Mary Jue village (China) 5-10-2010

This is the entrance gate to my mother's village. This is her birthplace, she lived there until she was married to my father, she then moved to my father's (Jue) village and subsequently immigrated to the United States to be with him. As fate would have it, she never returned to her village. My oldest sister, May, visited the village 20 years ago, my other siblings and I have never been to the village until now.

 

This is the front side of the village, most of the homes are abandoned as the families have moved on to bigger opportunities in the bigger cities.

 

This is a large area on the backside of the village, I imagine this large space was used for drying the vegetables, etc.

 

 This sidewalk takes you into the central part of the village, some of these dwellings have been here over a hundred years or more.

 

We found the location of my mom's house, it is now a vacant lot with a few taro plants and a fledgling papaya tree.

 

After my mom left the village, she sent money to have a new home built, however, she never lived in it.

 

This was the home.I would estimate the house was built in the 1940's.

 

 A neighbor came out to speak to us and tell us about the house.

 

Looking down the walkway into the interior of the village. Not much activity was going on as the lure of job opportunities elsewhere have stripped these villages of their inhabitants.

 

 Neighbors home

 

Taro plants have taken over this homesite.

 

The pig pen survives the ages.

 

Momma pigs looks like she going to have a family any moment...

 

Gary and I have our pictures taken with the neighbor ladies and two of the youngsters of the village.

 

 My two daughters, Kristi, Jonee, and Chuck are in the picture with me.

 

Progress and time have taken its toll on this dwelling.

  
 This dwelling has seen it's usefulness.

 This has been an amazing visit to the Mary Jue's (mother's) village, time marches on and the village did its best to keep pace. As evidence showed, it fell badly behind. These are the sights and sounds my mother saw and heard, nevertheless, it was a grand sight for us.