At the end of the 1990s, in a narrow alley within the old city district of Jinjiang City, looking up would reveal a grid of black electrical wires cutting the sky into pieces, with rows of clothes drying underneath. The alley's road surface was paved with uneven bluestone slabs, always forming puddles after rain that, if stepped in unwittingly, would easily splash dirty water onto one's shoes and socks.
The residents of this small alley included those clinging to their ancestral homes in decay, retired workers who had moved out of allocated housing, and families that had moved from other places; there were often children attending nearby primary and secondary schools, as well as young people who worked or studied in other cities, all of whom would return home for the holidays. Hence, the alley was bustling with activity every morning and evening.
