Ever since I developed even a vague awareness of the fact that I was half Chinese, I've known that someday I would travel to China.
Last weekend, I made the ancestral pilgrimage. I spent the weekend reconnecting with my lost culture and history in the heart of the motherland: Yangzhou, the town where my PoPo (grandmother) grew up.
There are no words for how much it meant to me. With every step I walked, I wondered if I tread the same ground my PoPo had traversed decades ago. I'll never know whether I actually did discover her old haunts, but I'd like to think that I did. And either way, I know that she'd be proud of me for trying and for coming here.
I came to Yangzhou in part to look for distant family members. Most of my Chinese family has emigrated to the U.S., but we've lost contact with some of those who have remained in China. I didn't meet any long-lost relatives in Yangzhou, but I'm continuing the search with the help of a Yangzhou community TV station, my limited Chinese skills, and a blue genealogy book containing our family tree.
Last weekend, I made the ancestral pilgrimage. I spent the weekend reconnecting with my lost culture and history in the heart of the motherland: Yangzhou, the town where my PoPo (grandmother) grew up.
There are no words for how much it meant to me. With every step I walked, I wondered if I tread the same ground my PoPo had traversed decades ago. I'll never know whether I actually did discover her old haunts, but I'd like to think that I did. And either way, I know that she'd be proud of me for trying and for coming here.
I came to Yangzhou in part to look for distant family members. Most of my Chinese family has emigrated to the U.S., but we've lost contact with some of those who have remained in China. I didn't meet any long-lost relatives in Yangzhou, but I'm continuing the search with the help of a Yangzhou community TV station, my limited Chinese skills, and a blue genealogy book containing our family tree.
For now, the best thing I could do was to enjoy my day in Yangzhou. Mission accomplished! My friend from Stanford, Sinclair, and I had a great time. It had taken us two train rides (Shanghai to Nanjing on Friday night, then Nanjing to Yangzhou on Saturday morning) to reach Yangzhou, but we still had the energy to cover a lot of ground. In just a daytrip from Nanjing, we saw Ge Gardens, Slender West Lake, Five Pavilion Bridge, and Dongguan Street and tasted many Yangzhou culinary specialties including shizitou (meatballs), tofu shreds, century egg tofu, tangbao (soup-filled dumplings), and Yangzhou fried rice.
Sights!
Eats!
That night we returned to Nanjing. We checked out the street market at Shizitiao, a pedestrian area, and ate a "dinner" that mostly consisted of desserts: "fried" yogurt, tanghulu (candied berries), and stinky tofu. No regrets!
More random things we ate...
At the end of the day, we braved the nasty showers back at the hostel and slept for a nice ten hours in a thirty-person megadorm -- all while managing not to get our phones or other valuables stolen.
Sunday in Nanjing was just as much of a jam-packed success as Saturday had been. We visited Fuzimiao (the Nanjing Confucius Temple), the Nanjing Massacre Memorial, and Xinjiekou. Even though it was extremely heavy and sobering, I felt that the Nanjing Massacre Memorial was especially important to visit, since my PoPo had lived through similar tragedies during the Second-Sino Japanese War.
Between the cultural sites and specialty foods I experienced, this weekend I gained much more understanding of the China that my PoPo came from. I can't wait to see more of this interesting and beautiful country in the weeks to come.
Sunday in Nanjing was just as much of a jam-packed success as Saturday had been. We visited Fuzimiao (the Nanjing Confucius Temple), the Nanjing Massacre Memorial, and Xinjiekou. Even though it was extremely heavy and sobering, I felt that the Nanjing Massacre Memorial was especially important to visit, since my PoPo had lived through similar tragedies during the Second-Sino Japanese War.
Between the cultural sites and specialty foods I experienced, this weekend I gained much more understanding of the China that my PoPo came from. I can't wait to see more of this interesting and beautiful country in the weeks to come.