Need help to locate village

[ian]

Hi all, I’m trying to help a friend locate his father’s village in Guangdong, China. Both his parents are long deceased and information is very limited; added to that he recalls his father avoided talking about where he came from in China. Unfortunately, surviving relatives are all of a later generation and don’t know either.

His recollection is that his father came from the area of Sze Yup. Whilst the family name used is “Chee” (father’s name Chee Gin) he recalls seeing documents with the name “Chee Gin aka Yee Kin Sang”. Actually, it was quite common that those that came to Fiji from China during the colonial era, provided alias names for registration while maintaining the original Chinese character of their family name. I’ve posted 2 articles here (below), which shows his father’s name written in Chinese and possibly other relevant information.

Article 1: s875.photobucket.com/albums/ab317/fjislander/?action=view¤t=name2.jpg

Article 2: s875.photobucket.com/albums/ab317/fjislander/?action=view¤t=name1.jpg

[helen]

Welcome Ian - There are some people here who will be able to assist. Many of the Fiji Chinese left the country in the 60s - to Canada and New Zealand

[cheedocknomchong18]

Hi I am looking for my Great Grand Father's birth place. His name is Chee Dock Ng but changed to Nomchong, he came from a village called Mun Lau. I do have it written in Chinese and could Fax if that could help. He went first to America but then joined his brother in Australia in 1871. He did leave behind his son and his family are still there. I did see a post about this village. I am in Australia but coming to China In August. I am writting a book on his life and want to visit his birth place. I need direction to there from Guangzhou and would 2 days be enough time to visit. Is Guangzhou the place to start from as I will be coming from Hong Kong? I would appreciate any help. Regards Denise

[raymond]

Hello, Denise! I have been to Mun Lau village on a couple of occasions because my late auntie had married into an Ng family. Mun Lau is predominantly an Ng village. The nearest market town to Mun Lau is Gujing Town.....Gujing Town has an Overseas Chinese Hotel named Q-Lin (a very basic old hotel for about 100 rmb per night for one of the "nicer" rooms), and you can walk to Mun Lau from there in about 10 minutes. Whether 2 days is an adequate duration of your visit depends on how much you already know, whether relatives there know you are coming, and whether you speak and understand Chinese or not. I would think that if you are writing the story of your great grandfather, you'd need more than 2 days to do the necessary research and interviews. You should be adequately prepared by bringing with you the Chinese characters for your ggf's name(s), photographs of him and relatives, and copies of any old letters of the past. Also, bring a digital camera or better yet, a camcorder. It would be great if you can speak and understand Chinese, otherwise you will need an interpreter. An important thing to get from the village is a copy of the Ng family clan genealogy book which should have the name of your ggf in it.....the book will be written in Chinese of course. I have always traveled to Gujing Town via Hong Kong, not Guangzhou. I normally would fly to Hong Kong, take a shuttle to the Metropark Mongkok Hotel in Kowloon for overnight stay, and take the China Travel Service (CTS) bus to Xinhui City (pronounced "Sun Wui") for 230 HK dollars. A CTS bus station is conveniently located adjacent to the Metropark Mongkok. The bus ride to Xinhui City takes about 4 hours. It will drop you off at the Kwangtung (?) Hotel in Xinhui City. From there you can hire a taxi to take you to Gujing Town for about 100 rmb. You can opt to stay at the Q-Lin Hotel in Gujing Town and simply walk to Mun Lau village.....the hotel clerks (they only speak and understand Chinese) can give you directions to Mun Lau. Good luck, and have a safe and productive trip to Mun Lau. Raymond

[cheedocknomchong18]

Thank you for your help. I have a problem as I do not speak chinese. I don't know if I could do a 4 hour bus trip. Would the bus be air con? I have a heart condition which trips out now and again. I need to get a map then I will be able to see if I can get there from Guangzhou as I am visiting there but can changeplans. I only have 2 days and it was just to get a feel of where he came from. I will know the house as it has been described to me by his Grandson who has given me directions. He is in his eighties so hope it is correct. His sisters children still live there and I have their names. Would I be able to hire someone to help me with the Chinese? My cousin says you can go by boat from Macau. Any help would be appreciated. Regards Denise

[tyuti1668]

the Village
the CTS bus is 49-seater : air-con & air suspension
GZ -- Which district? Although air-con is "standard" -some "cheaper" (ofen using the "leaf spring") bus don't use expressway & had tons drop-off on route !!!
HK/ GZ bus > "Sun Wui" city proper> 古井
Macau> Zhuhai > 古井
Why not contact Henry- his nephew provide reasonable sevice.

