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Post by harc3 on Aug 8, 2009 21:39:05 GMT -5
Got a hurting email from my great nephew in the village today. here it is "å”å”ï¼Žå› ä¸ºå‘展需è¦ï¼Œä¹ŒçŸ³æ‘è¦æ‹†äº†ï¼Œæœªæ¥è¿™é‡Œä¼šå»ºèµ·å›½é™…商贸ä¸å¿ƒ" (unicode utf-8)
I think it says the village is being torn down to make room for an international trade centre.
Such a shame.
I have asked family in China if they can try to find out when it will begin as I am planning on going April/May. I really do need to know so if needs be I will change my travel times. I am so looking forward to visiting the village and meeting family.
I really need to get there before it's too late!!!!
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Post by Henry on Aug 9, 2009 8:14:43 GMT -5
Hi Harc3,
Wow - you really do need to get over there and visit your ancestral village before it is leveled. I suggest not waiting to the last minute, because there will probably be lots of partial dismantling prior to the bulldozers coming in. You really want to visit when everybody is still living there. I recommend bringing a HD (high definition) camcorder o film the people, buildings, cemetery, and also a GPS to record the geographic coordinates of all significant landmarks, also download the Google imagery that shows the village entact. You may want to draw up a map of the village and its environs.
Also, ask for copies of the family/clan genealogy books - now. Do not wait, as it may require that your nephew needs to talk to various people still living in the village for copies that they may have. It may be very hard to do, after everybody is moved out of the village and scattered.
This documentation of your ancestral village and relatives may add several more days to your visit.
Henry
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Post by helen on Aug 10, 2009 4:52:28 GMT -5
Remember the tape recorder as well. I have some tapes to transcribe and have discovered my Grandfather had 3 wives; my father in law's father's house was sold to the father of the guide who took us around the village; my grandfather had a brother who went to Vietnam, and even his name, and his son's name. In the rush of the visit, I obviously did not take everything that was said, in.
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Post by Henry on Aug 10, 2009 7:52:26 GMT -5
Hi Harc3,
I suggest that you make a list of what you want to accomplish during your visit. As Helen mentioned, during the rush of a visit - people tend to forget to do want they wanted. This is particularly true of the research and trying to find the family/clan genealogy book to copy or buy. Sometimes, this research takes weeks of asking people to look for these books and coaxing them to share it with relatives.
Henry
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Post by harc3 on Aug 10, 2009 8:16:34 GMT -5
A list...good idea Henry Got a camera, video camera, voice recorder....there is so much I want to hopefully accomplish Gotta start work on a list
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Post by helen on Aug 11, 2009 0:58:41 GMT -5
The biggest problem is that it takes time to get information from people. They are not forth coming as they do not know who you are, what you want, and what you want with the information. Develop the rapport before the village visit. My Mother's family denied knowing a lot of things last year. But with the visit this year they were willing to share information.
And take another person to hold the video, turn the tape recorder on and take the photos. You can't do all of it yourself. And have one person talk, otherwise you will be overwelmed by it all - conversations in all directions.
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Post by harc3 on Aug 11, 2009 8:39:36 GMT -5
Good tips and info...thanks I am hoping to have someone with me, but if I go earlier than I originally planned I will most likely be by myself
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Post by helen on Sept 17, 2009 2:05:31 GMT -5
Sorry to confirm the news Harc3
We have heard that the area aroung our village ( encompassing the villages of Wu Sek, Dai Dung, Tin Sum, Sek Ha, Sun Gaii will be developed into an International Trade City. Lands will be requisitioned from these villages, and houses will have to be moved. People will be compensated for or provided with new dwellings.
what we've heard is that the area south of the Guangyuan Super Highway will be affected. Gwa Leng is just north of that so hopefully will not have to move much, possibly just giving up some paddy fields.
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Post by helen on Sept 17, 2009 2:06:31 GMT -5
ALL of the villages south of Gwa Leng will apparently be affected. A huge area, big enough for a new city, to sit alongside Xintang and all the existing inter-connecting transportation systems. With Dongguan just across the East River and Guangzhou and Hong Kong at either end of the rail and road networks, the place could well become the hub of a new metropolis
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Post by helen on Sept 18, 2009 14:46:59 GMT -5
A quote from a friend - from someone who has just come back from Sungaai - believe it or not, the whole village is being requisitioned for a mass transit railway station for the intended international trade city! All the villagers are to be repositioned.
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Post by harc3 on Sept 18, 2009 22:57:30 GMT -5
such a crying shame!!! I feel for all those that will be displaced
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Post by helen on Oct 1, 2009 1:00:32 GMT -5
The standard of living is being improved for our kin who remained in China - and that's progress and we need to accept that it has to be done. It has happened before, and I guess we have to work out something to everbodies advantage.
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Post by alfond on Oct 22, 2009 7:05:04 GMT -5
Is the village Sun Gaii the same village called Sai Gai?
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Post by helen on Oct 23, 2009 0:57:53 GMT -5
Sure is - New Street, Zewngcheng, - Is that where you are from? It's going to happen , just when is the question - sooner than later.
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Post by alfond on Oct 23, 2009 8:35:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the confirmation Helen which comes as a bit of a shock. For many years i have been researching the ancestry of my great grandfather Hui lok bun. Two weeks ago i came to the conclusion that the ancestral village had to be Sai Gai. I was hoping to visit Sai Gai in the not to distant future but it seems that it might have to be sooner than later.
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