Teaching in China: In Tainan w/ Sung Family

Gaoxiong Harbor - Aerial View

June 30 - July 4, 2009

We arrvied in Gaoxiong (Kaoshiung) Tuesday afternoon on June 30. It was a beautiful clear day! Our cousin Waka Sung reserved a room at the Hero's Inn for us. Her husband served in the Taiwan Armed Forces and was privileged to make reservations at a government guest house. We stayed there 3 years ago with Cousin Ming and knew it was a nice place to stay. It was across the street from Ai River, which was a famous sightseeing spot in Gaoxiong.

It was good to see Waka. She looked young for a 73 year-old. She is always happy to see us. She was especially happy to see my sister Ling when she came with us to Taiwan to visit her 3 years ago. Our Aunt Mei Juan told us that Waka was a nanny to Ling when she was born until she was 3 years old. She took such good care of Ling by packing her on her back with a sling everywhere she went. In fact, Aunt Mei Juan said Ling never really touched the ground until she was 3 years old because Waka spoiled her so much.

WenHui, Ah Hua and Waka

We visited my cousin, Jiao Pi and her family in Gaoxiong. Jiao Pi's father is my father's oldest brother. They took us out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Their daughter was visiting from Taipei, and had two old friends with her at the time. So, we had dinner together. Jiao Pi’s husband is a retired doctor. The daughter’s 2 friends are both college professors in Taiwan. We had a good visit and my cousin thanked us for coming to see them and asked us to stay in touch.

The next day, July 1, Waka came to pick us up at the hotel with her nephew, YiRen. We went to YiRen’s house since his mom, Ah Hua lives with him. Ah Hua is Waka’s 2nd older sister and has had two strokes. She seems to be doing well, without any damage from either stroke, except for being a little slow. But, she was as witty as I remember her. YiRen drove us to Tainan, a 45-minute distance, to visit our cousin, Richard Soong who is the Chairman of Board for Chi-MEI, Chilin, Chi-Mei Meseum, Chi-Mei Nursing Home and other foundations. I called his secretary and told her when I was going to be in town and she set up a luncheon appointment for us. We had a happy reunion. Richard looked good. He was under a lot of pressure because of the world-wide economic chaos. But, he was happy to see us and showed us around. We saw in Richard’s office, a certificate of special blessing from the Pope, pictures of him with dignitaries. He was the Ambassador at Large for Taiwan. He has done a lot. They built Chi-Mei Museum about 20 years ago. The following information can be found on the website. www.chimei.com.tw

The Chi-Mei Museum in Tainan, Taiwan is the private museum of the Chi-Mei Industrial Corporation. The collection is divided into five categories: Western Art (including painting, sculpture, decorative arts and period furniture); Musical Instruments; Natural History; Arms and Armor; Antiquities and Artifacts. (Another collection to demonstrate the progress of technology is being formed and designed by experts, with assistance from many famous science museums.)
The Chi Mei Culture Foundation was established over 20 years ago, and the wealth of the collection encompasses different eras and geographical areas. At present, experts recognize the Chi-Mei Museum as one of the most prestigious private collections in the world. Forbes magazine, in its February 1996 article on private collectors in Asia, called Chi-Mei Museum "one of the world's most surprising art collections." The museum is open to the public, free of charge.
For further information on Chi-Mei Industrial Corporation and on Chi-Mei Foundation, please visit www.chimei.com.tw

YiRen, AhHua, Waka, Richard, WenHui and Elwin

I fell in love with the 3D flat screen television on display at Chi-Mei. We had delicious Chi-Mei lunch since Chi-Mei has gone into frozen food business. I read the biography of Richard’s uncle, Hsu Wen Long, who was the brainchild of many of the projects and was very impressed with the creative spirit the family processed. We had a great visit.