[chansomvia]

Hello Denise,

I think the replies from our two forum friends cover the basics of making the trip to your ggf village. I did a similar trip and Henry's nephew was of great help, and more importantly saved me a lot of time.

Can I add these observations:
a) allocating a two days visit to the village, of which maybe half the time is spent traveling, will probably not give justice to a story of a person who was brought up there. Helen Wong of New Zealand has written a book on her ancestors in China and she may help with the time needed to spend at the village, and other tips, you may like to buy her book which is just off the press
b) to get the feel of the atmosphere of the village life you need to communicate with the villagers, and in particular to your relatives who you say are still in the village
c) could your cousin who seems to know how to get there not accompany you to lead you to the village and possibly help you with the language?
d) the Chinese dialects spoken in the villages will be quite different to the Cantonese or Mandarin usually spoken in the schools, even the Taishanese in the villages are different from village to village.
e) Henry's nephew lives in Taisan (Taicheng) and would know Xinhui quite well, he would be able to assist but his English skill is not enough for a writer, but his skill in Cantonese and local dialects of the villagers is excellent. You could write to Henry to see how much of his service is needed.
f) I took the comfortable air conditioned express train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, and stayed in the excellent 3 star hotel (Star Hotel) opposite the Railway station which is within walking distance. They have a free shuttle to take you to the Station from the hotel but not from the station
g) I also used the excellent ferry service (one hour) from Hong Kong to Zhuhai or Macau, there are excellent modest priced hotels (about half the Hong Kong Price) in most cities in China
h) due to your heart condition I would suggest you book a taxi for the whole day from Guangzhou or Zhuhai to the village, this requires a bit of negotiation which can be made considerably easier with the help of Henry's nephew or your relatives in China
i) you could stay in the hotels mentioned near the village, or in Taishan City, it could give a better insight of life in rural China, access to your village would also be easier
j) Henry, and his nephew, can provide a map of the area and precise location of the village, the address in Chinese from old letters etc would make it easier

In any case you will find it most worthwhile to go to the village for your story, and if there are any specific questions I am sure our knowledgeable friends on this forum will share their knowledge.

I hope the above is of assistance

Joe of Christchurch

[cheedocknomchong18]

Thank you for your advise. As I am staying in Macau I have found you can get a ferry to Zhongshan which is about 37KL to Xinhui. I am not sure how far it is Gujing. There is a 5 star hotel there so could make this my base.
I have seen a post from Henry so will contact him about his nephew. I need someone to come with me to the village as I don't speak Chinese. This forum is wonderful as I could not find anyone that could give me Info. My story is mostly about GGF life in Australia but the start of my book would be about where he was born and lived as a young boy. He always talked about the clipper ships sailing up the Pearl River and his dream was to travel on one to a far land and make his fortune. He did this and had 16 children. He was loved by all the township where he made his home as he love to help others not as fortunate as him self. All this is doctumented in the archives in our capital Camberra. The rest including my GGGrand Mothers wedding dress which she spun from silk worms and made her self is in the family museum. It is as beautiful today as it was then when she married. My cousin now is very old and sick and not always correct with names. I want to do this so future family will know the story. Thank you.
Denise

[raymond]

