continued from part 1

This trip, however, one of our guides who was an older woman shared that she now lives in Guangzhou because she was displaced during the Cultural Revolution. She was living in Shanghai, but because she was a university student-- and considered a threat because she was educated-- she was sent out to the rural countryside to work with farmers. She ended up later being sent to Guangzhou and was told she could not return to Shanghai even though her family was there.

She ended up marrying here, a man who also was originally from Shanghai and displaced during the Cultural Revolution. They have since received permission to return and be citizens of Shanghai should they desire to do so when they retire, but their daughter lives here with them and Guangzhou is all that her daughter has ever known, so she said that they will probably stay.

She shared with me that should you go to a city but not be a registered citizen, you can not get an identity card for that city, so you will get none of the benefits such as medical care, housing, schooling for children, etc., without paying a lot of money. Because she spoke English she was assigned to be a travel guide and has worked as one ever since.

The government no longer assigns jobs to citizens, but she has held this position so long that she is comfortable just continuing to work as a guide and enjoys meeting families from other countries.
When I asked if she missed her family in Shanghai and why she didn't move back, she just repeatedly said, "It is all right." She was definitely not enamored with Chairman Mao, but has accepted her fate in life with a smile and an attitude that her life is good so she doesn’t need to look back on what might have been. She was more open about her life than our guide was six years ago, but still had a bit of a “C’est la vie” attitude.

A different guide from a much younger generation, however, had a different story to tell.

Continued...