Mei-Mei's Musings Personal Tales

Personal tales

Nam Hang is the New Territories village in Hong Kong where we were living when we immigrated to Chicago in 1967.
Nam Hang is the New Territories village in Hong Kong where we were living when we immigrated to Chicago in 1967.
Nam Hang is the New Territories village in Hong Kong where we were living when we immigrated to Chicago in 1967.
The school I attended in the New Territories of Hong Kong. This was taken in 1986; the school has been replaced by another.
My classmates at the New Territories school bid me farewell in 1967 when I came to America from Hong Kong. I'm to the left of the teacher, third from the right in the front row.
Hong Kong Polytechnic College used to be HK Technical College, where Dad got his mechanical engineering certificate via night school for three years.
Hong Kong Polytechnic College used to be HK Technical College, where Dad got his mechanical engineering certificate via night school for three years.
In 1987, my father and Uncle Jul visited the former Hong Kong Technical College, where they received their certificates.
Uncle Jul, who went to Hong Kong Technical with my Dad, helped guide us around.
I lived at this address in Hong Kong, now a high rise featuring an English school on the first floor.
I lived at this address in Hong Kong, now a high rise featuring an English school on the first floor.
Our cousins owned a fan factory here.
I lived on the second floor corner unit of this apartment complex in Hong Kong.
This was one of the addresses where we lived in Hong Kong.
The hospital building in Guangzhou where I was born is now a medical center in a large complex.
The hospital building in Guangzhou where I was born is now a medical center in a large complex.
Taking the bus from Hong Kong to Taishan to visit the family villages.
We actually made it into China!
The village in Taishan where my mother grew up, with the community center on the right that we contributed to.
The village in Taishan where my mother grew up, with the community center on the right that we contributed to.
The front door of the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
The house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
The house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
My daughter Regan entertains in the house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
The fairly new addition to the Taishan house, along with air conditioner. This is where my mother grew up, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
One of the bedrooms in the house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
The roof of the house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
Cousin Leurng and his mother toast the occasion. They now living in the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
Cousin Fe has a good laugh. He and his family now live in the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
A favorite among the family now living in the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.
Cousin Gum harvests fresh peanuts from the field at the village in Taishan where my mother grew up.
Fresh peanuts from the field at the village in Taishan where my mother grew up.
Entry way gazebo built by cousin Tom Louie's dad at the Taishan village where my mother grew up.
Mom is listed among the financial supporters to the Taishan village on this plaque.
Cousin Fe shows off their modest machine shop behind the house, drilling holes in pipes that will become part of a desk organizer.
Cousin Fe shows off their modest machine shop behind the house, drilling holes in pipes that will become part of a desk organizer.
The former school in Taishan where Randy and I had a modest scholarship to help provide supplies to the students.
Entry way to the Taishan village where my grandmother and my Uncle Fong grew up.
The Taishan village where my grandmother and my Uncle Fong grew up.
The house my grandmother grew up in Taishan.
The house my grandmother grew up in Taishan.
The house my Uncle Fong grew up in in Taishan
My father's village in Taishan, the poorest of the three we visited.
The house of my dad's family in Taishan
Long neglected, this rice mill was funded by my parents for his nephew and his family.
My dad's village in Taishan.
Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, starting at home honoring the gods, then graveside in Taishan.
Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan.
The grave of my great-grandparents in Taishan.
The grave of my mother's older brother, Jeen Hong, who died at age 7, in Taishan.
Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan.
Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan.
Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan and finishing with thundering firecrackers.
Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast from one grave to another in Taishan.
The grave of my great grand uncle, Tom Louie's relative, in Taishan.
The grave of my grandfather's sister, who passed in 2010, in Taishan.
Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, after which you feast on the feast.
Enjoyed meeting my cousins for the first time. Ah Chui is bottom left, my mother's first cousin, son of my grandfather's sister. He and his family live in the Taishan house my mother grew up in.

Top 10 China highlights

Canton, China Bai San to pay respects to ancestors

Retracing family roots in Hong Kong and southern China

In June of 2016, my daughter and I traveled to Hong Kong and China for a month-long adventure. (See our top highlights.)

The first eight days were an homage to my roots. I was born in Canton, now called Guangzhou, in 1959. When I was two, my mother and I smuggled out of Macau to Hong Kong in a false-bottom boat to join my father. I was 7 when we immigrated to Chicago in 1967, 50 years ago as I write this!

I had been back to Hong Kong once, on assignment with USA Today. But I had never been back to China. My mother declined to go, so my daughter and I were on a mission to flesh out my heritage, armed with fragments of addresses and descriptions in Chinese.

What a fascinating journey of discovery!

In Hong Kong, we went to:

Two places I had lived--one was still intact, and one was a high rise that, ironically, featured the "English Excel School of English" on the first floor.
The sprawling campus of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, formerly the HK Technical College, where Dad got his mechanical engineering certificate after attending classes at night for three years while working and living in a laundry.
Nam Hang, the village in New Territories where we moved because I was sickly in the city and of which I have the clearest memories, including of my dog, Whitey.

In Guangzhou, a glistening metropolis, we found:

The hospital where I was born, now a medical center of a large complex
The house we had lived in, now a bustling retail area

In rural Taishan, we were guided by cousins we met for the first time, and visited:

The village where my father grew up
The village where my grandmother grew up, as well as my Uncle Fong, who later married my aunt and sponsored us to America
The former school where my husband and I had funded scholarships to help buy supplies
The village and house where my mother grew up, built by my great-grandfather in 1935, and now occupied by mom's first cousin and his family

Walking on the roof of mom's house, eating peanuts plucked from the field in front of their village, admiring the community center that we had contributed to, listening to my daughter sing in the living room where my mother grew up--it was all surreal, and vividly real.

