Day 5 - Half a Day in Lianghua (梁化) Part 1. 5/11/2011 Wed

This was the most eventful & exciting day by far on this trip. We got up early to finish some last minute packing and a quick breakfast of congee, pickled veggie and some sort of pan fried dumplings followed by more tea. I got so attached to that earthen tea pot the last few days and felt a little sad while my cousin poured me once last trickle of the brown liquid.

My cousin Tao Sun (the retired doctor) showed up at 7:30 AM with his driver Ming to pick us up for a trip to Lianghua. Tao Sun and his driver had been staying in town at an air-conditioned hotel. Even though we were suffering from constant sweating and high humidity at the village house, I would not trade the experience with any modern comfort (except for the sit-down toilet).

Other relatives and neighbors had been showing up since 6:30 to bid us farewell. At departure time, Tao Tim, the older brother, plus his entire family were walking us to the car. Gill Gill was there to carry our luggage. Many people came out looking at the mini parade from Tao Tim’s house to the village center where Ming parked his car, a 4 door KIA sedan. We said a short but emotional good bye and one last group picture for the memory (but no firecrackers). Tao Tim made me promise to come back again with my family from the U.S. before he let me get into the KIA. Ming maneuvered expertly through a score of motorized scooters, bicycles, school kids on the village back road with the air conditioning at full blast. We got on the Highway in 5 minutes and headed for Lianghua some 260 km away.

Lianghua (梁化), a small township lies in some of the most fertile soil in the Guangdong Province, is a seat of a fourth-order administrative division in Guangdong Sheng, China. Lianghua's location is 23° 6' 45.84" north latitude, 114° 40' 18.94" east longitude. Lianghua has an average elevation of about 23 meters above sea level.

It is the place where my family began almost 80 years ago. My grandfather born in Xingning but like many of his peers, left and looked for work somewhere else. He went to Lianghua, married my grandmother and amassed a small fortune. He bought hundreds of acres of farmland, built a farm house (demolished), and a three-story twin building to start a business (still standing) at the town’s main street , then died and was buried there. My dad and all my 5 brothers (except one) and 3 sisters were born there. I was told countless stories by my family how they grew up in this little village tucked away in the southeast corner of the province.

One of the many goals for this trip was to visit my grandfather’s grave, get inside the twin building (been locked up for 10 years by some not-so-honest relatives), locate the site of the demolished farmhouse, and if I still have time find the elementary school which all my family had attended and my dad was once a teacher. My sister Amy also let one of her friends in Sacramento talk her into acting as a courier to bring money to a relative who lived nearby Lianghua. We knew we had a full day ahead of us as Tao Sun also invited us to go back to Guangzhou (Canton) at the end of the day which is another 3 hours away.

The trip was fast and uneventful other than a phone call from Amy’s friend’s relatives who was already waiting impatiently at Lianghua in front of Chun Shan Restaurant for his small fortune (supposedly) stashed away in Amy’s money pouch. But when Amy was looking for the stack of paper bills after the phone call, it was not there. She tried to whisper in my ear of the mishaps so not to alert anyone in the car. I tried to ask her in detail what she had done with the money before we left Tao Tim’s house. She told me she wrapped the money separately in a paper towel away from her own money before she put it into her money pouch that she wore around her waist. I said, “Did you use the same paper towels given to us by those lovely flight attendants from Cathay Pacific during my fateful plane ride from SFO.” She said yes. So I turned around and reached for the tote bag where we kept water and knick knacks and PAPER TOWEL. Amy looked inside the bag and her face instantly turned red with embarrassment when she found the stash of money. I told her I will hold the money for her until we get to Lianghua and I put it into my fanny pack.

We got off the main highway two hours later and headed into town relying on the GPS that Ming had programmed. Amy and Chi Keung were confused and kept second guessing the directions suggested by the GPS. Things got worse when the road that supposed to lead into town became a dirt road and the ride became very bumpy. The traffic was getting less with an occasional motor scooter coming at us at the opposite direction. The riders all had helmets and face masks to keep away from the dirt. Amy was getting very nervous but tried to keep her calm as not to distract Ming’s driving. The little KIA nudged ever so slowly forward and Ming negotiated expertly around all the huge pot holes. Despite the uncomfortable ride, the GPS kept counting down the distance to town. We all let out a big sigh of relief when we hit the paved road again and the town was in sight. We later found out the GPS led us to the shortest route but if we had stayed on the highway for another exit, we would have spared all the excitement.

Amy came back alive and tried to give directions to Ming as where we needed to go even though it had been 22 years since her last visit. Chi Keung kept contradicting her command as he comes and visits at least twice a year and had kept up with all the changes in the town center which consisted of only 4 blocks square. I finally took sides with Chi Keung and told her to be quiet. Chi Keung led us to a store front and asked Ming to stop the car. Both Amy and Chi Keung opened the car door and the hot and humid outside air immediately rushed onto our face. They jumped out of the car and this middle age chubby store owner came out and happily greeted both of them. His name was On Punk (陳岸鵬) one of Amy’s good (deceased) friend’s son. Amy asked where Chun Shan Restaurant was and On Punk said there was no such place in town. We called Amy’s friend’s relatives on his cell phone and before I could catch my breath, I saw Amy took off hastily with On Punk and Chi Keung down the main street.

I realized they probably were going to look for the soon-to-be rich man in a new location and I immediately took chase so they wouldn’t be out of my sight as I was still holding the cash. I signaled my cousin Tao Sun to have Ming turn the car around in this very narrow main street full of street vendors, shoppers, bicycles and scooters. It was like in a Turkish bazaar except the people were different. Ming was very cool and calm and managed to drive ahead among this mass of humanity and turned the corner and disappeared with Amy. I finally caught up to where they disappeared at the corner and saw the little KIA stopped at the end of the block. I ran and chased just to keep up and luckily the KIA was not moving. I caught my breath when I got to the end of the block and looked for Amy but she was no where to be found. I knocked on the window of the KIA and asked if Ming knew where Amy was. And cool Ming just smiled and pointed toward a big van and I saw Amy and Chi Keung and On Punk with this thin middle aged man talking. Amy was busily searching her money pouch for the cash and I can see huge drops of sweat pouring down her face and panic started again when she cannot produce the stash. Before my sister started to hyperventilate, I swiftly un-wrapped the paper towel and handed over the cash to the man and the paper towel for Amy to wipe her face. The face of my 70 years old sister was all red and she tried to let out a smile. I told her to stand next to the cash ladened man and took a picture for the record to her friend back home. I truly hope we delivered the loot to the right person. I then rushed Amy back to the KIA and insisted she drink a whole bottle of water and not to talk. Tao Sun, the doctor was also keeping a watchful eye on her for any sight of heat stroke. We spent almost 40 minutes in Lianghua and I had not even started my family search and we were already exhausted.