- 4 Dec 2023 新加坡》佛山 From Singapore to Foshan: Hometown
- 5 Dec 2023 佛山 Foshan: Zumiao
- 6 Dec 2023 佛山 顺德 西樵 Foshan: Shunde, Xiqiao
- 7 Dec 2023 江门 开平 Jiangmen, Kaiping Diaolou
- 8 Dec 2023 佛山 》广州 From Foshan to Guangzhou
- 9 Dec 2023 广州 Guangzhou
- 10 Dec 2023 广州 Guangzhou
- 11 Dec 2023 广州 》新加坡 From Guangzhou to Singapore
PHOTOS of the trip (links)
Hometown
The primary objective of this trip is to return to Hometown, 罗沙村 in 佛山 (广东). It is one of those trips that we go as a family. It's about finding, visiting our roots and re-establishing our relationships with our distant relatives.
Very hospitable people, I must say... personally, I had no contact with them, however, felt at home and it's easy to connect with them because of their warm. Really appreciate their hospitality. It's also a rare opportunity that we got to meet up with all 5 siblings this time. Am impressed with the pride they have - being in the Loh Family. Definitely, that's the greatest takeaway from this trip.
Though it's supposed to be a village, 罗沙村 does not give that very village look and feel that I learnt from textbooks in my school days. Need to change the typical image of how a village looks like - there are poor ones, there are modern ones. Progress made was fast and evident, though it still takes some time for this area of the province to catch up with other parts of Guangdong.
I'm also grateful to the meal treats as well as the help of my distant cousin who drove us around, in particular, to Jiangmen Kaiping to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site. Would not have visited the place without the help 🙏.
Some Takeaways
Apart from accomplishing the primary objective, which is one key takeaway - establishing the relationship with the roots, I got to learn more about the livelihood and attitude to life of the locals, as well as the Chinese Culture.
1. The environment matters when it comes to appreciating one's culture, I think. At least, for me. I was fully attracted to the wushu and lion dance performance at Zumiao. Though I had watched similar performances on TV and live, but the response was different. The strength that each performers demonstrated through their moves were different. Perhaps, because I was watching it from its home ground - though it's a regular performance, my degree of appreciation of the art went up!
2. I love the cheekiness of the Chinese language, which only comes through dialect, sometimes - and we can visualise the expression! We would never see this in Singapore!
3. Language - a fundamental form of culture. Probably because everybody in the society are connected through a common language - the natural mother tongue, which is Cantonese, the dialect (广东话) that is passed down through generations. Hence, even though people come from different areas, there's still a natural closeness when people communicate. Probably, like what's said: 同声同气 - a greater degree when compared to speaking in mandarin (普通话).
This is definitely something that we can't replicate in Singapore as mandarin is not our natural mother tongue, but a partial unifying language to establish understanding among the original dialect groups in the country.
Hope that this cultural element in Guangdong will not lose over time. Indeed, I enjoy listening to the language with some 乡音 - It's an art, somehow... and it risks loss over time.
4. "Relationship" still features very strongly in the society. Grateful the distant relatives are warm and welcome us - which actually they are not obliged to. Their willingness (and being forthcoming) to maintain the relationship that was almost lost at one point of time. Of course, very thankful to brother's effort to re-warm the ties.
Another observation is family ties - respect and obligation that children demonstrated to the elderly. Similarly, also learnt the extent the older generation had worked hard to path the way for their children, to create/ provide opportunities to ensure the next generation leads a much better life than theirs. Not sure if this applies to all families, but it's evident in this big family.
5. Being hardworking is a virtue - and it won't go wrong. Without hard work, opportunities might just come and slip away. This is what I gathered through the colourful stories heard. Putting in hard work and seize the opportunity would definitely paid off.
While, still, I did not get the time to explore the city on my own, it's definitely a very fruitful trip.
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