Day 4 - Chenghai

Another much awaited day had come..... this time was a visit to my maternal grandfather's home before he migrated to Malaysia.

See both the pictures below.

Now, we knew what to expect for breakfast, so there was no surprise anymore. So, we could not wait but headed to the town where my maternal grandfather came from straight after breakfast. It is a town called Chenghai, not too far from Shantou. In fact, it took us not more than 30 minutes to reach. Again, a relative, my mother's nephew who lives there came to lead the way.

When we arrived, we were greeted by people from the neighbourhood. (see picture below) The neighbours must be very surprised to see a group of 19 people visiting their small village.

Just round the corner where our bus dropped us, we came to our uncle's house. Well, this was not too difficult comparing to visiting my paternal grandfather's house the day before. We were relieved we did not need to walk much.

We were greeted by my uncle, my mother's cousin, and his wife. He is my mother's father's brother's son (first one from the right at the forefront in the picture below). We took a few minutes to go through another lesson of linking relatives. We were amazed that my Uncle could remember my mother's and her sisters' names eventhough it was just mentioned to him in letters when my mother and her sisters got married. Again, we were received with warmth and love. Like my father's relatives, we felt instantly connected with my mother's as well.

After much excitement of introducing everyone, my uncle led the way to where my grandfather's house was. We were surprised that it was just at the back of his house. See picture below, this is the path next to my uncle's house leading to my grandfather's house.

Ah ha! See below, this is my maternal grandfather's house. The main door is not too big, I believe it was to keep warmth in the house when the weather was cold. This house is also not more than 25 sq meter but we were told that 3 families lived in it before. We could not imagine how the members were packed in such a small place. We have to queue and take turn to go in.

Everyone was so excited and happy to see the house. Quickly and again, we lined ourselves up to take photos in front of the house. See below..

Below shows the interior of the house. There is no one living in there now but my uncle locked it up and therefore it could be preserved as long as possible.

See below, is one of the roof tiles missing or is it intentional to let the light in?

There seem to be quite a great amount of hay in the house (see below). Looks like it has become someone's 'store room'.

There is a little window that permits light to come in (see below). There is no electric and the little window helps to brighten up during the day. Too many window or too big window will create too much draught in cold nights. It was hard to imagine how and where my grandfather would sleep last time. After a nice orientation around my maternal grandfather's old house, we walked a few blocks and round a few corners and came to a bigger and newer house. This one belongs to my uncle's son who lived there. (see below). The children were intrigued to see a big drain just next to the house. They built 2 steps down the drain , so that they could go down to collect some water if needed. But according to my uncle, the water was much polluted by the factories nearby and also by the waste from the ducks which were reared at the back of most homes.

See the ducks below ....

A walk round the back, we came to a lake... it is called Chao Che (Grass Lake) the name of the village! My mother's brother always wonder why the address is directed to a lake when he sent letter to his cousin, and now he understand that it is really the name of the lake marking the village.

Next, our relatives took us to a vegetable farm nearby. There was a temple there where my mother's brother performed his anchestorship prayers. The rest of us were more interested in the vegetable farm.

Look at the fresh vegetables below ..

Kailan (close-up) below ..

Sweet corn harvesting below ...

It is indeed educational for the city kids (below)....

I asked the farmer below why didn't he use a cow to help him. He laughed at my ignorant question. He said, it would not be economical for such a small piece of land!

The youngest and best dressed farmer at work .. see below

The weakest farmers at work ... see below..

After the 'educational tour' to the farm, we headed back to Cousin's house again for a rest.. Same again, we were treated to the famous Teochew Kungfu Cha/Teochew Kang Hu Teh...see below.

The children were treated to sugar canes. Hey, no one will juiced for you, use your own teeth... It is indeed a geat experience for the city kids who usually only drink sugar cane juice from the can off the shelf. (see below)

See below, looks like someone gave up and threw one away that was still juicy..

Below shows a type of Teochew 'kueh' made by Auntie. It was just delicious. She made so many of them that we were asked to bring some home with us. How nice she is!! Our relatives are all so hospitable. We want to learn to be like them.

What do you think the white plain rice porridge is doing below? Huh, my brother got an upset stomach and settled to drink the porridge while the rest of us feasted on all the delicious food including the famous braised goose in Shantou. We went to a restaurant and he was sleeping in Cousin's house. We didn't even take a picture of the famous goose for him, so he vowed to go back again.

In the restaurant, we found something exotic on the menu. See below. Well, we did not order ....

There are a lot of fish as Chenghai is near the sea .... (see below)

Huh, the most hygenic tableware in China ... see below .... we were really amazed. These bowls, cups, saucers and spoons were sterilised.

See below, a special dish... a kind of dumpling that we have never tried before.. I am not sure what is inside. It is supposed to be a specialty.

After a sumptuous meal, it was time to bid farewell. See below. Haha, my brother has also recovered. Why did the upset stomach come at such a wrong timing earlier?

See below. Just opposite the road, someone was selling shoes. What a great way! Who needs a shop to pay fixed cost??!!

Just along the way out, someone was selling balloons and toys.. see below ... no fixed cost again.

Our next mission was to look for my mother's friend who would take us to a mandarin orange farm. Ya, the type of mandarin orange from Swatow that we use for Chinese New Year. My mother's friend is from Shantou but she will go to Malaysia to sell clothes a few times a year. Look below, how big and juicy the oranges are. And yes, this is the first time we witnessed it growing on the tree.

Haha, simply irresistable.....see below

After the orange farm, my mother's friend invited us to her home. It was a valuable experience we would not get easily on other overseas tour we made. By visiting friends' and relatives' home, it gave us an understanding and eye-opening to their way of lives. See below, home of my mother's friend..

At her place, my uncle saw some orchid that my mother's friend wanted to throw away. He asked for permission to let him bring back some to grow in Malaysia. My uncle, my mother's brother is an orchid enthusiast.

Our next destination would be the Shantou Orchid Centre. On the way, we saw some golden grains spilt on one of the two lanes road and the opposite direction as well. What were they? See below ...

We then realised that it was actually not spilt but someone has decided to sun the grains on the public road. Oh, what a culture shock for us! (see below). It stretched out for the whole kilometer/s.

Upon reaching the Orchid Centre, we were more fascinated by a huge table, chair and many stools carved from big trees welcoming us at the reception. The wood is so solid. All of us wanted to lie on the huge chair. It seemed too comfortable to be missed. (see below)

The children are more fascinated by the creature below in an aquarium. The fish looks as if it has an extra brain.

There were so many orchid plants but very little flower. It was quite disappointing as we thought we would see flowers all the way to the end of the horizon! (See below)

We found a few beautiful orchids finally, see pictures below ..

Outside, at the yard of the Orchid Centre, we found a tree which branches formed a special arch. (see below)

And more trees in the yard (below)...

The sun has begun to set as it was almost 5pm (Below)

We were all ready for another sumptuos meal. The driver took us to a porsh restaurant that served fresh seafood, meat and vegetables in individual steamboat. See below, can you recognise the reptile? Well, of course we were not game enough to order the crocodile meat as one of the dishes....

It was a much disappointed meal. The service was extremely poor in this porsh restaurant. The soup was boiling dry but the ingredients were still not there... Then, there was not enough rice. It is strange that such a huge and porsh restaurant could run out on rice which is the most common Chinese staple??! Anyway, we will not go to this restaurant anymore.. the small shops are much better .. (see the little steamboats/hot pots on the table below).. They were drying up!