Day 9 - Finding Toll Shah Alley (圖沙巷) 5/15/2011 Sunday

The next day after an early dim sum breakfast at the West Lake Hotel restaurant, Amy and I with the help of the Yee Kwan’s youngest sister set off to find the house where my brother Pete was born some 62 years ago. Amy remembered the street was called Toll Shah Alley. We were told that alley was still existed, unchanged after all these years. We walked along the bank of the West Lake while admiring the peaceful and tranquil setting. There were street vendors along the bank selling joss sticks and candles for worshipers to the nearby temples. Elderly people gathered under willow trees playing Mahh Jongg and Chinese chess. Young lovers sitting along the bank and gaze each other while holding hands. After 20 minutes, we got off the lake side and went into a narrow side street which led into a main thoroughfare with shops and traffic. It was quite noisy, enough to drown off Yee Kwan’s sister’s constant bombardment about my life.

We walked along the main street for about another 10 minutes and asked some shopkeeper where Toll Shah Alley was and he pointed to this narrow alley half a block from his shop. One would have easily missed this narrow alley which was only wide enough for an American football player to go through. At the entrance, it immediately sloped down with 10 stone steps and the entire alley would hide from the street above. With Amy leading the way, I followed with great excitement and anticipation while clicking away with my Nikon. We walked the entire length of this narrow alley which lined with ancient Chinese single level houses on both side. But, Amy could not recognize which house she stayed in. She was only 7 years old then. People from some of the houses came out and started to stare at us pacing up and down the alley.

Finally, Amy stopped and asked this lady with a friendly face if she remember the Lee family that used to live around there. The lady said she actually knew that family which was two doors down from hers. Amy said we lived next door to the Lees while my Dad was working for the county government in Huizhou. So we counted three houses down from the friendly lady’s and BINGO, Amy found the house. The front door was partially open and the friendly lady said we can go in as she knew the tenants. Amy took a bold step inside and confirmed the laid out after she saw the small courtyard. There were small rooms on both side of the courtyard and a small area for cooking and washing with another larger room at the back from the courtyard. I could just see how my Mom would be able to raise 6 kids while pregnant with Pete in such a small confinement. For she was a remarkable woman.

I took more pictures and Amy further recognized the raised stone ledge outside the house which was about 4 feet above the rest of the alley. She told me one time during a heavy downpour and the low area of the alley was flooded and my Dad would not able to wade through the water. All the kids were standing on the raised stone ledge and called out to him. Amy was quite remarkable with her memory and how she can recount those details was beyond me. We thanked the good lady and left that memorable alley as I reluctantly crossed-off another item off my to-do list.

After finding my Brother Pete’s birthplace at Toll Shah Alley, we were picked up by Yee Kwan’s nephew in his brand new BMW 523i at the main thoroughfare. His nephew, a good looking young man owned a successful clothing business had just become a father few weeks ago. His mother Ah Quan (亞群), a good friend of Amy is the oldest sister of Yee Kwan, who also living with the new parents and the new baby. She originally wanted us to go to their house for lunch and a visit but due to the objection of Yeun Mae, the oldest sister had arranged for her son to host a lunch in a restaurant instead.

The reason for Yeun Mae’s objection was, get a load of this, she believed since Amy and I were travelers from a long distant and since Ah Quan’s son just had a new born baby in the house, the two events might crash and will bring bad luck to each other. i.e. Amy & I and the new family. Yeun Mae, at my first arrival, also gave me some mint-like green leaves she grew in her side yard to put into my backpack and luggage for good luck and to warn-off the evil spirits. Well, at least we don’t have to set off firecrackers at every turn. Such superstition was still running rampant in China.

Yee Kwan and Yeun Mae also had two sons and a daughter. The two sons were named Kwok Choi (陳國才)and Kwok Fai (陳國輝) but both nicknamed Big Dog and Little Dog, respectively, while they were growing up. This practice was very common in old China when child mortality rate was very high and by giving a child non-human name, the evil spirit will overlook harming the child. So there are still millions of Chinese named cats and dogs and goldfishes running around in every city. I never got to ask what the daughter’s name was. Anyway, Big Dog and Little Dog took a good liking to me and were fascinated with my life growing up in the U.S. They followed me every where and we were fast becoming good buddies. I felt I had adopted two new pets in the last three days in Huizhou.

Big Dog owned couple internet cafes and has an Isuzu sedan. I asked if he could give me a ride to Lianghua on Monday, May 16^th, for I still have unfinished business over there. Big Dog grew up in Lianghua and knew the area. Amy at the get go objected my revisit but after my persistent persuasion and assurance from Big Dog and his dad Yee Kwan that it will be alright as long as I took off the gold chain I wore around my neck so not to attract thugs. Big Dog also said he knew how to bypass the bumper road to Lianghua and it would only took an extra 10 km. Yee Kwan, still had family in Lianghua, also agreed to come with us and of course, Amy will come along as well. So the scene was set for my second visit to my family’s old home town.