After visiting Richard, we went to the nursing home nearby in RenDe 仁德 to visit my aunt, JinZhi 锦治 . She is my father’s 3rd older sister. She is 97 years old. Her health condition has deteriorated the past year and had to be put in a nursery home. Her story is that of a classic Chinese story. She had a daughter, but no son. Her father-in-law decreed that the next grandson had to be given to her (my aunt) and her husband. So, this was how they adopted their son. The son was a fortune teller and his wife a hair dresser. Since the daughter-in-law was busy with the beauty salon, the son became the caretaker. It was difficult for him to take care of his mom, and she was 97, they decided to put her in a home. The caretakers seemed to be very good. There were 4 women in the room and two of them were there for over 18 years. They must have been taking good care of them. I was very happy to see her. Hope she does okay.

Aunt JinZhi 锦治, Elwin, WenHui and Waka

Cousin YenChiang & WenHui

We went back to the hotel after visiting with Aunt JinZhi. Her daughter, my cousin Yen Jiang called to say that she has contacted my 6th aunt’s son, HongZhi and he wanted to take us all out to dinner. We took a cab to cousin Yen Jiang’s house. She was married to a doctor and he has since passed away. She had an accident and her daughter moved her to her house, which was only a couple of blocks away. Her daughter was also married to a doctor. Their house (condo) was beautiful. They had all 4 floors to themselves. Their garage was all tiled. First floor was living room, dining and a very modern kitchen. Second floor was a large guest suite with a bedroom and living room, the next floor was the master bedroom suite, again with the living room and bedroom. Fourth floor was a studio/workshop. They were all decorated with Italian glassware, decorations, etc. It was beautiful. We went to the Japanese Restaurant in a cab to meet cousin HongZhi.

Cousin HongZhi's wife and grandson

Cousin HongZhi and grandson

Cousin HongZhi's son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter

Cousin HongZhi told us he stayed with my parents when he was working on his master’s degree in Taipei. Apparently, my parents took very good care of him and he remembered details well and had fond memories of my parents. The Japanese food was very good. We didn’t have sushi, as Elwin and I didn’t care for them while others had some. Everything was so nice and fancily prepared. We had a good time. At the end, HongZhi promised to pick us up to take us to his mom’s nursing home in KuanMiao, about 30 minutes from Tainan.

Cousin HongZhi is the only son of my 6th aunt and takes good care of his mom. His mom used to be in her own condo in Tainan. He would go over every morning to feed her. Then a caretaker came to take over after breakfast. I heard the maid was stealing everything from her. She even gave her gold bars b/c she was quite wealthy. Anyhow, her son moved her to the Chi Mei facility. It’s quite nice and they seem to take good care of her. He would call the nursing home before he got there. They wheeled her down and he would meet her at the front hall and take her out for a walk. They have a special spot in the garden where HongZhi made her do leg exercises. She had to call out numbers up to 100 in Chinese and Taiwanese, then go backwards in Japanese down to 0. There were other rituals that they did which I thought was fantastic. I would love it if my children would tell me to do all those things. ☺ It was really fun that HongZhi picked us up on Thursday morning to take us to KuanMiao to visit his mother. She didn’t recognize me at first, but when I told her I was the daughter of MeiLien in Japanese, she knew who I was. It was amazing.

HongZhi and his mom, my Aunt

After visiting 6th Aunt, HongZhi took us back to Tainan and we went to meet another cousin. He is cousin Maylin’s brother, the son of my father’s oldest sister. I got to know them a little bit because my parents moved to Taipei during my senior year and I stayed with my aunt for a short time. It was a happy reunion with Cousin HongGi and his wife, AhHua. They are both in their early 80’s now. He just had some operation, and she had high blood pressure. But, they both looked very good. They took us to a fancy Japanese restaurant and had lunch there. They took people to Japanese restaurant to show their love for them because Japanese foods are usually more nutritious without much oil. It was good. Bless Elwin, he ate what was presented and had no complaints.

Shirley (Wen Hui), Ah Hua and Waka Sung