respects to his ancestors in a small village in southern China. It’s fascinating how much longer the lineage reaches in China than in U.S. society — like people remember their ancestors, and who they are related to, and it doesn’t matter how distant they are, family is family! Gu Po kept saying, now that I know how to get there, I need to come back and stay longer.

One of my favorite parts of our visit to the village was sitting on the patio at the chief’s house and drinking tea. We did this after the baibai ceremony, and after hanging the pictures. Gu Po, the other lady, my mom, and the chief were all speaking Toisanese. It was so interesting to be there and observe … Ma would translate for me. The Toisan dialect is so distinct, with the intonation at the end of each sentence.

We had a smooth ride back to Hong Kong, direct from the village. It took us about 4 hours in total. We stopped to do immigration and customs en route, meeting the driver on the other side. We picked up our bag from the luggage storage place, and just as we were pulling up to the hotel, Jade threw up all over herself and Luz. Aw man! We apologized profusely to the driver. We were pretty bedraggled as we checked in.

Riki stayed with Jade and Luz in the hotel room while Ma, Tomu, and I went out in search of dinner. I found an ATM, what a relief to be able to pay for things reliably!! We were all pretty tired from our whirlwind trip to mainland China, so we mainly ate delicious food and hung out in our hotel rooms or in the hotel pool.

Next time I would definitely plan for more time in China, and I would be sure to get some Chinese renminbi or yuan before going (so as not to rely on the WePay). We hope that Xiaoning and his daughter will come visit us on sv evi so we can return his generous hospitality!!