We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Hong Kong-based media platform MAEKAN. Rallying around the motto of “Stories for the Curious,” their insightful storytelling and audio-centric approach have been a much-needed breath of fresh air in a digital landscape overpopulated with listicles and rehashed content.
Together, we’ll be creating a series of stories that celebrate culture and creativity in all shapes and forms.
For the debut of our collaboration, photographer Cheuk-Yin To shares a story about how he ended up in a special reunion at his ancestral village on a recent trip to China.
我们很高兴地宣布和位于香港的媒体平台 MAEKAN 建立了伙伴关系。他们以富有见地和音频为主的讲述方法，致力于“把故事讲给好奇的人听”（Stories for the Curious），而这恰是在充斥着大量数字内容的当下所急需注入的一股新生力。
我们将在一起创作一系列故事，以颂扬各种各样的文化和创意形式。
在我们合作的首篇文章中，摄影师 Cheuk-Yin To 分享了他近期到中国旅行时，竟无意中找到了他的祖籍村庄，并最终认亲团聚的故事。
As the modern world continues to race toward the future, we can find ourselves constantly groping for radical or material ways to find our identities in it. But while we might be obsessed with going forward and discovering the new, we sometimes forget to look back and to the old — to our own pasts.
Cheuk-Yin To is a photographer MAEKAN has worked with in the past. One summer evening, he dropped by the MAEKAN office where he shared a special story of how he took a side trip on a whim only to find both his roots and a few long-lost relatives.
随着现代世界不断地向未来迈步，我们急于以各种方法和手段来找寻自我认知。但就在我们埋头向前和发现新知的过程中，我们时常会忘记回首过往——我们自身的过往。
Cheuk-Yin To 是曾与 MAEKAN 合作过的摄影师。在某个夏夜，他们就在 Yin 的办公室里听他讲述了一个特别的故事——那是在一次无意的旅行中，Yin 竟意外发现了自己失散已久的远亲和血脉的故事。
“To be honest, it kinda broke the spell a bit. I wanted my ancestral village to be with like, old school donkey carts and stuff. It’s not like that anymore. There’s mopeds, there’s smartphones. Everyone’s in on this now.”
— Yin remarking on his unexpectedly modern ancestral “village.”
“老实说，这有点出人意料。我一度希望我祖辈的村庄，还留有老式的驴车和其他东西。但事实已经不是那样了，那里有电瓶车，还有智能手机。大家都迈入了现代社会。”
——Yin 不曾料想到祖辈的“村庄”早已现代化了
“Within the next generation, it’s not going to be the same anymore. I don’t think kids these days will actually stay in these villages; they’ll all go to the cities and no one’s going to maintain the traditions.”
“到了下一代，这里的情况就会变得不一样了。我觉得现在的孩子不会再待在这些村庄里，他们都会去往城市，要留存这些传统都后继无人了。”
“My grand aunt made a feast that could have fed double the amount of people. […] We all ate together and watched TV at the same time, just like every other Chinese family.”
“我的叔祖母做了一桌大宴，都够两倍的人来吃了……我们都聚在一起边吃边看电视，就像其他中国家庭一样。”
“You can’t describe this experience. If someone else were to find their roots — completely unintentionally…I think that’s the reason why I was so happy.”
“你无法用语言描述这次的经历。如果是别人这样发现了自己的血脉——在完全是无心插柳的情况下……我猜这就是我这么开心的原因吧。”
