this is dunhuang, where your grandfather is from, these are your roots - that's what my father told me that night. earlier we had dinner with our relatives. he probably had too much to drink and started to get emotional. that summer i saw a different side of my family i never knew existed. i just assumed my ancestors were from taiwan and that was the end of it. but going to gansu in person, experiencing the gobi desert, mogao caves,  whistling sand, it changed me. learning about my grandfather's lifestory - fleeing for his life during the cultural revolution - before finally settling down in taiwan. but he had another family before that - a wife and two kids - and he had to leave them all behind.