A Journey To Rediscover Past in Banqiao, Yunnan #china #yunnan

This trip to Yunnan is one where my sister and I accompanied our parents to revisit the place where they once lived and worked. After graduating from university, they left Beijing and moved to Banqiao, Baoshan to support frontier development, staying there for seven years. During that time, they only returned to Beijing to visit family three times. Each trip took three days and nights by train, followed by another three days and nights by bus, all while bringing us two young children along. The hardships of those journeys are hard to imagine.

Today, we can fly to Kunming in just three hours, pick up a car at the airport, drive four hours on the highway to reach Dali, and in another two hours, we arrive in Baoshan. Taking the high-speed train would be even faster! This time, instead of them taking care of us, we are the ones accompanying them, wandering around, enjoying food and drinks as we explore.

Although our childhood memories are blurry, the hardships we experienced as infants alongside our parents have become familiar through their repeated stories. This trip has stirred emotions not just in our parents but in us as well.

When we returned to Banqiao Town, the place where they had worked still stood, but much had changed. The security guard, about the same age as my sister, might have even been delivered by my mother! He gave us a tour, enthusiastically explaining the past and present, and even walked us a long way when we were leaving. The warm and simple-hearted people of Yunnan welcomed us as they had in the past, and that has not changed.

We then visited Qinglong Street, where our parents once worked and lived. The stone-paved road from back then is still there. It was here that they learned from the locals how to draw water from the well. That well still exists today and is now preserved as a historical site. However, the houses on both sides of the street have been renovated and no longer resemble the old days.

On that old street, our parents seemed to forget their travel fatigue. They eagerly chatted with the elderly locals, and even learned some news about old acquaintances. The locals invited us into their homes for tea, chatting with us as though we had always been their familiar neighbors. On that short street, our parents, though aging and slowing down, seemed to regain their youth. Their movements and expressions became more lively, and their eyes sparkled with joy.

It's clear that those seven difficult years left our parents with not only hardships but also sweet memories. After all, it was the best time of their lives. Who wouldn’t feel nostalgic for such times, and for the emotions lost in the passing years?

Banqiao is a small town, and the people here are very simple and sincere. They are open to outsiders, don’t ask for much from life, and are generous with their time. I can't help but wonder, if our parents had never left this second hometown of theirs, what would our lives have been like? Would we have lived a simpler, more peaceful life, unconcerned with the world?