At the gate in Bangkok airport a few cultural/decibel differences became apparent between Thai and Chinese - the louder voices and the highly audible and gut wrenching guttural croak of airway emptying! I was the only non-(fully)Thai-Chinese and among the 10% of women on the flight.
I may not have got the invitation from the CCP government but I am being received with such warmth and generosity. I'm to call my cousin 'Ah Hia' or big brother. A little tea ceremony at Big Sister's house where they packed me off with 3 huge boxes of
expensive oolong tea and her husband painted a Lao Tsu quote in calligraphy and presented it to me along with a painting of bamboo and orchid:
'To make friends with other person you don't mind which class they are from, rich or poor. What is important is a person's character and their attitude to other people'
FAMILY & FAME IN ZHANGLIN
Day 2 in China and I'm being interviewed by local Shantou TV station at Zhanglin's Huo Shen parade to honour the fire protection lord/god.
My cousin took me to meet my uncle (Su Pak) and aunt that never left China and had to endure the Cultural Revolution. Around 1941-4 his 1st mother (my grandmother) was persecuted by the party and peasants - her thumbs tied with string and lifted by them up a tree and beaten.
During criticising meeting Su Pak had to speak against his mother as she was exploiter of peasants as son of a land owner.
At the time father and brother Su Chin (in Penang) sent money to help. Later in the ancestral home which was bombed by Japanese and taken over by the communists was returned to them because the government wanted to renew foreign relations and they knew my father and rich uncle were overseas.
The 2nd day ended with my first needles in China during a visit to Ah Tao (my cousin's best friend, an acupuncturist in Shantou.
Finally, don't worry about me. I've moved to the 7days inn and have state of the 2 state of the art gas mask in case Huo Shen (fire protection lord) doesn't bless 'waiguo ren' or foreigners!
No comments:
Post a Comment