Leshan
Page 3
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As a small boy we lived
in Leshan,
a town at the confluence of three rivers, namely, the Min River, the
Qingyi River, and the Dadu River. In December, 1949, my mother
was heavy with child, and we traveled two days by rickshaw over rough
road to Chengdu, where my sister, Dorothy, was born. The
Communist Army was shelling Chengdu on the day of her birth. We
returned to Leshan and found that the Communists had turned our house
and compound into an Officer Training Academy. We were moved to
a room in the school and placed under house arrest, which lasted a
year.
When we were finally permitted to leave, we traveled by Sampan, rowed
by six men, down the Min and Yangtze rivers to the city of
Chungqing, where we transferred to a motor launch for the rest of our
journey down the Yangtze
River. I was 4 years old when we left China, and I have childhood memories of where we lived in
Leshan and the trip down the rivers. It was a priority for me to
find where we had lived and to revisit some of the trip down the
Yangtze River.
Jim, Cherry and I took the
hour long bus ride to Leshan. Although most of the buildings now are the
typical five story concrete and tile construction, the streets still
kept much of their character. Large banyan and sycamore trees leaned over the
streets providing shade. Along the river-front, a mile long stroll way
was well shaded and provided superb views of the rushing
yellow Min and Qingyi rivers. Pedicabs are
still a means of transportation here.
Motorcyles with huge bamboo baskets hanging low on each side arrived
heaped with all manner of farm produce. Street vendors maintained
busy commerce on the sidewalks.
Our hotel was right on the
Min river and afforded sweeping views of the river junction as well as
the giant Buddha carved in the cliff across the river. Our three
star hotel was moderately opulent, with a price of about $35 for a
large room.
My one point of reference for
our old house was that it was immediately adjacent to a park called
Yeh Er Tan. The taxi driver knew the name, and drove about a
mile up a beautiful, well treed street. We arrived at a small park with an algae covered pond in
which old men were fishing. An arched bridge crossed the pond
and lead to a defunct temple. Old trees provided shade
and lent a peaceful atmosphere to the park. The property
immediately adjacent to the park, which was where we used to
live, was a five story junior high
school. The taxi driver said that he had heard that a big house used
to stand there in which rich people lived who had servants. I
don't know if the rumor of rich people referred to us or to some
subsequent government official who may have taken it over. The
park, the curve of the street and the slope of the land had a familiar
feel. It seemed right
Other Links:
Don's Home Page: www.jali.net Don's email: websterdr@yahoo.com Map of Sichuan Province: http://encarta.msn.com/map_701516531/sichuan.html Map of Yangtze River, Chongqing to Wuhan: http://encarta.msn.com/map_701517763/Yangtze.html best if you zoom in a bit.
Page by Don Webster: websterdr@yahoo.com
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