This was more meaningful than any sightseeing we would’ve done ourselves—to be with grandma. To spend one day that unravels decades of living memories—that first hotpot lunch lasting 3 hours and 1 bottle of baijiu, where I’ve never seen her that chirpy and happy, retelling (with grand-uncle’s help recalling/straightening a few details in her memories) the story of her life. Really. From how she grew up in a little village in Shandong and how brilliant she was as a young girl, intelligent, artistic, determined, beautiful, bright (she could sing, play instruments, make crafts), to how she got married and trusted in my grandfather to uproot her life and move so far away (at that time, going up north to Dongbei was as out there and challenging for them as my parents immigrating to Canada)! How she became a teacher, a director, and a 核心 core for her family and the entire local community.

There were also the sheep crossings. Precious. The yaks napping on street. Precious. The school kids getting bubble tea at lunch break. Adorable. The monks on their phones watching funny videos. Badass. That one enigmatic monk at Labrang monestary who was our tour guide but took us (almost hostage) on a wild philosophical ride of deep rhetorical, existencial questions. Ah, his cute, slightly sarcastic chuckles, the lightness and seriousness of everything that he said, the aura that he suspended us in— what an bizarre, curious journey.

It’s a lot. To say the least. Even for me, a drifting free-spirited dandelion seed - resilient, wandering, fiercely independent - Even for me it was more than overwhelming. 

It was surreal, the realness of it all. That this city of my birthplace, printed on my passport, really exists. That my blood relatives-aunts, uncles, grand uncles, came from all corners of the country to support me. That I am a part of such a long, expansive lineage of people, places, stories, customs. That all these people - remember and adore me.

It was some kind of time warp. Time travel. All of this. Space, memories, expanding, collapsing. Coming together. Beginning, restarting. Blessed. Honoured. 

Thank you all. 

For reminding me. I am made of more than I can ever fathom. 

Stories, land, blood, people.
Love. Known, unknown. 

Infinite.

Hunan, Lixian, Old Home. Thank you, I will be back. It’s important. It’s necessary. To keep these memories in our hearts, to visit in person, to ‘look’, to share a meal, to remember, to give and to receive.

Thank you.

通通

7 days, 1 extraordinary city.

We were entranced (shocked? dazed?) from the moment we landed - on the bus from the airport into the city, crossing bridges from island to island, barely able to soak in everything this completely new universe has to offer; on the trek over beautiful pedestrian walkway to our hotel; right to the first rambunctious/hot/humid dinner we had, squeezed into a corner table shared with 2 other couples, barely able to fit all our hot-pots and claypots and clams and pork rib broth and giant Blue Girl beers. It was an experience. To say the least.

Hello, Hong Kong. What a welcome.