Taishan Part 18: Closing Thoughts

I am so glad that I made the trip to Taishan. The timing was so right - time, companionship, information about the travel from web search - all fell into place that made the trip possible. It is a good place to visit for a very short time.

Taishan is a very laid-back. Living standards have improved. Some factories have been built and people from the villages can work in the factories to earn more money. Work in the rice field, while still hard, is also much improved. Machines are used instead of water buffalos and humans. Instead of doing all the work themselves, many people hire migrant workers from Guangxi and Hunan to work the fields.

Our driver told us that of all people living in Taishan, half are the locals and the half are retirees returning from overseas. He also told us that people in Taishan are laid-back. The retirement age in China is currently 50 years old. People who are in the late 40s are already getting ready for retirement by working very short days (like leaving work at 11:30 AM). What do they do with their time? Play mahjong, of course.

Taishan Part 17: Leaving Taicheng for Hong Kong

After a one-day visit of Taicheng and the village, it was time to return to Hong Kong. The return trip should have taken 4.5 hours but turned out to be 6.5 hours – the bus’ transmission died when we were crossing a bridge in Jungshan. We waited 2 hours, luckily the air was still working, until a rescue bus arrived.

I took some pictures on the return trip that captured the booming development in the area around Shenzhen. Everywhere you look is construction. The last picture shows newly-built condos that has a big sign that boast “low prices” to lure people from Hong Kong and other parts of the world to buy real estate in the Shenzhen vicinity. Condos are outrageously costly in Hong Kong; an average condo with an 850 square-feet of living area costs USD $1,200,000.

Taishan Part 16: A Study of Constrast

Leaving the villages and going back to Taicheng, you can appreciate the huge difference between the old rural villages (picture 1) and the modern development. The second picture is the new luxury mansions built 2 years ago in the suburb of Taicheng. Next to it is a 5-star Taishan Phoenix Hotel (last picture). The room rate for Sunday was CNY1200 (USD$179), not bad for a 5-star hotel.

Taishan Part 15: Buildings in Taicheng

Taicheng is more like YuenLong in the rural areas of Hong Kong. Most of the city is very old with some very old streets (picture 1). Picture 2 shows condos built in the 70s, the next picture the 90s, and the last picture is a modern condo.

Taishan Part 14: Beggar’s Chicken Dinner in Taicheng

Sam’s colleague in Maoming knew of our travel and recommended that we try beggar’s chicken while in Taichan – so, we did. We arranged for a driver to drop off and pick us up because the restaurant is located in a rural area of Taicheng. The first picture shows the restaurant sign; the next is the menu.







We ordered the famous beggar’s chicken, ox-bone soup with lotus root, and stir-fried long beans – all for about $8 USD. Everything was delicious. The beggar’s chicken was originally wrapped with dirt and roast in open fire; now it is wrapped in foiled and wood-roasted. Disposable gloves are provided so diners can eat the chicken with their hands.

While the restaurant is an open-air facility and located in a rural area, it really went out of their way to provide a clean atmosphere. They cleaned “sterilized” the cups, bowls, and chopsticks in a pan of boiling water on your table. They provided a packet of tissues and a whole small wrapped packet of disposable gloves for each table.

Taishan Part 13: Our Hotel Room in Taicheng

The Taishan Garden Hotel is a 3-star hotel but it’s very well maintained. We paid 236 CNY (Chinese Renminbi), about $35 USD. It has a western restaurant in the lobby and a whole separate 2-story Chinese restaurant next door. We had most meals in the hotel. One lunch we had BBQ pork, some dim sum, and stir-fried potato leave, a local seasonal vegetable that tastes similar to Ong-choi but better. The BBQ pork, while very tasty, had too much fat. The next meal we had dim sum and squab which was also excellent. Everything is very cheap by U.S. standards; each meal was about $8 USD.

Our room is clean, comfortable and spacious. What’s most amazing is it even has a computer with free Internet access. I was able to get a lot of work and e-mails done in the room.

Taishan Part 12: Our Hotel in Taicheng

We stayed overnight at the Taishan Garden Hotel. It’s a 3-star hotel. While it is showing its age, the hotel is still very well maintained. The hotel is well located; it has its own lotus pond and it’s also next to a city park. The first picture shows the hotel in the background and in front of it is the hugest lotus pond ever seen. On the edge of the lotus pond is a row of Hong Kong Orchid trees. I can envision the beautiful Hong Kong Orchid blossoming when the lotus goes into hibernation in the winter. Because the area is so beautiful and the air so clear, many people do their morning tai chi there.

Taishan Part 11: The 2nd House – Gnay Sum’s House

These pictures show the realistic household of an occupied house. Gnay Sum’s house (2nd house) is two story. It was a Saturday and her daughter, grandchildren and other visitors were there.

Their Main Room also has an ancestral alter, of course. In the front area, there are two sets of wooden stairs that lead to the bedrooms upstairs.

The last picture shows the living area. As I said, the ancestral alter is in the front center. On the left of the alter is a set of rosewood “sofa.” Gnay Sum's grandchildren were “modeling” in the picture.

They have a refrigerator, a drinking system (home delivered 5-gallon drinking water). Their house is clutter with things; partially because the house is also small, compared to the houses in the States.

Gnay Sum said her daughter now works in the factory in Taicheng; the income is much better now.

Taishan Part 10b: The Yau House Roof – More pictures

Pictures from the roof:
1. Left back corner of the roof shows a old pot.
2. To the left, you can see the edge of the next Li. The first house in the next Li is a whitish building that looks pretty new and modern; it must be a rebuilt by some retiree from the States .
3. To the right is the edge of the pond, rice field, and the twig pile in front of the hongie.