The most memorable heritage experience was going to “Bai San” or "honor the mountain." The graveside rituals to pay respects to our ancestors involves providing them with a feast, wealth and good fortune.

I had done this many times in America, carrying a few plastic bags of flowers and snacks. But mom wanted to make sure we did it right back in her homeland.

So, as we trudged through the wild hillside to the grave of my great-grandparents and my mom's older brother, who died as a youth, we were carrying a giant whole roasted pig, geese, chicken, wine, eggs, cakes, paper pictures symbolizing money and cars, and firecrackers.

In the oppressive heat, we kowtowed, poured wine, burned incense, ate some of the food, then lit the firecrackers. In yet another surreal moment, my uncle Ah Chiu used his cell phone to call my uncle in New York so he could be part of the ritual.

Then we packed everything up, and went to two other locations! One was my great-grand uncle's grave; the other my grand aunt's grave, which had not yet been transformed into a cement marker.

Afterward, the pig was carved up and enjoyed as a snack and as part of the feast we hosted for the village on our last day there.

Come back soon, they said. You need to spend more time here. This is your home country.

Personal tales

Nam Hang is the New Territories village in Hong Kong where we were living when we immigrated to Chicago in 1967.

Nam Hang is the New Territories village in Hong Kong where we were living when we immigrated to Chicago in 1967.

Nam Hang is the New Territories village in Hong Kong where we were living when we immigrated to Chicago in 1967.

The school I attended in the New Territories of Hong Kong. This was taken in 1986; the school has been replaced by another.

My classmates at the New Territories school bid me farewell in 1967 when I came to America from Hong Kong. I'm to the left of the teacher, third from the right in the front row.

Hong Kong Polytechnic College used to be HK Technical College, where Dad got his mechanical engineering certificate via night school for three years.

Hong Kong Polytechnic College used to be HK Technical College, where Dad got his mechanical engineering certificate via night school for three years.

In 1987, my father and Uncle Jul visited the former Hong Kong Technical College, where they received their certificates.

Uncle Jul, who went to Hong Kong Technical with my Dad, helped guide us around.

I lived at this address in Hong Kong, now a high rise featuring an English school on the first floor.

I lived at this address in Hong Kong, now a high rise featuring an English school on the first floor.

Our cousins owned a fan factory here.

I lived on the second floor corner unit of this apartment complex in Hong Kong.

This was one of the addresses where we lived in Hong Kong.

The hospital building in Guangzhou where I was born is now a medical center in a large complex.

The hospital building in Guangzhou where I was born is now a medical center in a large complex.

Taking the bus from Hong Kong to Taishan to visit the family villages.

We actually made it into China!

The village in Taishan where my mother grew up, with the community center on the right that we contributed to.

The village in Taishan where my mother grew up, with the community center on the right that we contributed to.

The front door of the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

The house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

The house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

My daughter Regan entertains in the house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

The fairly new addition to the Taishan house, along with air conditioner. This is where my mother grew up, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

One of the bedrooms in the house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

The roof of the house in Taishan my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

Cousin Leurng and his mother toast the occasion. They now living in the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

Cousin Fe has a good laugh. He and his family now live in the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

A favorite among the family now living in the house my mother grew up in, built by my great-grandfather in 1935.

Cousin Gum harvests fresh peanuts from the field at the village in Taishan where my mother grew up.

Fresh peanuts from the field at the village in Taishan where my mother grew up.

Entry way gazebo built by cousin Tom Louie's dad at the Taishan village where my mother grew up.

Mom is listed among the financial supporters to the Taishan village on this plaque.

Cousin Fe shows off their modest machine shop behind the house, drilling holes in pipes that will become part of a desk organizer.

Cousin Fe shows off their modest machine shop behind the house, drilling holes in pipes that will become part of a desk organizer.

The former school in Taishan where Randy and I had a modest scholarship to help provide supplies to the students.

Entry way to the Taishan village where my grandmother and my Uncle Fong grew up.

The Taishan village where my grandmother and my Uncle Fong grew up.

The house my grandmother grew up in Taishan.

The house my grandmother grew up in Taishan.

The house my Uncle Fong grew up in in Taishan

My father's village in Taishan, the poorest of the three we visited.

The house of my dad's family in Taishan

Long neglected, this rice mill was funded by my parents for his nephew and his family.

My dad's village in Taishan.

Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, starting at home honoring the gods, then graveside in Taishan.

Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan.

The grave of my great-grandparents in Taishan.

The grave of my mother's older brother, Jeen Hong, who died at age 7, in Taishan.

Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan.

Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan.

Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast graveside in Taishan and finishing with thundering firecrackers.

Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, transporting a feast from one grave to another in Taishan.

The grave of my great grand uncle, Tom Louie's relative, in Taishan.

The grave of my grandfather's sister, who passed in 2010, in Taishan.

Fascinating experience to go "Bai San" or pay respects to the ancestors, after which you feast on the feast.

Enjoyed meeting my cousins for the first time. Ah Chui is bottom left, my mother's first cousin, son of my grandfather's sister. He and his family live in the Taishan house my mother grew up in.