During the recent school holidays, my family had a private tour to China. It was such a meaningful trip, with family members of 3 generations ( my dad & his 2 brothers plus spouses, my cousin sister & son, my brothers' families, me and my youngest daughter).
My cousin & sister-in-law share the same birth date. We wanted to get 2 sets of candles but was told by the shopkeeper that it was common to use 12 candles in China regardless of age.
Celebrating birthdays far away from home, but with close family members.
Day 2 we visited 鼓浪嶼 Gu Lang Yu 。I like the Piano Musuem the most. It has an impressive collection of antique pianos. Back in the hotel that evening, my dad and uncles told us stories of our grandpa. It was such an unforgettable night!
Day 3 was the main highlight of the trip. We were accompanied by relatives in China to visit our ancestral home in 大埔 (Da Pu). That house was built about 80 years ago for my great grandfather by my grandfather and his brothers who worked in Malaya at that time.
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| A road which was built much later (1992). It was named after one of my grand uncles. |
Another road which was built in 2002. It was named after another of my grand uncle and his son. That grand uncle lived for more than a century and contributed heavily to the development of his homeland.
I could see how happy the 3 brothers were! (It was the first trip for my dad and his eldest brother)
Entering our ancestral's home...It was claimed to be the most beautiful house in that area many yeas ago. The words on the right hand side shows the middle name of 4 generations （初，開，育，秀）. My great grandpa's name is 陳初軔。
A photo with our China relatives (my cousin and his mother).
Stepping into the main hall.
I was so excited to see my great grandparents' photos in the main hall. Those were similar to photos in my childhood home. My great grandparents left China and were reunited with his children in Malaya. He passed away in the foreign land.
Savouring some authentic fruits.
The kids had a great time chasing after the chicks. What do you expect? There's no ipad to entertain them.
WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!!
I wonder what the kids' great great grandpa is going to say if he were still there...
開枝散葉。I'm sure it would be the greatest day of his life :-)
p/s: more photos in my next post!
6 comments:
我家连根都失了，好羡慕你们!
二零零八年我也回去我爸的家乡寻根, 在福建省,永春縣...那儿是永春柑的出產地!
Hi YuinTing, wow! Really great to visit relatives and in China too.
One country I have not been too.
I really enjoyed looking thru the pics, very nice.
I might have problems going to China, no can speak Mandarin, ha ha.
Lee.
夫人，這趟尋根之旅讓我深深感動。它讓我對曾祖父及祖父有了更多的認識。先人離鄉背井，飄洋過海真不容易。當我置身中國祖屋時，我突然想起印度詩人泰戈尔所說的：无论黄昏时树的影子有多长，它总是和树根连在一起。
Hi Eunice, 我可以想像你及父親尋根之旅的滿足及快樂。真的太有意義了！
Hi Uncle Lee. No worries, just get a tour guide who speaks Mandarin and you can visit China! In fact, this was my first trip to China and it was so wonderful. All my family members who joined the trip agree with me that this is the most meaningful trip ever.
I also visited my ancestral home in April 2010 with my dad. It was very meaningful indeed. Its good that your family can go back HOME together. By the way, I am planning to go to Gu Lang Yu including Piano Museum next year!
Hi Joyful.Mum, I remember coming across your blog entry on that! Very meaningful!
Oh ya, I'm sure you will love those antique piano in Gu Lang Yu.
According to my tour guide, the American wanted to set up a place in USA for the owner to display those pianos, and later even offered to buy from him with a whopping amount that's hard to resist. Even so, being patriotic, this man insisted to keep the pianos in China.
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