On July 7, 1937, Japan invaded China. The governmnet advised people to evacuate from Guangzhou. We were very naive. We thought that it was only a temporary trip and should return in time to Guangzhou for the next school semester. We packed only a few suitcases of essential belongings, went back to our native village in Taishan, and left all the new furniture behind, including my brother's brand new bicycle. Within weeks, Guangzhou fell. Under Japanese occupation, the vandals stripped our house clean, as they did all the other unoccupied residences. All the furniture, fixtures, doors and door frames, windows and window frames were stripped.
We went back to Taishan for a short while. Then my brother took me to Hong Kong at the start of school in spring 1938. We stayed with a distant uncle at No. 240, 2nd floor, and 242 1st floor, Nathan Road, Kowloon. I went to Pui Ching School, room and board, 7th grade.
That was a critical turning point for my brother. First, he lost his opportunity and enthusiasm for school. Second, he was afflicted with a devastating illness, somewhat like Guillain-Barre syndrome, and suddenly became hoarse and paralyzed. Mother came to Hong Kong, took him back to Taishan village, and nursed him back to good health. In a year or so, he set sail for America, and mother and sister moved to Hong Kong. The three of us then lived in a rented room.
That distant uncle in Hong Kong was a very close friend of my grandfather. They grew up together in the same village. When my grandfather died at the age of 36, he still owed this uncle 100 silver dollars. My father was only six years old and my grandmother remembered that debt. When my father became "rich" in America, he repaid this uncle 100 U.S. dollars, many times the original principal. These two also became good friends. When my brother, as a teenager, met this uncle, in his 60's, they became good friends, too. I was closer to his grandchildren than to him. He died of cancer of the esophagus in 1939. His grandchildren now are in America: Richard M. Hugh in Delaware, Gilbert in New York, Robert in Wyoming or South Dakota, Bertha in New Jersey, Eugene, Henry and Bing in New York.
The room we rented in Kowloon, Hong Kong was a bedroom, just like one of those three bedrooms of our Guangzhou house. We first resided at 27 Tung Choi Street, ground floor, then moved to Number 14 Garden Street, 1st floor, and finally to Number 49, Waterloo Road, 2nd floor. All were close to Pui Ching School and my sister's school.
The room was very small. It was just big enough for one double bed for my mother and sister, and one single bed for me, arranged as an "L"; and a small table arranged as a "U", used for dining and writing. The tiny space left was for a wash basin, and a toilet potty (covered).
The table was too far from the 40-watt light bulb hanging from the ceiling. So after dark, I usually did my homework at one corner of my mother's bed (board bed), by folding up part of her bed covering. My sister slept inside and mother slept outside. So mother had to bend her knees, lay still and be careful not to move or kick my papers. I often did my homework way past midnight. My sister did not seem to have any homework. Yet she always got good marks. She is a smart girl.
Besides going to school, shopping or visiting, that one tiny room was our whole home. We shared the used of the bathroom and kitchen. In most apartments, there were about four to five families residing. Each family had their own terracotta stove lined up in the kitchen. After the meals were cooked, they were brought back to everyone's own room to eat. After the dishes were washed in the kitchen, they were also brought back to your own room for storage.
For washing, we did it in our own room, in a wash basin. For bathing or defecation, one must wait in line for the bathroom. For urination, we usually did it in our own room, into that covered potty, which was emptied into the main toilet bowl in the bathroom. That main toilet bowl, when it was full, was collected by the contractor-collector at certain nights of the week. the union of human waste collectors was called Union of Night Fragrance. What a fragrance. the human waste was put to good use as fertilizer, by the peasants outside of the city. It was said that during the Opium War in 1841, when British troops seized Ghangzhou city, they charged toward the city wall. Suddenly the defenders emptied hundreds of buckets of smelly stuff on their heads. The British were surprised indeed. That was chemical warfare.
The living room did not belong to us. We entertained all our visitors in our own room. Whenever we had a little leisure time, we went out of the house and took a stroll on the street. Therefore, in every evening, there were thousands and thousands of people strolling on the street, walking in all directions, crowded.
One night I was mugged by an "bandit." That guy was merely a teenager, playing as a tough bad guy. He grabbed me from behind, pulled me into a dark alley and robbed me. I had not a single penny and nothing of any value in my pocket. But I was very calm. He kept asking me questions, I kept asking questions, too. About an hour later, he set me free. About a year later, I encountered him on the street, we recognized each other. By then I had grown much taller and stronger. He, being poor, was still skinny and bony and much smaller than I. He ran out of sight in a hurry.
The last residence at Waterloo Road was the nicest. The landlord rented out only one room, to us. So, the apartment had only two households. We got along well. My mother dealt with their parents well and my sister played with their children well. I did not have much time to deal with them because I was too busy with myself. I belonged to the school harmonica club. I practiced and enjoyed my harmonica when I could. I bet they enjoyed my harmonica, too.
When Japan invaded Hong Kong on December 8, 1941, we became very close and looked after each other. During the night when Kowloon fell, the bandits ruled the streets and systematically robbed every single household. It was this landlord, Mr. Chen, who belonged to the same union as those bandits and rescued all three apartments, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors, from being robbed.
That was the general picture of our life in Hong Kong. No, we were not poor. Most people living in Hong Kong at that time lived in a room like that. Some didn't even have what we had. We lived a perfectly normal life. Under our mother's care, we had a warm and sweet home. At school, we had a rich and solid education and extracurricular activities.
Besides home and school, we had many school friends and often went to the movies together. Our favorites: Jeanette McDonald, Nelson Eddy, Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple, Robert Taylor, Ronald Coleman, Robert Donat, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Vivien Leigh, Greer Garson, Norma Shearer. No, not Marilyn Monroe. We saw Gone with the Wind, Robin Hood, The Good Earth, Tarzan, etc.
About five months after Japan occupied Hong Kong, we went back to Taishan, our native place.
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