Taishan Part 10: The Yau House Roof

From the Main Room, a set of stairs leads to the roof. The background of the picture shows the door to the roof.

From left to right are: Gnay Sum (2nd House), Ah Sum (1st House), Moi, and the brothers Jung Tai and Jung Wah (the house managers).

Taishan Part 9: The Yau House Water Storage/Shower Area

This is the area behind the wall of the stove. I believe it is a water storage shed and sink area. Behind it looks like a shower area.

I was rushed (felt a lot of pressure from all the people following us.) I never thought of checking the toilet area. Tony told me it is an outhouse, located in the back of the house. The outhouse, according to Tony, is clean and flushes directly into the field.

Taishan Part 8: The Yau House Kitchen

Immediately after entering the main door, the first area is the “kitchen.” On the right is GuanKung shrine on the floor; I took the picture of the little boy with it. Next to it is the stove with two “cook-tops.” On the right hangs a food storage gage.

Taishan Part 7: The Yau House Bedrooms

The picture with the window on the left is the ChungHoi Bedroom; the one with the window on the right is the Dry-Ones’ Bedroom. Both rooms have some furniture. I don’t believe these are the original furnishings. They are perhaps extra furniture that belongs to our “house managers.”

Taishan Part 6: The Yau House Ancestral Alter

The Main Room is the largest living area of the YauHouse. In the center is the Yau Ancestral Alter with a picture of Grandfather. The first thing I did was to pay my respect to our ancestors and especially to our Grandfather. Grandfather left China in 1916. At that time, the Yaus lived in LookGaLi. Grandfather saved enough money to build a new house in JungWoLi in 1921. The house was renovated in 1990 when Dad and Mom visited (spent USD$2000). They also donated money to connect the water line to JungWoLi. Somewhere along the line, the dirt road in JungWoLi was paved.

Mom said that the Main Room was the sleeping quarter of our Grandmother and our Great-grandmother.

The other picture shows the floor tile. They are approximately 12”x12” terra-cotta tiles and look to be in pretty good condition.

Taishan Part 5: The Yau House Diagram

This is a rough diagram of the Yau House. I wish I had spent more time to check the details. But at the time, I was trying to “escape” from the people who were following me everywhere. I did not even have time to check the back and the outhouse.

The house is really small, only one story. The Main Room is about 12x15. It’s hard to imagine how Dad, Mom, Sue and I all fit into Bedroom 1, and all Uncle’s (Ah Bak) family in Bedroom 2. In the Main Room, there is a set of (I think concrete) stairs that goes up to the roof. The roof is enclosed with a 3-foot brick surround.

Taishan Part 4: The Yau House Hongie

The front of the house is known as hongie in Taishanese. There is a pond in front of JungWoLi. Near it are piles of twigs (for burning?) and free-range chicken.

Taishan Part 3: The Yau House

A village consists of several Li's. Li means Lane in Taishanese. NaiTai Village has about 3 Li's. The Yau house is in JungWoLi.

There are 8-10 houses built in a row in JungWoLi . There is no address; each house is identified only as house number 1, number 2, etc. The Yau house is the 3rd house from the left.

The main entrance of each house is located on the left side. The front of the house is known as hongie in Taishanese. There is a pond in front of JungWoLi. Near it are piles of twigs (for burning?) and free-range chicken.

Taishan Part 2: Where is Taicheng located?

Taicheng is the major city of Taishan that can be reached from Hong Kong by sea or by bus. The travel was easier than I had envisioned. We chose traveling by bus. The ride was 40 minutes from the Kowloon bus station to Shenzhen, the border of China. At the border, everyone must get off with all luggages to first leave Hong Kong customs, and then go through custom into China. The customs process was about 30 minutes for us. It was then about a 3-hour drive to Taicheng. After that, it was local transportation to NarTai Village.

The purple line on the map shows our travel route. From Hong Kong, we went through Shenzhen, then wrapped around to Jungshan, Jiangmen, and then Taishan. Notice Dongguan – that’s where Tony works. Dongguan is about 56 miles from Shenzhen. Travel within major China cities is very easy and readily accessible by train.

Also notice Guangzhou where the Yau Family lived for a few years in the 50s while waiting for entry into Hong Kong. We lived in Hong Kong until July 1962 when we were granted entry into the U.S.

More to come... Watch for Taishan Part 3.

Taishan Part 1: Traveling to NarTai

Since leaving at the age of 3, I finally had the opportunity to visit my ancestral home - Taishan, in the district of Jiangmen 江門市, province of Guangdong, China. After a 4-1/2 hour bus ride direct from Hong Kong, we arrived Taicheng 台城镇, the main city of Taishan. The round trip bus fare was only HD$200 (USD$26). We hired a private van through the hotel for 4 hours at a fee of 250 CNY* (USD$37) and headed for NarTai Village 那泰鄉.

From Taicheng, the ride to the village was approximately 30 minutes. From the main road, we turned right onto the long road that leads to NarTai Village (picture 1). The village consists of several lanes (pronounced li in Taishanese); each li has a row of houses. The Li’s have no signs. We asked in the Li on the right and was directed to the Li on the left, our destination of JungWoLi which has a pond in the front (picture 2). The Yau house is 3rd one-story house from the left.

The Yau house is empty and is “managed” by JungTai, a nephew of GnokGuen玉觀. We found Gnay Sum (Aunt Gnay) in the 2nd house who called JungTai to unlock the Yau house. JungTai and his brother, JungWah live in a nearby village; both arrived shortly to unlock the Yau house.

*CNY = China Yuan Reminbi