Week 2: 5.22-5.28 in Cangdong Village and Hong Kong

                                                         – Networking Between Overseas Chinese and Homeland

It is an amazing experience for me to spend a few days in a historical heritage Cangdong Village. Cangdong village, a very old, quiet, beautiful village with around six-hundred years history in Hoiping 開平. According to the lectures by Professor Tan, it is quite difficult to completely preserve all historical products since the rapid economic development of cities. Therefore, I believe, to preserving the heritage of Cangdong village will become a huge process and a formidable challenge. Also, I really appreciate Dr. Tan and Zoe’s work, they are warm-hearted in preserving and conserving Cangdong village with no paid, only because they love this place and want to do something for the village. I learned that to conserving Cangdong village is a kind of development for the village, it is not only retaining the past or resisting change but also about managing the pace of change in the built environment. I think it is a valuable task because it is essential for both overseas Chinese and local people to create and increase their pride and self-identity when they stay in Cangdong village.

Photo: Ai Cake in Cangdong Village, Hoiping

I enjoyed the activities in Cangdong village such as Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting as well as playing the Chinese zither (Guqin古琴). I love practicing Chinese calligraphy because it makes me feel close to my grandfather. My grandfather taught me calligraphy when I was young, and I remember that he always teach me the meaning or stories of sentences or poems of the calligraphy works.

Photo: My Calligraphy work in Cangdong village, Hoiping

Besides the conservation of Cangdong village, one another thing I was interested, is quite different from the western societies, in which is I can always see the boy kids run around the village but seldom see the little girls in the Cangdong village. Therefore, I was thinking about is it because of the Confucian ethical code “male superiority to female” in traditional Chinese culture and society? Are Male more valuable than female in China especially in rural areas? It seems like the village may exist a gender inequality issue if it is in the western society.

In the days that followed, we left from Hoiping and came to Hong Kong. I remember we had come to a special place – The Tung Wah Coffin Home (TWCH). It may be a little scary to go to this place, but it is meaningful for discussing and exploring the Chinese migration. The Tung Wah group of hospitals, the main networking charity, play an important role in connecting Overseas Chinese with their homeland. TWCH provides service of housing coffins and exhumed bones awaiting shipment to the deceased’s birthplaces in the mainland China or interment under local charitable burying grounds. I was a little bit confused about why overseas Chinese made their great effort to migrate abroad, but hope to come back their homeland after they died.

I was so excited for the weekend in Hong Kong because CUHK students had taken me to Saikung 西貢. Saikung 西貢, a very beautiful place away from the urban area, which with lots of small islands and seafood. The water in Saikung 西貢 is very clear and fresh that I can even see the fishes in the water.

Photo: Halt Moon Bay in Saikung 西貢, Hong Kong

Photo: Half Moon Bay in Saikung 西貢, Hong Kong