住宅与花园

My younger brothers and I used to chase one another across the lush lawn, sometimes playing football with abandon, sometimes swinging our badminton rackets. Back then, the garden was not enclosed by high, solid walls. Low bamboo fences separated it from its surroundings, open and simple.

Huaqiao Xincun was full of fruit trees and beautiful houses. On my way to school I often saw those trees, and sometimes could not resist picking fruit to taste. Many amusing things happened along the way.

In 1958, my mother, another elder sister and my nephew, then only eight and a half, travelled back with us by ship. After roughly ten days we entered through the Luohu crossing in Shenzhen and reached Guangzhou, where we rented a home on Aiguo Road.

During the summer holidays, the school organised study groups in selected classmates’ homes. In the spirit of Lei Feng, pupils often helped neighbours weed their gardens, expressing friendship and a willingness to work. Returned overseas Chinese families also frequently exchanged food and culture, sharing snacks from the countries where they had lived, including Southeast Asia and North America.

Huaqiao Xincun holds almost all my memories of my grandmother. I lived here from childhood until I went abroad with my parents. The present house was rebuilt in 1997; the back courtyard of the old house was where I used to live.

One night at three in the morning, I suddenly heard my grandmother practising her voice in her room and wondered why. The next day I asked her. She told me that reading the script had filled her mind with thoughts, making it hard to sleep, so she sang to relax.

When we moved in in 1956, the surroundings were peaceful and particularly suitable for artistic work, so we stayed for decades. My father liked growing flowers and plants, and often tended them in the courtyard when he was not working.

Today, the lively fences have been replaced by brick walls two metres high, making it harder for neighbours to chat across them. It is a striking contrast with the past: residents once leaned against bamboo fences to talk, whereas high walls now quietly reduce everyday interaction.