Tai Shan - Saying Good Bye

The festivities of the big celebration were all done with by the time we returned to the Chin Village from Mom's Village. A light rain had begun and only the residents of the village and a few of us foreign visitors remained.
We had returned for a final dinner with our close relatives.

First there was more "by sin" and firecrackers.

More food was laid out in several of the homes. We gathered in our great uncle's home.

Dad kept wanting to go out to stroll the village.

This is the school in the village he attended as a child.

And the well at the end of the village where mom remembers having to bail water from.

We also visited the home of the "big chief"' from the Chin Family Association in San Francisco who organized part of the affair. He led the other group from the Bay Area which we opted out of. A contractor, he stays in the village when he visits, although his children refuse to do so. They choose t0 stay in the fancy hotels in Tai Shan (like we did). He owns the only western toilet in the village.

The trip to the village brought back a lot of memories for dad. He couldn't get enough of it as he strolled and gazed out at the rice fields.

I doubt that he will make a return visit to the village where he was born, and Ed was almost born.

It's hard to imagine what will become of many of the villages in the future. Most have many vacant buildings and mostly elderly people remaining in them. There are some young families but many of the children opt to move out into the cities when they have the opportunity to. There they can find better jobs and live in high-rise apartment buildings which are sprouting up in the cities, even in Tai Shan.

It was tough getting Dad to leave as he wandered off again after dinner, and everyone else headed for the bus that would take us back to the city of Tai Shan. The family members accompanied us to the edge of the village where we made our good-byes.

We're all glad to have made the visit with Dad and Mom. It's a trip we will never forget, and the celebrations are something we would surely not have an opportunity to experience again.