China - 1950's

My grandmother’s name is Liu Xiang. She was born in 1954. In her family, there were two sisters, including herself, and two brothers. Her biological mother was very poor and couldn’t afford to raise her. Instead, her parents' friends took her in. She was treated and raised better than what her biological mother could have provided. She treated them with great respect in return.

However, she never forgot the woman who gave birth to her. Back in China, she used to visit her biological mother often and provided financial support as well.

As for school, it was fine for her, though she didn’t really like it. She had, at most, a middle school to early high school education, because traditionally more resources were focused on educating males rather than females.

Her first job was similar to being a bookkeeper. At times, she had to travel to rural areas and convince people to do things they didn’t want to do. She had a hard time resting because sometimes she had to meet with people late at night.

It was at her job where she met my grandfather.

Just like most people living in China at the time, the communist influence caused many issues for her. Her foster father died during this period—likely because he had some degree of wealth. It’s possible that he opposed communism, as it promoted income equality regardless of one’s job. This meant that a CEO of a company would earn the same amount as a farmer, which didn’t feel fair, given the differences in education and effort required for those roles. However, speaking out against the Communist Party, which was the dominant force in China, was extremely risky.