2001, I accompany my mother, who lives in Australia, to her hometown Shantou/Province Guangdong/China to visit her younger brother after more than 60 years of separation. During transfer in Hongkong, Thomas Verheyen our travel-companion from Germany affiliates.
Arrival in Shantou in the evening. On the first day we relax and visit the city. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Impressive wallstructure in Shantou, hometown of my mother. "Qi Lin" - one of Chinas holy animals, whose task is to bring children to the people (similar to the stork in Germany). - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The theme is designed from numerous handcarved porcelainparts, a thousand year old folk art of the Chaoshan-Chinese (acronym of "Chao"zhou and "Shan"tou). This folk art has spread all over the world, where Chaoshan-Chinese live. Even the kings palaces, tombs and temples in Vietnam follow this technique, for example the tomb of king Khai Dinh. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Seen in the Confucius-temple in Shantou. One of the twelve zodiac signs of the chinese calendar. I adore master Confucius from my youth until today.- Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, My mother is looking forward to the meeting with her younger brother, my uncle. She seems relaxed, but I can feel that she is sad and happy at the same time.
At that time, when my mother was a little girl, the chinese of the south-coast organized, that as many children as possible left China by boat (the only possibility) to go abroad. They should be saved from the bestial japanese soldiers, who killed defenseless civilians and even children. In the end she arrived in the french colony Vietnam, her younger brother was too small for the escape. My grandmother didn't find a place in a boat, and as she didn't want to seperate from the last remaining child, both stayed in china despite the danger. As by a wonder some of the chinese were able to survive in hiding places with their children. Amongst them was my grandmother and my younger uncle. My older uncle, who fled in another boat, was never heard about until today. He was either caught by the japanese or killed by them or he drowned in the sea.
That is why I worry a lot about the upcoming meeting. We prefer to have a calm day before and enjoy the delicate Chaozhou-cooking. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, My mother [middle] meets her younger brother [3rd from right] after 60 years of separation in their hometown Shantou/Guangdong. Me, Chau Tran (Qing Lian) [2nd from right], the other people are my aunt and three cousins. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, My uncle lives in an old district of Shantou in a traditional courtyard-house (typical chinese housing, where buildings with several wings, yards, aisles and a well are assembled behind high walls. Some even have large gardens, etc.. With rich people the courtyard-house can be like a palace and be livingplace for several generations). At the entrance the chinese newyear slogans are still glued to the wall. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A very old picture is hanging on the wall of the guestreception-room. The furniture in the courtyard-house consists of some ancient pieces, which are quite valuable from todays point of view, the other furniture is in an old style or quite simple. My uncle lives very economically, the future of his grandchildren is most important to him. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A well-laid table. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, My uncle has four sons and two daughters. Leftmost on the picture is me, Chau Tran (Qing Lian), right next to me my uncle, then my mother, an aunt, the youngest male cousin, the youngest female cousin, the second cousin and the oldest cousin. The third cousin and the oldest female cousin are not present, they live too far away. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The children of the three cousins have fun eating in the courtyard. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Kong Fu Cha", a famous welcome-tea-ceremony from Chaoshan. A "must" for every Chaozhou-chinese at home or abroad. The tea looks weak, but in fact it is very strong. The thin tea-ceremony-tablewear is made of porcelain, ceramic and a very special kind of clay that can retain heat. The tea-tablewear is so neat, the cups are only 2 cm high and 3 cm in diameter. Like in this picture the teapot can have the form of a normal teacup with saucer and lid. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Having "Kong Fu Cha", a thin teacup made of white porcelain in this case. A small amount of tea but with strong impact.
- Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Until that day my youngest cousin has one child only, the other five cousins have two, three or four kids. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Not much to see from one-child policy here in south-china. In the nineteen-sixties there was a famine in central and northern china. Because the country there is fruitless, the one-child policy was introduced in whole china. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, South-China is a very fertile area. The gastronomic culture is very rich. In the province Guangdong alone there are two major cuisines: The Chaozhou- and the Cantonese cuisine. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, There is a saying in South-China "Life is enjoying food". The original wish with a meal was "Man Man Che / Eat slowly". This salutation originates from South-China. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, If a host in North-China or North Vietnam said to a guest "We'd like to take our meal now, please have a seat and join in", then this meant (and still means today?): "Please go now, we'd like to eat." In South-China and South Vietnam it is the other way round. If a guest would leave after such an invitation, the host would be offended and ashamed for being such a bad host. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The series of the six child-pictures only shows the children of three cousins. The children of the other three cousins were not present. The kids are happy about our visit. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Together with the second cousin we explore the surroundings of my uncles habitat. Here we are in front of a "Chen Shi Zhong Ci". Ci: A kind of temple, where ancestors or famous personalities are dignified. In this case the ancestors of the "Chen"-familyname are honored. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Chen Shi Zhong Ci". In many different languages of Chinas diverse regions "Chen" became one of the big familynames of China and is also pronounced as "Chan", "Tan", "Tran", "Tain" or "Tang". Chinese living outside of mainland write it that way in latin letters for the western nations. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Chen Shi Jia Miao / hometemple of the Chen-familyname", in earlier times many people with the familyname "Chen" lived together in this place. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Precious mural paintings on the walls of an old house, which should be redeveloped urgently. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Precious mural paintings on the walls of an old house, which should be redeveloped urgently. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Again precious mural paintings on the walls of an old house, which should be redeveloped urgently. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We discover a lot of precious mural paintings at this temple. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The roofs of this Chaoshan-style built temple are decorated with Chaoshan-folkart. The phoenix-figurines and peonies are made of handcarved porcelain. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Here you see the representation of peacock, dragonfish, chrysanthemum and calabash in Chaoshan-folkart. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Colorful figures decorate the roof of the temple. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A flowerbasket with a bird. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On the outsidewall of another temple the names of charity-donators are written on a poster. We also discover plenty of mural painings here. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In this closeup you can see the roofs decorated with Chaoshan-folkart. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One of four groups of figurines on the roof of this temple. It illustrates a battlescene from a famous chinese story between the chinese and the mongolians. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One of four groups of figurines on the roof of this temple. It illustrates a battlescene from a famous chinese story. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One of four groups of figurines on the roof of this temple. It illustrates a battlescene from a famous chinese story. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One of four groups of figurines on the roof of this temple. It illustrates a battlescene from a famous chinese story. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Today the youngest cousin brings us by request to Zhong Shan Park, named after Sun Zhong-shan (Sun Yat-sen, 1866-1925). A south-chinese from province Guangdong, a revolutionary who brought down Qing-dynasty, founded the republic of China and is named "father of the country". - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In China the portrait of Sun Zhong-shan (Sun Yat-sen, 1866-1925) was hung everywhere. Abroad you can see the portrait of the father of china in chinese communities, institutes, hospitals, schools, etc. Sun Zhong-shan's monumental tomb was erected in Nanjing right before Chiang Kai-shek from Kuomintang-party lost the civilwar against the communist party of Mao and backed out with Southchinese to Taiwan.
After 1949 the communist chinese replaced the portraits of the father of china with Maos portraits. Here to honor Sun Zhong-shan a statue in a park named after him. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Mei Hua Yan / plumblossom-grotto" in Zhong Shan Park, a meeting point for hobby-musicians and -singers. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, There is a museum in Zhong Shan Park too, where you can see a lot of old art, calligraphy and many other things. Here you see a beautiful hand-embroidered robe from Qing-dynasty. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Here you see another beautiful hand-embroidered robe from Qing-dynasty. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A sceptre of contentment made of jade can also be seen in the museum. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, An unknown Chaozhou-operatroup plays openair in front of a large audience. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, An artificial labyrinth made of stones that inspires not only children but many adults too. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The Zhong Shan Park is huge. This "Yu Jian Hu / jade-expertise-lake" also belongs to Zhong Shan Park. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The "Yu Jian Hu / jade-expertise-lake" has many beautiful spots. On this picture you see one of them. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, After lunch in a small but fine restaurant the youngest cousin says goodbye because he has to go to work. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The new district of Shantou is very neat, clean and attractive. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Compared to western countries you see only few trash cans. There is one on the right hand side. The city always looks clean, because the inhabitants seem to be disciplined. The landscape gardeners (left) are proud to take part in creating this beautiful district. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Many rotten, unhygienic urban quarters of Shantou are rebuilt. We visit such a district. On the photo Thomas stands right before one. More than 90% of the inhabitants are already relocated to new houses in the suburbs, they received a compensation. The resident of the old house in the middle of the photo demands a higher compensation, because he claims that he looses friends and neighbours with the relocation. He asks for help even from western media. But the investors do not pay what he demands. Because the piece of land belongs to the state, he is allowed to live in his house until it collapses (10-20 years!?). But after that he will not receive any compensation.
Mao once made a landreform: Pieces of land were given to farmers to cultivate them, but not to own them.
