123. HAKKA COUNTY

I landed in Jieyang Airport in Shantou, ancestral home of the Teochews. The huge province of Guangdong has large numbers of Teochews, Cantonese and Hakka dialect groups, each originating from their own counties.

This trip was to check out the home county of the Hakka members of my group, covering Meizhou, Yong Ding and Dapu which borders neighbouring Fujian province...

One word says it all - 'woh' or I - at the entrance to the Hakka Museum in Meizhou (below, the old annexe) which showcases proudly its minority Hakka people and their achievements, the battles they've fought in and all the rest of its propaganda.

This cliff walk, up and around the walkway took an hour, but what spectacular scenery. Meizhou is truly still unspoilt with few overseas tourists, chiefly local visitors. At most stops, we were the only group...

In the background (below) highrise apartments - would this old traditional house still be here next year? I imagine ninjas or Jet Li jumping from rooftop to rooftop...

 

 

In the lush green surroundings of this large tea plantation there were a good many old houses. I had the chance to explore the corridors and rooms. In the old days, folks were housed in large communes where they shared facilities and grew their own food. Today, the rooms are rented out to migrant workers from out of town...
I was able to satisfy my fix for old buildings...

In this Museum for overseas Chinese and dedicated especially to the Hakka diaspora, there is this room featuring their best known Singapore 'son' and his achievements, with a Merlion (above)...and interesting places in Singapore...

This is the ancestral home of Singapore's Senior Statesman Lee Kuan Yew, highly respected by the Chinese. The tourism people in this small town have turned the house into a museum as they regard him as a favourite son whose ancestors came from their town. The Lee family from Singapore have never visited for they didn't want to endorse the place and their visit used for tourism marketing purpose. They gave permission to use their photos...
The house is not large, it's homey and comfortable for a family of 5. 

 

This huge private development comprise some really 'obiang' buildings which had Italian, Mediterranean, LA style influences rolled into one. The apartments here target rich locals and overseas Chinese. The touristy sites are built into the hillsides resembling some ancient sites from elsewhere, in time to come, it will look suitably aged and than be marketed as 'old' heritage buildings...

The cars out on the streets are large luxury models - the Chinese have really arrived...and within such a short period of time...speak volumes...

 

The remains of a large private residence left to rot. The family made it in Malaysia, constructed this lovely status symbol now lies forlorn....

This trip to Meizhou, Yong Ding and Dabu, gave me a glimpse into the lives of the hardworking Hakka people, a minority group. Their diaspora who have made it overseas, many of whom settled in Malaysia and Indonesia, have returned to their ancestral county, some set up businesses as the place is growing fast, others have poured money into properties and tourism projects. 

I'm visiting at a time when there are still a good many hundred year old provincial homes still standing. But I could see many are falling apart or are used as storage for grain while next to it, the nearly rich built a new 'obiang' house...

Our diet consisted of lots of soups from such dried roots and shoots and leaves. I like to think they are safe when I spied this lady - below - sorting out the leaves on the pavement floor, those leaves may have ended up in my soup... :D

This vendor makes a really good soyabean curd with a ginger molasses syrup - and no, I didn't have 3 bowls - love those stools. Each bowl was lined with plastic sheet which allows him to go without washing the bowls as he had no access to water along this pavement

A bamboo water wheel put together without nails. This wonderful plant is used widely for a huge variety of implements including weapons, tiger traps, furniture. In other Asian countries where bamboo groves are plentiful, I see it being used creatively...like the chairs I sat on (above)

 

 

These lovely handpainted tiles are like our Peranakan tiles. They adorn private residences and temples. Sometime in the near future, these will become collector's items - I liked the innocent simplicity of the artist. Growing up in Malaysia, there were a good many old houses and temples built by the old migrant Chinese which had such tiles...many may now be gone..

 

From the back of his truck, this chap operates his jackfruit business...above, an artisan paints on porcelain...

At this High School in Dapu, I sat down with the students to answer their curious questions about Singapore. They were preparing for exams and were still in school at 9pm!

Quaint local 'English' of a region is interesting and I always stop to look - the Chinese are unabashadly kitsch, very 'obiang' - no apologies - I see it in their goods in the shops, in their buildings and I love how they express themselves in their own unique way...

 

Like Singapore in the 70's and 80's, this place is going thru a building boom - the official 'bird' being the crane. In 5 years , this place will not be the same anymore, it will go the same way as other large cities - the innocence I see now will be gone....