The young waitress who wanted to be photographed with us was one of many memorable young faces that are now China to us. As I did during our months in Korea in 2011, I found the face of babies and children to be endlessly fascinating. I suppose it is the grandfather in me, but I also find them endlessly endearing.
"Grandfather" is as close as I can come to analyzing this interest, although I can describe the phenomenon. For one thing, as we all seem to know without being told, the very young are unabashed; they have not yet learned to hide their curiosities and emotions.
These two boys were being walked around Luhe by their older sister and grandmother on the afternoon we arrived from Shenzhen to see the village. They were, I imagine, not sure of what they were seeing. It is likely they had never seen a non-Chinese before. I stepped closer to take another picture and had to back away since they were clearly becoming frightened.
This little girl in red was riding on the back of a scooter. Her mother was driving, weaving in and out of traffic, and a younger sibling was riding on his mother's knees. We often saw four on a scooter at once (mother, father, two kids). Donna counted six on one scooter, which was a record for us.
This little girl is the daughter of Edward's cousin. He would say the 1st daughter of the 1st daughter of the fifth uncle on his father's side. We met her at the family apartment building in Luhe. She was quite frightened of me at first -- well, for the first day at least -- so it was hard to get a photograph. Eventually she seemed OK to have me in the same room, but she never exactly warmed up.
These little boys were playing at the edge of a rock pile in Edward's mother's village. Like kids everywhere, they entertained themselves with what they had at hand. Their parents (or mothers, at least), no doubt, were around; but since they played out in the open, they were easily watched and cared for by the whole village.
In Edward's father's village, on the day we went to celebrate the opening of the senior citizen's center, we saw two children in particular who hung around to see what we were up to. One was this little girl, whom I have written about before, who demonstrated her English skills for us.
Another was this little boy, who sat or stood beside his grandfather at the table under the big tree where the adults were exchanging information and then asking us questions. This little boy watched for the better part of an hour without fidgeting or, apparently, losing interest to the adult chatter.
He watched us with keen interest but without apparent concern or fear. He and his grandfather clearly had a congenial, respectful, and close relationship.
At one point, his grandfather had him raise his thumb to say Okay after we had complemented him on his good behavior and long attention span. His little jacket, like many we saw, showed the influence of American culture (Mickey Mouse) and the common presence of English.
The little boy in what looks like black and white pajamas was the only person we saw on our visit to the Hakka village, an abandoned ethnic compound on the outskirts of Lehu. He watched us when we drove up and while we were getting out of our cars. But when I got my camera up and ready, he would not look up from his game.
Perhaps my favorite picture of all was this picture of Ye Wan Ping, the 14 year old daughter of another cousin. When we visited her home after our brief visit to the Hakka village where we saw the little boy above, she greeted us at the door with an extended exchange in perfect English. She wanted to meet the American teacher who had meant so much to Edward and Yujia while they were students in our own small village in western New York.
"What is your favorite subject in school?" Mrs. Zoller asked.
"Oh, English, of course!" she responded with no hesitation.
For us it was worth the 18 hour plane flight just to meet Ye Wan Ping.
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