Liáng Xiāo (梁萧), my uncle, passed away in 2023. He was the oldest of three siblings, with two little sisters: my aunt and my mom. He had one son, who also is a father, making him a grandfather. It was not until after my uncle passed away that I learned more about him, and about how he looked out for me when I was a baby. The story is he located a local traditional Chinese medicine expert to help treat…
If you’ve spent time in New York City’s west side, you might have noticed an aircraft carrier docked alongside the many piers of the Hudson. This preserved US Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Intrepid, serves as a museum of military history. Back in October 2023, I had the chance to visit and take some photos. I actually walked there from where I was staying, along a nice path on the Hudson River side of Manhattan. While the Intrepid is now…
It is December 25, 2023, and I am in Wuhan, China. I arrived yesterday and it is my first time here. The weather is cool but not uncomfortable. So far, I am pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Wuhan – from its modern city scale to its great parks. The enormous Yangtze river (or Changjiang 长江) cuts through Wuhan, separating the city into east and west. To many, Wuhan is perhaps best known for being the origin place of COVID-19:…
Where does a family really come from? It’s a question that compels me more and more each year. There is a simple answer in my own case: my family come from China. Rather than leave it at that, I want to uncover the specific and most distant details of my heritage- the different lands, communities we originate from and the events that shape us. But a variety of predominantly rural origins, a history of violent revolution and change, natural disasters,…