Day 11 - Last Day in Mainland, China 5/17/2011 Tuesday

After got back to Huizhou from Lianghau in the afternoon on May 16^th (Monday), Amy and I had decided to go back to Hong Kong the next day. We both felt being overwhelmed by all the events and people in the last 11 days. Although her friends wanted us to stay for a few more day with more dinners being planned, they understood we needed sometime to decompress alone. My round waist was so happy that we made the decision. I simply needed to slow down on eating all the rich fatty food and caught up with my writing. I called the Metro Park Kowloon Hotel that we stayed before and made reservation for two extra nights. We had a simple light dinner (6 courses) that night at home.

After dinner, Big Dog took me to see an American movie next to the local Walmart’s Store. The movie was Fast and Furious 5. All the audiences were young Chinese kids. They all oohed and aahed over the fast cars and special effects. Of course, they had Chinese subtitles and I have to laugh at some of the translations. On the way to the parking lot after the movie, I tripped and fell and banged my lips on the concrete surface. Big Dog started to blame himself for taking me to the movie. I calmed him down and said it was all my faults as I was not looking where I was going. I also realized I didn’t have my mint leaves with me. Luckily, I did not break any of my front teeth but my upper lip was swollen up and I looked like an aardvark when I checked in front of the mirror after getting home. (Later at the dentist back in Sacramento, I found out I have two hair line fractures on both front teeth).

The next day, after dim sum at the West Lake Hotel Restaurant, Big Dog and Yeun Mae took us to the bus terminal and Yee Kwan stayed behind at the house. He bid us farewell and repeated the same offer (the 501^st time) for me to come and stay with them on my next visit. More green mint leaves were stuffed in the magazine holder at the car door on my side for good luck. It was a heartfelt goodbye. At the bus terminal, Big Dog and his mom carried our luggage all the way to the bus and we said an emotional goodbye. Big Dog especially, said he really hated to see me go. And I told him we have forged a good friendship in the last short three days. We thanked our hosts and boarded the bus.

Amy and I felt so relieved and relaxed during the 3 hours bus ride to Hong Kong. Although it was a bit of a hassle changing bus at the border and going through Immigrations. We were really happy about our trip, in search of the family history, was coming to an end. Before this trip and since I was born (in Hong Kong), I always felt like an outsider among my family whenever they recounted stories about their past in Xingning, Lianghua and Huizhou, Toll Shah Alley, the West Lake, the Farm House, the twin building stores, the lychee tree, the streams and brooks and the school they went to. I finally got to see what all these places looked like even though it took me 58 years.

None of these, of course, would have been possible without my sister Amy’s unrelenting effort in planning and connecting with all the relatives and friends. Her guidance and knowledge and great memories were most valuable on this trip. My brothers Alex, T.K., Pete and my nephew Johnny at home also gave us money to help out for the trip. My nephew Patrick also gave Amy and I, Li See (Lucky Money) for a good send-off. Their support were most appreciative, not only for their financial help, but for their acknowledgement on how important it is for me to make the connection with our family’s past and pass it on to the following generations of our family.

I felt like a heavyweight fighter at the end of 11 rounds of boxing and came out a champion. For I have gained so much insight (not to mention the weight around my waist) about my family’s past in both sights and sounds. Made connections with many good kindred spirits and a few lost souls on this trip. Learned more about my people the “Hakka people” and how they survived and thrived through hard work and tight kinship. For I have learned all Xingning people, no matter where they found each other in any part of the globe, always bond together the minute they recognized each other’s accent.

We arrived in Hong Kong and checked into our hotel and off loaded our luggage. I began to feel like a new man, not because the room was air-conditioned, not because the bathroom had sit-down toilet and warm shower and towels, not because the locals all speak Cantonese.....I felt like a new man all because I am no longer an OUTSIDER among my family.