Denise.......I hope you have someone to assist you in Zhongshan when you get off the ferry from Macau.......if you hire a taxi at Zhongshan to take you to Xinhui City, just exercise some caution in terms of fare costs and safety especially if you are traveling alone and do not speak Chinese. As I'd mentioned in my earlier post, Gujing Town is about a 45-minute taxi ride from Xinhui City at a negotiated fare of 80-100 rmb. There are several hotels in Xinhui City, but the one I've always stayed at is the Overseas Chinese Hotel for about 160-180 rmb for its nicest 1 BR on the ground floor. There are nicer hotels nearby but I like the Overseas Chinese Hotel (aka Hua Qiu Hotel) because it is centrally located (with KFC on its ground floor) and they are used to accommodating us Overseas Chinese even though the hotel staff does not speak English......the helpful front desk can get a reasonable fare taxi for you to Gujing Town as well since you do not speak Chinese. (The taxi driver may not know where Mun Lau village is but for sure he will know where Gujing Town is.......Gujing Town is famous for its roast goose.) A few steps away from the Overseas Chinese Hotel is the Gold Mountain Hotel which is newer.....perhaps this is the 5-Star hotel you are referring to. Have a safe and productive trip......bon voyage! Raymond

[tyuti1668]

May 17, 2010 5:55:16 GMT -5 cheedocknomchong18 said:

Thank you for your advise. As I am staying in Macau I have found you can get a ferry to Zhongshan which is about 37KL to Xinhui. I am not sure how far it is Gujing. There is a 5 star hotel there so could make this my base.
I have seen a post from Henry so will contact him about his nephew. I need someone to come with me to the village as I don't speak Chinese. This forum is wonderful as I could not find anyone that could give me Info. My story is mostly about GGF life in Australia but the start of my book would be about where he was born and lived as a young boy. He always talked about the clipper ships sailing up the Pearl River and his dream was to travel on one to a far land and make his fortune. He did this and had 16 children. He was loved by all the township where he made his home as he love to help others not as fortunate as him self. All this is doctumented in the archives in our capital Camberra. The rest including my GGGrand Mothers wedding dress which she spun from silk worms and made her self is in the family museum. It is as beautiful today as it was then when she married. My cousin now is very old and sick and not always correct with names. I want to do this so future family will know the story. Thank you.
Denise

CKSP Doumen ferry had free shuttle bus to 古井 / Taxi from DM saves $$$ & time
www.cksp.com.hk/price_list/DM.pdf
From ZS to ur GGF's hometown a BAD idea.
-NO passgener ferry from Macau (My dad used to be 1 of the "snack" boy on this route b4 PRC took over) ANYMORE. Please study the "map". ZS to XH need cross river. Bridges btw them are either on Head/ tail (NO middle -which ZS city proper & ur GGF hometown located

[geeweilum]

A young fellow at our Gee Society Meeting place is trying to locate the village of Lai Dong Ha (lower village )near Saam Hop or Saam Gop where his father was born.. There is also a Lai Dong Sheng (Upper Village ). Apparently the village has an alternate identity as Schek Gow How (Stone Headed Dog). It seems that most of the Gee Elders here are from the same area.

They seem to all be from within 10 miles of Taicheng or Toisan City. Can you help

Geeweilum

[tyuti1668]

Are u looking for this? www.c-c-c.org/villagedb/display.cgi?level=Subheung&id=29
According to the China Post DB the above villages are in "三合镇北联村委会"
The MAP

[geeweilum]

Thanks tyuti1668,
I did look up the village in the Village Database and found the village in Sam Gop. It is the location of Lai Tung on a map of Toishan that we were looking for.
Thank you for providing same. Once again the forum has succeeded in aiding the search for our ancestoral roots.
Geewilum

[katrina]

Hi all, I am trying to find a village that my grandfather came from in the See Yup district, I believe near Hoi Ping. One uncle thought it was YNCHEEGOK. My grandfather was born in 1861 and we think that he changed his name from AH HAB to MENG KIM when he married in Australia in 1899. Can anyone give me any ideas, I am new to this ! Thanks Katrina

[Henry]

Hi Katrina,

Welcome to our Forum.

It would enable us to help you if you can provide the Chinese characters for your grandfather's name and name of the ancestral village. The family surname is helpful because most of the villages in the SiYi region are inhabited by people from the same clan - this helps to differentiate villages. Once the correct village is identified and you have the Chinese name. Then, it is possible to have a person confirm that this is the correct villages, inquire about villages relatives and the existence of a family genealogy book. This book would identify and confirm claims by villagers that they are directly related to you and the book also provides documentation of the family lineage.

You can attach an image of the Chinese names for the names of your grandfather and/or ancestral village name or post it from directions from the following link:

siyigenealogy.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=827

Henry