Looking for He Guizhen

Mr. Wu and I drove to Guihua Village, a place where some of He Guizhen’s fellow villagers moved to. When I mentioned He Guizhen’s name, people recognized him – however, they were reluctant to disclose his whereabouts.

The following day, I had to leave Wushan. I had limited time to find He Guizhen, so I decided to take a leap of faith. I bought a ticket to go to Wanzhou by boat at midnight.

That morning, I walked by the river bank, asking the local vendors about He Guizhen. After a while, one of the vendors agreed to call Mr. He. There was a short conversation between both of them, and the vendor handed over his phone to me. I was thrilled to speak with Mr. He, who graciously invited me to his home. We decided to meet in the afternoon at Honghui Restaurant on Jingtan Road.

Excerpt of the conversation with Mr. He Guizhen about how he came back to Wushan from Hubei province

By the time I reached the restaurant, Mr. He was already there. He asked me to follow him upstairs, where he and his family lived in a clean and spacious apartment. The place belonged to his brother, who was at the time in Chongqing for business. Mr. He’s nephew went to school in Wushan – and he was entrusted with the duty of looking after him. As a token for his service, Mr. He could live there. It was also a convenient arrangement for his daughter attending school in the vicinity.

As the conversation began, he was candid about his experiences. He showed me a stack of documents, including photographs of daughter and nephew. I could see in his eyes that he was especially pleased by his daughter, who was doing extremely well in school. He pointed me to the awards and certificates displayed on the wall. Since he was originally from Wushan, his daughter was admitted to the school, but had to maintain a high grade in class for her to continue attending school.

After our chat, Mr. He suggested for us to take a walk. We walked around the neighborhood and to an overlook where we could see the Yangtze River without any obstruction. Over there, Mr. He pointed to the riverbank where he and his family camped for nearly two years. On the way back to his apartment, we bought ingredients for dinner. He cooked a traditional Sichuan spicy dish that we both relished.

Excerpt of the conversation with Mr. He Guizhen about his experience in Gusong Village, Hubei Province

I couldn’t meet his wife as she worked night shifts at a tea house and his daughter remained at school for the entirety of my visit. As time was inching closer to midnight, I bid farewell to Mr. He and headed to the pier. On the pier, I sent a text to my wife in New York – “It was a good trip, I met He Guizhen.” I got on the next boat, and started planning my visit to Gusong Village in Jingzhou, Hubei province where Mr. He and his family first migrated in 2003.