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Post by Henry on Mar 5, 2010 21:29:18 GMT -5
Hi Floyd, This map shows the Kaiping area and approximately 25 Km / 16 miles north of Min Fong Lay agrees with the fact that most people walk about 3 miles an hour and is consistent with the 5 hour walking time - whew ! Please note the reference village of Liquncun village: mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/Lai Tong.jpg[/img] Using Liquncun village as a reference location, you will see that I was only able to locate just two of the villages: Lai Tung viilage and Cheng Kwut Lay: I believe that Sheung Sum Lay village is probably north of Chung Sum Lay because I think Chung in this context refers to the middle/center - so the Sheung probably refers to higher or above. As you will note, these villages are so close to each other about a half mile from each other - once you are in this area - finding the missing village should not be difficult. Regards, Henry
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Post by floyd on Mar 5, 2010 23:58:10 GMT -5
Hi Henry, once again thank you for the maps, you have already saved me a lot of time and expense for which I am indebted to you.
In order to obtain this information I would have had to make arrangements to get access to the US Army grid map for Kwangtung province that is referenced in the "Village database"(http://www.c-c-c.org/villagedb/about.html) I sent an email yesterday to Dominic Yu to cancel my request for information. He is another volunteer person that we owe a lot of gratitude in helping to develop the "Village" database. Time flies, I first made contact with Dominic in 2006 before putting this project into hiatus until 2010.
I have been reading some of your posts since I signed up yesterday. I am intrigued about utilizing the consulting services of your nephew in Kaiping as a contingency plan during my visit to my father's ancestral village and the three potential village homes on my mother's side of the family. Can you provide me with his contact information, email and/or phone?
Regards, Floyd
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Post by Henry on Mar 6, 2010 7:30:56 GMT -5
Hi Floyd, Please contact me directly at the following email for information: Tomclan@Gmail.com Also, visit my website for some background information: mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/index.htmlHenry
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Post by floyd on May 18, 2010 17:43:05 GMT -5
Follow up report to my visit from Hong Kong to Kaiping in April 2010 Part 1 Thanks again to Henry for assisting me in pinpointing the map locations of my ancestral villages of my parents at Min Fong Lay and Lai Tung in Kaiping. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to trace my “roots” back to a Chinese verse my father made me memorize as a child “Guangdong, Hoiping, Lau Gong Heung”, he never told me the village name of Min Fong Lay to the best of my recollection, maybe it was too many foreign words for a “CBC” (Canadian Born Chinese) kid to remember. Just prior to my departure, my sister uncovered some correspondence between my mother and her family in Lai Tung dating back about 15 years ago, apparently they lost touch with each other over the years. A friend’s address in Kowloon was referenced in one of the letters, what were the odds of the person still living at the same address for the past 15 years and just happened to be located less than a minute walk from my hotel .Needless to say fate was on my side and this family friend became the key to reconnecting with my mother’s relatives in Lai Tung and Guangzhou. My friends in Hong Kong had arranged my bus trip to Kaiping with the Motor Transport Company of Guangdong and Hong Kong (English website no longer available) at the Cross-Border Coach Terminus (Tel. 2317 7900, Hong Kong Scout Centre, 8 Austin Rd), behind the BP International Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon . Other option was to use Trans-Island Chinalink (Tel. 2336 1111, www.trans-island.com.hk/eng/china-line.html#kaiping) Buses depart from Prince Edward MTR next to the Metropark Hotel It was about a 4 hour trip including several stops in Hong Kong and lineups for China Immigration and Customs. My wife and I filled out the health questionnaires, entry and exit cards, got in the line for “foreigners” , presented our passports with China Visas and checked our luggage through Customs X-ray and hopped back onto the bus which was waiting for us at the exit end of Immigration and Customs. This bus did not have a “pit stop” at the half way point as everyone declined his offer to stop as most passengers had gone to the washroom at the border checkpoint. We arrived at the Changsha bus station (photo attached) in Kaiping around noon and hopped into a taxi that was parked inside the bus lot which I thought was unusual, previous postings on the internet had suggested that taxis were not allowed inside the bus station compound. It was about a 7 minute trip to our Pan Tower International Hotel, cost of taxi was 11 Rmb or approximately$2. In my opinion, this hotel continued to warrant a 4-5 star rating. My mother’s relatives