The local historian

Although I was born and raised in a modern community in Zhanjiang city in Guangdong province, I didn't know much about my hometown's oldest neighborhood, which is poor, with narrow streets, and badly managed. Many homes don't even have a washroom, so people have to use the public toilets.

When I interviewed more than 50 people who lived in the neighborhood before 1945, I heard a lot of amazing stories about my hometown, including tales from 85-year-old Liang Jinming, who was twice threatened at gunpoint by Japanese and Kuomingtang soldiers when they tried to steal items from his grocery store.

He gave me a tour of the neighborhood and introduced me to other seniors who know the town's history. He said he wanted to tell me all the stories of his life. I felt his eagerness to save his memories of that period of history, and as a history student I have a responsibility to record them.