A chinese saying: "A chance can bring prosperity". Who has a chance here?! One winner is the western media companies, because they have a story to tell and sell. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, One of the five-star luxury apartment buildings which were built in Shantou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Every shop can decide on its opening times. One can shop until late night, and even then one feels safe in any street. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, With my uncle, the older cousin and his friend (driver) we go to Chaozhou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In the suburbs of Chaozhou we are looking for relatives of my father. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A very old tower in Chaozhou. That is how I imagined China, when I was a child. Inspired by books from Hongkong and Taiwan and by tellings of the older generations. Especially from one housekeeper of our family, a chinese which we called Lao Shen (wise aunt). She belonged to the generation of my grandmother and was like a family member. Later I assimilated these impressions from my imagination into my early, traditional chinese paintings and calligraphies and even much later into my drawings.
The chinese who live outside china (at least the ones until my generation) have kept traditions, conventions, habits and culture. In my youth I met with companions of the same age and we engaged in chinese painting and calligraphy. My father recommended to additionally visit the "Pei Cai Xue Xiao", a school, where old chinese literature was taught.
The chinese who lived and grew up inside China from 1949 until the beginning of the 1980s mainly engaged in marxist-leninist and later Mao-ideology. The worst was the culture-revolution from the 1960s in mainland china. This was a real shock for the chinese abroad, like us. Thanks to Deng XiaoPing the reform politics were introduced in China and they began to fetch back the cultural heritage. It's a pity that the young chinese generation is mainly interested in luxury goods and consumption only. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In front of the "Han Wen Gong Ci" in Chaozhou, where Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) lived during Tang-Dynastie 768 - 824. Honoring him as philosopher, literary figure and politician. Not only Chaozhou-chinese but chinese from every part of the country know Han Wen Gong. Since I was a child I know him by tellings, Chaozhou-operas and later by chinese literature. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) was against the Tang-Emperors belief, who introduced buddhism as statereligion. Buddhism says: The slaves and poor, who suffer from distress have to pay with this for the sins of their last life. The rich can ransom from their sins by donating for the temple or building a new buddhistic temple. Many chinese emperors also did it that way. This is the opposite of Buddhas original philosophy.
Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) asked the emperor for political reforms and pled for replacing buddhism by the rules of confucius. Confucius: The different social ranks should respect each other and subordinate to moral, virtues and justice.
Photo: The "Han Wen Gong Ci"-site in Chaozhou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) redeemed 700 slaves and sent them back to their families (Source: "Zhong Hua Qi Shi Er Wei Ren / 72 famous chinese persons"). The emperor was very upset by that and exiled him from the capital to "The end of the world", the city of Chaozhou. (There is an aria in a Chaozhou-opera telling about the miserable journey to Chaozhou),
Photo: The "Han Wen Gong Ci"-site in Chaozhou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) was among the common folk and so popular, that the people from the Chaozhou-area named the river (Hanjiang) and the mountain (Hanshan) after him. Since then many excellent literary personalities arose from this area and the Chaozhou-opera developed highly literarily and philosophic. The Beijing-opera in contrast has very simple texts. It is approximately 250 years old and is sung in mandarin.
Photo: The "Han Wen Gong Ci"-site in Chaozhou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Statue of Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) in "Han Wen Gong Ci" in Chaozhou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The "Hanjiang / Han-river" in dry season. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The "Guangji"-Bridge, built in the year 1171 is 518 metres long and crosses the Han-river. It is also known as "Xiangzi"-Bridge. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In the reception room of a restaurant we choose the fish for lunch. In nearly every asian country animals are butchered on the market and in a restaurant only when required. In my opinion it is ill to mass-slaughter animals in a factory, freeze them and discard them after the expirationdate is exhausted. The consumer (we all) pay for unnecessarily died animals. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On our way to a thai buddhistic temple in Chaozhou. In Shantou you can often see thai buddhistic altars on the pavement, often surrounded by people praying and bringing sacrificial offerings. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, This thai-buddhistic temple was built by a Chaozhou-chinese living in Thailand. The thai-buddha is said to fulfill peoples wishes better than the chinese buddha!?
Since I was a child I only know the one buddha, who originally was the indian prince Siddhartha Gautama. He left his luxury life and was looking for epiphany. That is: liberation from hate, desire and ignorance. But many people here follow the belief of the constructor of this temple. By praying they hope to become as successful and rich as the constructor.
