Before I visit my father's family tomorrow,
在明天拜訪我父親家之前
I'm taking a walk in the city's old colonial area, Shamian Island,
我去了這個城市的舊殖民地,沙面島
which is where my parents did some of their courting
我的父母曾在那里談戀愛
My father was a GI and he fought in WWII, and he got leave after the war.
我的父親是個美軍士兵,他參加了第二次世界大戰,戰后他獲準休假
And he chose to come here, where he met my mother, and they fell in love.
他選擇來到這里,在這里遇到了我的母親,他們墜入了愛河
My parents emigrated to America as newlyweds,
我的父母婚后移民去了美國
but my father died when I was just eight months old, aged 33.
但父親在我八個月大時就去世了,那時他才33歲
My mother brought me up alone in Chicago's China Town.
我的母親一個人在芝加哥的中國城把我帶大
My father never existed for me except in photographs.
父親對我來說像是從未存在過一樣,除了在照片上
My mother never talked about him very much, so...
我的母親從來不多談論他,所以…
I grew up with him only as an image.
陪伴我長大的只是他的一張照片
My mum never remarried,
我的母親沒有再婚,
and I think she was of the old traditional Chinese school that,
而且我認為她認同中國古代的傳統觀念
if you have children, then you didn't remarry,
如果你有了孩子,你就不能再婚
and so that feels kind of sad for her.
我為她感到有點難過

Apart from my father and me,
撇開我父親和我不談
my mother had two other great loves in her life.
我母親在她的生命中還有兩個最愛
The game of mah jong, and Cantonese opera.
麻將和粵劇
Before we go our separate ways,
在我們分別之前
I want to share this traditional Cantonese art form with Ching.
我想和瀞億共同欣賞這個廣東傳統藝術
Cantonese opera dates back to the 16th century and had its heyday in the 1920s.
粵劇起源于16世紀,全盛期是在20世紀20年代
Today, a few Guangzhou restaurants put on daily performances.
如今,一些廣州餐館每天上演粵劇
It's kind of surreal, cos I feel like
這有一點不真實的感覺,因為我覺得
I've just come to a restaurant, but they're performing.
我只是去了一家餐館,但他們卻正在演出
It's really beautiful though, I really love the costumes.
它真的很美,我真的很喜歡這戲服
And it's very old fashioned.
這是個很古老的樣式
You see, most of these people are of a certain age here,
你看,這里的人年齡大都相仿
they're not working, they're probably retired.
不用工作,大概都退休了
Before widespread education,
在教育普及之前
Cantonese opera taught morals and messages to its audiences.
粵劇向它的觀眾教授道德,傳遞信息
Are they all based on, like, old legends?
而且它們都是基于,好像,古代傳說
Yes, legends, very famous stories, tales... Tales, fables.
是的,傳說,非常有名的故事,傳說…傳說,寓言
It's not only what they say, it's what they're gesturing, a lot of gesturing.
不僅僅是唱詞,更重要的是姿勢,很多姿勢
Do you see? It comes from Tai Chi,
你看到了嗎,它來自太極拳
like when they go like that, that's very Chinese.
就像他們那樣,非常中國
Today, these performances are more like variety shows, put on for the elderly and tourists.
今天,這種表演更像是綜藝節目,專為老年人和游客表演
This is the aria from my mum's favourite opera,
這段出自我媽媽最喜歡的一出戲
and, oh, I mean, God knows how many times I've heard this!
我的意思是,天知道我聽過多少遍!