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Published: November 6th 2018
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Where Are All The Bikes?
Mom and Dad have been saying "last time we were here, there were only one or two cars and lots of bikes." Now there are only one or two bikes and lots of cars. Like these ones here in the Hilton parking lot. Today was mostly spent traveling and eating. I was exhausted and tried to sleep for most of the day on the bus, but my parents sat in the row behind me and every time I’d start to fall asleep, one of them would poke me. Mom was trying to translate Chinese to English, and was texting Olivia in New York and then trying to get me to read it, and Dad kept poking me on the head every time we passed a Starbucks or KFC’s or McDonald’s (and there’s a lot). Then Mom started poking me to see if was sleeping, then to ask if I was sleeping. I had just fallen asleep again when Dad hit me in the eye with a can of Chicken Wing flavored Pringles. I was a little grumpy at this point, so I turned around and said “both of you need to entertain yourselves for the next few hours. Don’t make me come back there. I’ll turn this bus around if I have to.” Pretty much a direct Mama O quote from my childhood. Dad replied with, “I worry about you.” I worry about me too. My parents are trying to kill me with a
View From The Top
View from the top of the Hilton hotel, on the 60th floor. can of Pringles.
We stopped for dim sum at lunch, then quickly ran through the Dr. Sun Yet Sen museum. Museums are not my favorite as we all know. Dr. Sun Yet Sen is considered to be the founding father of the Republic of China. This area of Zhongshan (where we are now) is named after him. I actually am very interested in his history, because he’s very important to modern day China, but didn’t feel like I could understand everything in a quick 45 minute museum trip, so I walked through quickly and then waited for Mama O. From what I understand (I was only half listening when Mom gave me a brief history), he basically overthrew the Chinese government by raising money from overseas Chinese (largely from San Francisco). I was only half listening, so this information could be half wrong. Maybe fact check this or ask Mama O for details.
On the move again, we eventually rolled up to the Hilton, where we’re spending the next 3 nights, to find a Lamborghini. There’s a lot of money here in China now. I was in this province 6 years ago and it’s unrecognizable. My parents can’t
Something's fishy about this dish.
I couldn't eat it, but Mama O loved this dish. She and my dad told the story of the last time they ate fish in China. Long story short, Mama O had tweezers halfway down her throat to remove a rogue bone. go more than 20 minutes without saying, “this is so different than when we were here in the ‘80’s!” To be fair, the air is way less polluted than it was even 6 years ago, everyone has cell phones, reception is way better than in the US, China is mostly cashless (as is Europe, it’s just the US that’s behind the times), and you can tell that in a few years, China could very well be much more modern than the US. It’s terrifying and exciting at the same time. I’ll leave it at that, because otherwise I’ll turn political and then everyone will stop reading my blogs. I have a lot of feelings about US politics right now. Please go vote today if you haven’t already.
We arrived late to the hotel, so we had dinner inside. All of us fit around one huge table with a gigantic lazy susan. Afterwards, Mamie, Gen, Mom, Dad, and I hit the hotel bar to strategize for tomorrow. It’s finally our turn to see both my grandmother’s and grandfather’s villages tomorrow. Stress levels are high, and I think everyone is hoping to get something different from the experience tomorrow. Mamie is
QR Codes
This woman was selling ice cream for 5 kuai (less than $1 USD). Notice the QR code on her bag--it's for the Chinese version of Venmo. You scan it and send her 5 kuai, then show her proof you paid. Even street vendors are going cashless! hoping to see who is left in my grandfather’s village that knows us. Gen is hoping to understand her genealogy and meet more Owyeungs. Dad wants to see the family house. Dad came to the village back in the 90’s and saw the house then, but since then my parents have paid to remodel the house and he’s curious to see what it looks like now. Mom wants to walk between the two villages to understand what it was like for my grandmother when my grandfather was in the US without her for 10 years. And I want to hike into the mountains where my grandmother spent World War 2 hiding from the Japanese soldiers who occupied this part of China. Every day they’d go hide out in the mountains from the Japanese, then at night sneak back into the village, before doing it again the next day. Because my grandmother was already married (at 16 by the way), she was in my grandfather’s village living with his parents while he was in the US. He wasn’t able to return to China at all during the war, and they had very little (if any) communication per Mamie. I can’t imagine
doing something like that, but I’d like to see the mountains. Tomorrow will be hectic but I’m looking forward to it.
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Kuan Yin
Karen Johnson
Dr. Sun
I've run into Dr Sun all over the place, San Francisco, Singapore...He is also remember for cutting off his queue which signified his rebellion against the Qing Dynasty.