were waiting in the lobby, we had an interesting lunch reunion where my wife did an excellent job of translating for me. A friend’s van was used to transport us to Ming Fong Lay (Mianfang in Mandarin) where they had arranged for my visitation with the caretakers of our family home which had been vacant for the past 10 years. As I paused to look around and “soaked” in the emotions, I said to myself…”There, but for the grace of God, go I” (our fate is not entirely in our hands) Attached photos of village and home. We were also driven a short distance to the local clan society building where they explained to me that the ancestral books for my family were lost during the Cultural Revolution. Fortunately my father had already left us a summary sheet tracing back our ancestors for 14 generations. continued in Part 2 Attachments:
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Post by floyd on May 18, 2010 17:47:20 GMT -5
I guess, I have to insert photos one at a time Attachments:
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Post by floyd on May 18, 2010 17:48:14 GMT -5
photos contd Attachments:
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Post by floyd on May 18, 2010 17:49:12 GMT -5
photos contd Attachments:
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Post by floyd on May 18, 2010 17:52:30 GMT -5
Follow up report to my visit from Hong Kong to Kaiping in April 2010 Part 2 Next stop was my mother’s ancestral village of Lai Tung (Lidong in Mandarin) which was much larger than Min Fong Lay. Her family home was also no longer occupied, but in much better condition. Attached photos of home and village After an exciting afternoon, we returned to our hotel to exchange gifts, I brought sufficient “red envelopes” to hopefully satisfy my relative’s expectations of financial gifts as a visitor from Canada. In addition, it was important to show my monetary appreciation to the van driver, caretakers of our old home and clan society elder who gave a brief overview of my family history. On the following day, our return bus trip from Kaiping to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong was much longer at about 4.75 hours due to lengthier lineups at China Immigration and Customs. Additional websites that I found useful were as follows: toronto.china-consulate.org/eng/vp/ (China visa application in Toronto) maps.google.com/maps/place?ftid=0x3401fc24882c4c1b:0x6a1305be97b802a9&q=kaiping+china&hl=en&cad=src:pplink_gc&ei=G73yS_LlMqTqzAS1s42GCA (google map of Kaiping) friendsofdiaolou.org/ (see visitors section) www.lonelyplanet.com/china/hong-kong/transport/getting-there-away (travel connections from Hong Kong) I was also able to take a side trip from Hong Kong to Beijing and visit the usual tourist attractions at Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Wangfujing, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs and the Great Wall of China at Badaling, It was a wonderful experience to learn about China’s cultural and historical links to its past, present and potential. Thank you everyone for participating in this website to help those who wish to find their roots in Guangdong province. Regards, Floyd Attachments:
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Post by floyd on May 18, 2010 17:53:25 GMT -5
Lai Tung photos contd Attachments:
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Post by floyd on May 18, 2010 17:54:52 GMT -5
Lai Tung photos contd Attachments:
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Post by helen on May 19, 2010 3:15:57 GMT -5
wow - awesome photos - have you set up a blog so we can see more? Just you wait til HARC3 comes back. He's Canadian as well, and has just had a trip of a life time.
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Post by harc3 on May 19, 2010 8:18:28 GMT -5
I agree with Helen. Awesome pics and what a great feeling going back to your village etc. I have returned and Helen is right. I had the trip of a lifetime
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Post by floyd on May 19, 2010 19:18:50 GMT -5
Hi Helen, Harc3, send me an email at hoiping2010@hotmail.com and I will send you a link to view album that I just created for my Kaiping trip.
Same goes for anyone else who is interested.
Regards, Floyd
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Post by Ah Gin on May 20, 2010 2:21:05 GMT -5
floyd, harc3,
Welcome back to the Western world. I enjoyed reading your travel tales -- as good as being there and I can feel the emotion of reconnecting with one's roots. Being an overseas born myself, I know the special feeling of walking the laneways of one's ancestral home -- to think that many generations lived there, and indeed, present generations are still living in the same village, same house. Looking at floyd's picture -- the kitchen, the family altar, etc. all remind me very much of my cousin's and aunt's place. Something changed, but at the village level, somethings remain the same.
Kaiping is where my ancestral home village is located, and travelling back to Kaiping will always be as exciting as the first time. And your travel tales are great.
Regards, Ah Gin
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