History of the Phoenix Street House as told by Gou Lam Ngaa

Lam Ngaa's grand daughter wrote down Lam Ngaa's telling of the history of the Phoenix Street House in the email that follows.  Some exerpts are provided below:  Yin Qin Ru is is Grandpa.  Yin Hun Xiong is Uncle Red.

After the World War II, many Chinese came back to China ... YIN QING RU (尹庆如) ... was one of them. I heard that he liked seafood. So he bought that house which is near the market because many seafoods could be bought in that market.

... [In] China [for that time], he was a rich man ... robbers came and he was ill because of being frightened. After a few days he passed away.

Then the house was administered by his nephew ... YIN ZHI LIN (尹植林). ... And he ... died in Macao [prior to the end of the War of Liberation in 1949] because of illness.

...After the Liberation in China, the government let the refugees live in that house  ...YIN HUN XIONG ... and his wife came back to China for tourism in 1978. They helped my grandmother's family very much in those days. He came to see that house and went back to US after a few days. Ｗe contacted by mail. He sent many instruments [e.g. legal documents] about that house many times to my grandmother, and my grandmother came to the govenment to ask them to have that house [deeded] back for Mr. YIN [Uncle Red]. The process was very difficult. It took 10 years long. Many times my grandmother was refused because of the limited material. Many times she was refused beacuse of YIN ZHI LIN.

In 1988, the govenment gave the house back, but there were about 8 families living in the house. My grandmother helped them to settle down in new places. Finally the house was empty.

Mr. YIN [Uncle Red] signed an instrument to entrust my grandmother to take care that house.

And 23 years pass...

Images of Shan Feng Jie

Phoenix Street appears to be historic, as well as economically and architecturally diverse.  There is no trash and almost every place is kept well swept.  The street is just a short walk from the major downtown hotels, so, like me, many tourists find it enigmatic and curiously inviting.

An alley leading up toward a tenement at the foot of Yandunshan.

Shan Fung Jie just outside number 68 in the direction away from the river.  Note the tile murals on the wall in front of the industrial building and the potted plants in front of them.

Poem on tile.

Tile mural of frontier mountains, lake, and river.

Tile mural of serene lake.

Tile mural of phoenixes.  (Used as banner for this blog.)

Houses with a fantastic amount of clutter.

High-rise apartment building across the street from number 68.

Dad with helpful resident in front of her house.  She took us to the community center with the local Communist Party office to help us look for Great Grandfather's house.  The search turned up no leads.

Early 20th century Eurpean-style Art Nouveu residences on 山凤街五横巷 (Shan Feng Jie 5 Heng Xiang - Mountain Phoenix Street 5 - Cross Alley).  A study of Shan Feng Jie 5 Heng Xiang is on this blog site (translation).

The Shan Feng Jie 5 Cross Alley sign is between the two residences.  The pink and yellow building with the precarious wiring in front has apartments for rent.

Front of the pink and yellow residence.

Alley off of Phoenix Strret leading up toward Yandunshan.

Another alley off of Phoenix Street leading up to Yandunshan.

Collasping corregated metal walls of a workroom atop a Phoenix Street house.

A woman who calls herself LQ made a photographic study of Shan Feng Jie (translated).

Visit Makes the Zhongshan Daily!

Our visit to Shan Fung Jie 68 in Yandun, Shiqi was written up by Wang Wei in the Zhongshan Daily' webpage of April 1, 2011:

http://news.dayoo.com/zhongshan/201104/01/73605_104087622.htm

The page translated by Google.
Also available on China News site: http://www.chinanews.com/zgqj/2011/04-01/2945739.shtml
And on the China Taiwan Network: http://www.chinataiwan.org/xwzx/xwrw/201104/t20110401_1808191.htm

The article mentions Dad by name, in Mandarin, Yin De Xing (尹德興 - Wan Dak Hing) as the "old man" and me as his elderly son.  It also mentions a wife who visited, an error, as well as the incorrect date of the visit -- March 28, 2011, rather than March 15.

Our relative is identified as 74-year old, Gao Lin Ya (高林雅 - Gou Lam Ngaa or "High Forest Graceful").  In the Commentary following the article, Lam Ngaa is commended for preserving and maintaining the house since 1989, keeping a promise made to relatives.  The commentary says that if the famous ancient historian Sima Qian was alive, he would have written about her.

This post will be updated as Dad and I make more sense out of the article.

Gou Lam Ngaa (right) photo from the Zhongshan News article.  The police officer on the left met with us at 68 Shan Feng Jie on March 15.

Behind the House

The house is connected to a two-story utility/storage building by an upper level outdoor walkway and a separate outhouse.  A retaining wall marks the boundary with Zhongshan City Park, where Yandunshan rises.  (Click on pictures for higher resolution viewing.)

Back courtyard facing the main house.  Upper level walkway is on the left leading to a storeroom.  The utility area is on the lower floor.  The outhouse is on the right.

Utility area on the lower floor.  Renter on left;  rickshaw driver on the right. 

Walkway provides a sheltered area for the residents below, including a place to dry washed clothes.

Smoke billowing out of the utility area.

Wok with vegetables atop the wood stove in the utility's kitchen area.

Interior review of utility area.  Note collasping ceiling.

Resident working in utility area.  Potted plants on the right.

Open working well just outside the utility area exterior door.

Well interior.

Outhouse.

Outhouse window.

Outhouse view from above.

View of neighboring buildings looking east.

Retaining wall access outside outhouse.

Terrace/retaining walls marking the boundary with Zhongshan City Park.

Reaining wall on western wide of lot.

Standing on top of the retaining wall, a view of the roof.

Holes in roof.

Another view of the retaining wall.

Upper level walkway.  View from on top of retaining wall.

Upper level storage room.

Dad standing in the main house upper level doorway.

View of  lower level of utility/storage building from upper level walkway,

Satellite dish on wall viewed from upper level walkway.

Sign material over main house upper level doorway.

Upstairs

Upper floor of the house.  (Click on pictures for higher resolution viewing.)

Dad on stairs to upper floor.

Graffitti on wall at the end of the first flight.

Dad in front of apartment door on the upper floor.

Left side of paintings on upper floor balcony.

Center painting on upper floor balcony.

Right painting on upper floor balcony.

 

View of second flight of stair to upper floor.

Apartment door at the end of the second flight of stairs on the upper floor.

Upper floor bathrrom.

Clothes washing machine with spin dryer on upper floor,

Doorway into upper floor kitchen.

Sink in upper floor kitchen.

Wok on wood-burning stove.

Implements and wok in upper floor kitchen.

Dad in doorway into upper floor on the house.

View of doorway into the upper floor of the house.