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Post by ngkokweng on May 1, 2013 11:12:09 GMT -5
Hi Doug, I am planning my trip now. Definitely, I will give you a field report about my trip. Hopefully, a meaningful one. Once again, thank you very much for your inputs. Cheers!
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Post by ngkokweng on May 1, 2013 11:49:00 GMT -5
Hi laohuaqiao,
Thank you for your information. I am now planning a trip to Kaiping in second or third week of June 2013. My primary objective is to look for my paternal linkeage in Kaiping. As an enroute, I will like to make an impromptu stop at The Seto Library ˾ͽͼÊé¹Ý in Chikan ³à¿² since it is not far from Kaiping city center.
Hopefully, I can find my ancestral village at Èý½¹ÜÇø ÐÂÌîÀï. If not, I will have to travel to Sun Tin Lay ÐÂÌïÀï where village database listed it as Ng/Wu Îâ village as researched by you. Thank you so much for providing this link.
As for my itinerary, I am a complete novice to Kaiping. Can you share with me some recommendations based on your experience.
I plan to fly to Shenzhen and then take a coach to Kaiping. And, from Kaiping make my way back to Hong Kong to take a flight home. How many days do I need to plan for this trip. I am thinking of spending two days in Hong Kong and two days in Shenzhen to absorb the sight and sound since I have to arrange my flights in and take of Kaiping from these two places.
What you think? Many thanks, again for your help.
I am not considering GuangZhou as Trip Advisor's top 30 destinations' review did not show up many places of my interest yet.
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Post by laohuaqiao on May 1, 2013 21:12:33 GMT -5
ngkokweng, I'm not familiar with Shenzhen airport and how convenient is it to get to Kaiping from there. Perhaps others here can comment on it. All I can say is it's easy to connect a flight landing at Hong Kong airport to Shenzhen by ferry, without going through Hong Kong customs and immigration. You may want to consider that.
The other thing is I'm going to be in Taishan and Kaiping area at the end of May and probably be there during the second week of June too. If you want I can do a little research for you before you arrive. If so, I'll need some more information on your grandfather from you. You can let me know by responding to this post or send me a message via this forum. BTW, once we locate your grandfather's village, people in the village may know what village your grandmother came from and therefore track down your great aunts' families.
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Post by twoupman on May 1, 2013 22:44:32 GMT -5
ngkokweng, Unless you have a valid reason, why fly into Shenzhen? You might as well fly into Guangzhou (Baiyun) Airport where there are direct buses to Kaiping. This is much more convenient than Shenzhen. twoupman houseofchinn.com
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Post by ngkokweng on May 2, 2013 12:07:20 GMT -5
laohuaqiao,
Thank you for your help. It will be great! I do not have more information concerning my paternal grandfather except his Chinese name. Most of the information I have already posted in this thread. Please let me know what other information you need which will be necessary.
If I could track down my lineage, I would like to have a copy of the jiapu, a prayer/visit to my ancestral burial sites, touch base with all my lost & found relatives there and comply & dessiminate all my findings/records to my siblings and relatives back home.
I like your proposed travel idea of taking a flight to Hong Kong and then travel by boat to Shenzhen. I will plan along this approach. Thank you.
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Post by ngkokweng on May 2, 2013 12:31:44 GMT -5
Hi twoupman,
Thank you for your response and travel suggestion. I will keep this option in mind.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am not considering Guangzhou as Trip Advisor's top 30 destinations' reviews did not show up many places of my interest yet.
Indeed, there is no compelling reasons to be in Hongkong and Shenzhen. Just my idea to spend a couple of days each in both of these destinations, as a stop-over tourist.
I will probably spend two days in Kaiping and make provision for another day to go to Chikan to visit The Seto Library.
Btw, do you recommend any places of interest to visit in Guangzhou. Thanks!
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Post by laohuaqiao on May 2, 2013 21:51:08 GMT -5
What was your grandfather's Chinese name, approximately when he was born, how many brothers and sisters did he have, when did he leave the village, and where did he go overseas? These info would help people in the village recall who your grandfather was and what lineage he belonged to.
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Post by twoupman on May 2, 2013 22:42:19 GMT -5
ngkokweng,
What sights are you interested in? If you Google "Guangzhou sights" you will see quite a lot of suggestions as it is a very large city with lots of history and personages. TripAdvisor is not the only source to rely on. BTW, you do not have to stopover in Guangzhou if you are only interested in visiting Kaiping. By going through Guangzhou Airport you have more convenient access to Kaiping and with shorter travel times. Just a suggestion since the price of airfare from Singapore is probably the same for Hong Kong or Guangzhou.
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Post by Angela on May 3, 2013 0:47:01 GMT -5
Guangzhou - besides all the lovely cuisines you can experience there are a few historical sites that could visit
* Shamian Island (沙面) - foreign trade port during the Song & Qing Dynasty. All the historical building is still standing today. very European.
* Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall
* Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb Museum (南越王墓博物馆) - There is a tomb of a King from (206 B.C.-24 A.D.) from the Han Dynasty with a very unique silk outfit with many jade sewn to it.
* Chen Clan Academy - built during the Qing Dynasty and was a place for scolars to study and prepare for Imperial Examination.
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Post by ngkokweng on May 4, 2013 2:32:46 GMT -5
laohuaqiao, I get back to you shortly on my grandfather's name and his estimated DOB. I do not have the information on how many siblings he had. Based on my information, my grandfather left Kaiping and settled down in Singapore in the mid 1930s from what I was able to gather, but I am unable to ascertain it as a fact. I am so excited to come to the bottom of this lineage journey. Once again, thank you.
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Post by ngkokweng on May 4, 2013 2:38:12 GMT -5
twoupman, Thank you for your information. I will do more research on "Guangzhou sights". Come to think of it, I should at least explore this place which was the also my fore fathers' city. And I should study the history of this place and its surroundings. Thanks.
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Post by ngkokweng on May 4, 2013 2:40:36 GMT -5
Angela, Thank you for your suggestions. Now, I have more reasons to visit this city. Btw, how did your trip go? Hope you had some fruitful discoveries.
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Post by kevinlau on May 4, 2013 9:04:45 GMT -5
Hello friends, I don't know if anyone can help point me in the right direction with locating my grandfathers hometown! His name was Lau ah Gau, he was from canton. On the only document I can find, it says he was from a place called 'DO'. The only place I can find Is Long dou (now大涌) zhongshan. He came to the UK as a sailor in 1925 or thereabouts. He was already married before coming to the UK but never returned. My dad doesn't really know much about his background and thinks his family may have moved to HK later. I am now in GUangZhou for a while and hoped I could get some pointers. I'm sorry I don't have much to go on!
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Post by lachinatown on May 4, 2013 9:50:56 GMT -5
Kevin, do you have any Chinese characters? Do you know which county in Guangdong? There are villages listed in village database for the Cantonese who came to the United States. When people say they came from Canton, doesn't mean the City of Guangshou, but meant Guangdong. There are couple of villages with a 1 syllable name for the surname LAU (劉): Lau (劉), Lo (老), Kau (舊), Kau (舊) (different Heung). Can it be the Lo (老) village? How did you come about with "The only place I can find Is Long dou (now大涌) zhongshan."? database is located at chinese.rootswiki.legacy1.net/doku.php?id=references:villages:village_database:lau
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Post by ngkokweng on May 4, 2013 14:55:30 GMT -5
lachinatown, You are really resourceful!
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