The house I grew up in has been in my family for four generations. It was built brick by brick by my great great grandfather and still stands today. The surroundings have changed a lot since I last visited it over a decade ago. The roads are now paved and there’s electricity 24/7. There’s even high speed Internet access! Punyu is no longer a small farming village. With the incredible growth of nearby Guangzhou, Punyu has pretty much become an extension of the city.
Our house is one of the few remaining homes from my time. Most of the houses I grew up next to have been torn down and replaced with apartments. The farming village has turned into a hot place for Guangzhou city workers to find inexpensive places to rent. Growth is being spurred on by the construction of a high speed rail line that will connect Gaungzhou and Punyu to the new International airport. If there is a recession, this part of China is not feeling it.
While the village may have grown and changed, the house I grew up in has remained the same. It still has no heating, electricity or running water. I lived in this house for the first seven years of my life. This is where I came from.
