Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
We wanted to get a sense of what the inside of a Chinese prison is like. Yifei and Leo had tried to describe it to us but it was still difficult to understand. We suggested we take a look at an American prison to compare and they agreed, especially since the famous Alcatraz Island prison is not too far from where they live but they had never been there before.
We had a private tour with a San Francisco park ranger. We went through all the locations from prisons to dungeons, but nothing looked like a Chinese prison. They both said "everything was so clean and nice" at Alcatraz and the "prisoners were treated so well" in comparison to China's prisons. There was only one place that looked the same - the prison hospital. Both Leo and Yifei had been inside prison hospitals - Leo had been inside many - and they agreed the beaten up walls and floor tiles, peeling paint throughout, long, narrow hallway, bare prison cells, and huge iron gates were frighteningly close to what they remembered.
It was a very eye-opening experience for us and a time of sad memories and recollections for Yifei and Leo who shared some stories for the first time with each other about what happened to their sister while they were all separated.
Alcatraz’s “resident’s quarters.”
Yifei and Leo touring the dungeons in the basement.
Both Yifei and Leo had been detained and tortured in China’s gulag system. After suffering through 13 years of captivity, Leo’s body has healed, but the memories will never fade. Yifei and Leo reminisce about their ordeals and recall their traumatic experiences.
Looking out to San Francisco.
Ferry ride across the bay.