Friends Visit in Zhuhai

Marta, Marc and I in front of Zhuhai Fishing Lady

Marc, Marta and I having dinner at the Boat Restaurant

Marta, Marc, Nick and I; Macau

Silvia and Cata; Islands of Zhuhai enjoying a beer

Cata and I; Bar Street, Zhuhai.

August, 2007. After a nice trip to Europe I went to Zhuhai, my father's hometown. I was there for a family reunion but my other cousin Sandy and I got there a week before the rest of our family arrived. It all worked out very good thought because I had some good friends coming to visit in the meantime. Cata and her brother's girlfriend were in Guangzhou at this time doing some work so they decided to come to Zhuhai to visit and get outta GZ. We visited Islands in Zhuhai that were very beautiful. I didn't know it but I guess Zhuhai has something like 150 islands!!! We also went to another beach near the city. We had some drinks and a lot of fun in the sun! The weather was great!. My friend Nick, from Bloomington, also joined us. He was working in Shenzhen and decided to come for the weekend. We also went to Bar Street and enjoyed local Cantonese Cuisine (at least I enjoyed it)!
My friend Marc and his girlfriend, Marta, had planned a trip to China and they made their first stop Zhuhai! It was about 3 weeks since I last saw them in Barcelona and we met again! I went to Macau to pick them up and give them a quick tour of Macau. To make a long story short, I got stuck in Macau that night because I couldn't get my visa extended. Thankfuly, my cousin took care of them for the night! After a loooong night, I was back at it in Zhuhai. I met up with Marc and Marta and we did some shopping and sightseeing. Then I treated them to some local Cantonese Cuisine at the famous boat restaurant in Zhuhai. After a few days, I sent them off to Yangshuo.
Minnesota is my home, but I also felt that Zhuhai is also a home. It especially felt like this after my good friends came there to visit!

Zhuhai Family Reunion

My brothers and I giving a blessing at the village house in Zhuhai

We are the Kwan People!!!

I was looking forward to a time like this for a long time... For the first time we had a family reunion in Zhuhai, back to where it all started. My fathers hometown. I had been away from home and family for 8 months, the longest I have ever been away. So it was really great to see my father, brothers and all my cousins, aunts and uncles in China! It was an amazing time together. We ate great food everyday, got massages and did plenty of sightseeing together as a family.
The main reason for this great family reunion was to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday and also celebrate the wedding of my cousin Annie. It was a great excuse and I hope we can do it again soon.
As I have said before I don't speak or understand much Cantonese, and my grandma doesn't speak English either but I must say we have a way of understand each other. Maybe it is because she is my grandma and her blood runs through my veins but what I do know is that she was happier than I had ever seen her before. Perhaps it was the thought that some 30-odd years ago she sent her kids off in a boat for a 'better future' not knowing if they ever would return--however, we returned in multiples--and I think this makes her happy. The thought brings happiness to me. Happy Birthday Grandma!