The same in western countries: Many people engage in buddhism, because it is trendy and chic. But they do not meditate for liberation but for more success in their carreer. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Anyway this complex on the hill is very beautiful. The air is incredibly fresh. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, From the thai-buddhistic templecomplex we look to a traditional chinese tower. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We (my mother, Thomas and me) drive again across the Han-river to Chaozhou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, We visit the commemoration-hall for Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) on the Han-Shan. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Many wooden signs and stone tablets from different times honour the philisopher, litarary figure and politician. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A short break in an idyllic pavilion on the Han-Shan. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Thomas asks for a photo to remember this exemplary personality: Han Wen Gong (Han Yu). - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On the site of the commemoration-hall for Han Wen Gong (Han Yu) we gaze over the roofs of the "Han Wen Gong Ci". In the background one can see the "Han-Jiang / Han-river". - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The site "Bei Ge Fo Deng / north-chamber and buddhas lantern". A group of architectural elements built on a hill during Song-dynasty. From here one can see han-river. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, My mother and me are standing in front of a rock wall with engraved calligraphic text, which is about the site "Bei Ge Fo Deng". - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, A wall full of roots of old trees. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Buddhas lantern over jade-green han-river. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The "Han Jiang / han-river", the soul of the Chaoshan-chinese. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On the site "Bei Ge Fo Deng" my mother prays for worldpeace and health, like always. Here in front of the altar of the king of ninth heaven. Will god answer her prayers!?
I can sense my mothers feelings: As a little girl she escaped the massacre of japanese soldiers in China, then she experienced the times of french colony Vietnam, something she would never forget the rest of her life. Later in USA-Vietnam-war her four sons were recruited for military service, two of them were sent to battle zone. The youngest son lost one leg. Although most chinese from the Saigon-side of South Vietnam refused to take part in this terrible war, they were forced to miltary service or arrested and also sent to the front line. The worst is, that on April 30th of 1975 the army of communist North Vietnam and the "national liberation front" (Viet Cong) took over whole vietnam. Due to the escape movement our family was spread over the whole world. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In a shop for religious needs in the oldtown of Chaozhou . . . . . - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, . . . . . . . . . a new charge of lanterns is just delivered. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, "Kai Yuan Si", a buddhistic temple built in Chaoshan-style during Tang-dynasty, being more than 1260 years old, 20.000 squaremetres large, famous architecture in Chaozhou. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On the rooftops there are artful handcrafted and excellent designed figures made of handcarved porcellain. As mentioned before, the architectural Chaoshan-style presents to the whole world, how Chaoshan-chinese live. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The calabash is a holy tool of god. Underneath a mosaic with a motif of phoenixes and peonies. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The way how the wooden fish hangs in the temple (watching inward or outward) tells, whether the principal is present or absent. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Lanterns, wooden and goldcovered or covered by embroidered fabric in the buddhistic "Kai Yuan"-temple. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, An eternal light symbolizes Buddhas enlightenment!? - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Will the people let themselves be enlightened by buddha? No, usually not. Because the way to enlightenment is not prescribed. Every man can be buddha. In the same way buddha has received his own enlightenment under the bodhi-tree, everybody has his own way to enlightenment. Buddha teached that only under own command everyone should search and find enlightenment. That is exactly how he, prince Siddhartha Gautama, found enlightenment. One can practice the buddhistic philosophy at any place.
People converted budhism to a religion. Buddhas teachings is abused with that. In some areas buddhism develops to a sect or shaman religion. But this leads to more burden on the shoulders of the poor, miserables and slaves instead of helping them. There are so called "monks" which fight for their power as religious leader and head of state at the same time. Their speeches are big business. Some western people are disappointed from christianity and believe, that the buddhistic religion is the right one, but buddhas teaching was misused. (Link1, Link2, Link3, Link4) - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Until the end of the second world war the allies, especially the english and japanese, have plundered chinese cultural goods in china and destroyed those which could not be carried away. The japanese did not only massacre people in china, but bomb away everything on purpose.
Now is the time for china to reconstruct or originally rebuild the famous architecture not only in Chaozhou (see photo) but in whole China. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Upwards to the millenium. Seen on peoples place. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, On peoples place Thomas preserved my moms and my smile on a picture. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, The statues on peoples place show, that Shantou is a child-friendly city on the sea. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Even on the seafront there are dozens of statues with child-themes. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, My mother is some steps ahead, she remembers a hustle and bustle of ships and boats many years ago. Nowadays it is a green promenade. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, Thomas in front of "Shi Pao Tai / stonecanon-fortress"-park. Built at the end of Qing-Dynasty (1644-1911) to protect the city against the colonialists. Especially against the world-conquerors from England and France. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, In Qing-dynasty the west forced china with war to open the gates for trading. After that especially the english produced opium in other colonized states and imported it to china, although china was against piracy, smuggling and illegal deals with opium. Even after repeated bans from the imperial government opium was still secretly imported to china. When the imperial government confiscated the opium England declared war and attacked china.
Photo: The new entrance-bridge leads into the fort, which is surrounded by a moat. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

2001, According to schedule my mother, Thomas and me fly on to Guangzhou. It is not easy for my mother and my uncle to seperate again after just a short period of time. After farewell-meal presents are exchanged and goodbye-photos are made. In the middle my uncle, right next to him my mother and my aunt, left me and my cousin with his son. - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)