JOURNEY TO THE WEST

Text by George McKibbens Translation by Emma Photos provided by Overseas Chinese Museum

JOURNEY TO THE WEST

Text by George McKibbens Translation by Emma Photos provided by Overseas Chinese Museum

图片由广东华侨博物馆提供

Chinese workers arriving at the Canadian port city Victoria.乘搭“加勒比号”抵达加拿大港口城市维多利亚的华工。

Film star and martial artist Bruce Lee.李小龙剧照。

Chinese Douglas Jung during elections for a new MP.加拿大华人郑天华参加国会议员选举。

American railway laborers from China.早期美国铁路华工。

One of Guangzhou's many hidden gems museums is the Overseas Chinese Museum located on Ersha Island, adjacent to the Xinghai Music Hall and The Guangzhou Museum of Art. The first floor shows a map displaying all the far-flung parts of the world where Cantonese people have settled since the mid-19th century. Between 1840-1850 the combined conflicts of the Taiping Rebellion and Opium Wars created a level chaos and uncertainty - anywhere in the world seemed to offer a better life.

The museum shows photos and statues of railworkers in the United States and Canada, miners in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, Malaysia and Indonesia, migrant farmers across South America and the Caribbean. These emigrants were often forced to live on the fringe of the societies they helped develop. From mining to building railroads and working the land the Cantonese diaspora were exploited for their talents.

The Cantonese experience is almost an inverse to Chinese identity, the word China, translated as‘Middle Kingdom', is a feudal term which places China at the center leaving the majority of the planet with ambiguity and otherness. The opposite could be said about Cantonese identity - people with a global footprint. The Cantonese people have built hybrid communities on every continent.

Many of the streets and iconic restaurants in New York's oldest Chinatown are frozen in time, with their original décor. The same can be said for Chinatowns in Vancouver, Melbourne, San Francisco, Chicago and many others. Street signs written in traditional Chinese in front of family-owned businesses suggest hometowns of Chaoshan and Taishan. Apart from photographs, iconic old fashioned boat, telephone and gramophone, among others, are featured in the Overseas Chinese Museum.

These Cantonese emigrants sacrifi ced everything to start a new life abroad and send money back to their hometown. The communities sent volunteer soldiers back to China to fi ght during the World War II, and send capital investment in the reform years of the 1980s.

For young people, visiting the Overseas Chinese museum is like going back in time. When travelling the world is so easy today, it's a good experience to learn the stories of the pioneers who braved to see the wide world 100 years ago.

GEORGE MCKlBBENS

American. Lecturer of History in South China Normal University, History Teacher in Zhixin High School, Broadcaster & Co-Creator of Lingnan Voices, Radio Guangdong.

美国人，华南师范大学历史系外教、执信中学历史教师、广东人民广播电台“岭南之声”英文主播。

海上求生路

位于广州二沙岛的广东华侨博物馆，平日少有游客，入内却发现，这安静的处所竟记录了一段气势磅礴的海外华人奋斗史。

馆内有张地图，标明了19世纪中期以来广东人曾定居过的海外之地，范围之广令人唏嘘。“中国”，意为居于天下正中的国家。而与这种大国思想相映成趣的是，务实的广东人将自己的足迹踏遍海外：他们在外团结一心，克服恶劣条件，顽强地生存下来。馆内展示的照片和塑像中，有海外的铁路工人、矿工和各种手艺人。他们背井离乡，为当地社会贡献才能，却饱受剥削和压榨。

当时的华侨在海外白手起家后，将血汗钱寄回家乡，帮助振兴中国经济。二战期间，华侨团体派志愿军回国支援；改革开放后，他们又慷慨回国投资。

在旅行变得易如反掌的今日，年轻人不妨走进博物馆，一睹百年前的先人如何在遥远的异乡艰苦奋斗、落地生根。