I spent two new years in Yongan. Just after new year, the first thing I did was prepare to receive Mr Xu*, he was to visit me for a week. Mr Xu Jingyun, Xu Siyin, everyone called him Xu Jun Lao. He's from Anhui. He used to be prime minister. After the Republic government was established, he was sent to Japan to serve as ambassador. He was short and thin of stature and could not speak Japanese. But according to all my Japanese friends, among all the ambassadors, Mr Xu was the most respected among the Japanese. In 1937, Japan invaded China. So Mr Xu was sent back to China. And our central government moved to Chongqing. Mr Xu was director of relief efforts committee. In this committee, many people were assigned to various places for investigation. In the beginning of this year, Mr Xu and several other people were assigned to Fujian to perform investigation. Yongan was a temporary capital for Fujian. We did not have a modern hotel to accommodate all these people. Fujian provincial government decided to ask Mr Xu stay in my house. My apartment was newly built by the Fujian Provincial Bank and was situated close to the bank and had lots of space. All the amenities were sufficient, originally built for the CEO.
*my mom remembers this Mr Xu had the same last name as her mom, my grandmother, and was from the same province, so he may have been a distant relative.
In, 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria (Dongbei) and set up a puppet government. Dongbei has a lot of natual resources. In 1937 Qi Qi (July 7) Japan began systematic invasion of China, the start of WWII. Aug 13 (called Ba Yi San) when Japan invaded Shanghai, my uncle, who was 3 at the time, remembers the cannon ball fire. In December was the Nanjing Massacre.
My mom remembers flying a military plane from Shanghai to Taipei. As soon as she stepped on the plane, she felt nauseous. It was her, her older brother, and her mom, with her younger brother lying across the three of their laps. She was unhealthy in Shanghai and her dad thought she had tuberculosis. When she went to Taipei, she got a lot healthier. She remembers always returning home during the school year for illness. In Taipei, after fifth grade second term, she continued in school. She would run across the street with her little brother. No crosswalks. She remember the streets being closed for military and the officers would pick her up across the barrier, she was scared.
