|
Post by bobbylo on May 3, 2016 18:22:49 GMT -5
Hello, Our family consisting of parents and three children are visiting the Guangzhou area in hopes of visiting our ancestral village. I only have the name of the village and need help to find them so that we can hire a driver to go there and see it. Can someone help us to locate the following villages:
1. 龍盤里 village in 新会?
2. 中山 二區 下澤鄉?
Thanks so much! Lowe Family
|
|
|
Post by douglaslam on May 3, 2016 19:18:07 GMT -5
bobbylo, 中山 二區 下澤鄉 is part of 沙溪鎮. I was there last October, just passing on my way to another village. Chan is one of the clans there. It is very easy to get to. If you are staying in Shekkei 石岐, and adventurous, you can get there by bus as I would. If not, a taxi would cost just a few US$s. Any taxi driver worth his salt can take you there, best to get one who speaks Cantonese. He would know the villages better. Anyway the village is not out in the sticks. I am attaching an image I took last year to give you an idea. This is one of the villages gates Problems? Let me know.
|
|
|
Post by lachinatown on May 3, 2016 19:30:18 GMT -5
The 2nd one: 22.516292, 113.308134 中山 下澤村 Xiazecun, west of Zhongshan. (douglaslam beat me to it. Can't read the character on your picture douglaslam)
As for the 1st one: lot of villages in Xinhui begin with dragon 龍 character, but not the one you listed.
|
|
|
Post by douglaslam on May 3, 2016 20:12:14 GMT -5
lachinatown, Yes, it is a bit hard to read the characters except for 下. It is definitely it. I went pass there on my way to member andrewAU's village. I have an old friend who hailed from that village. His family has been in the country for a century.
|
|
|
Post by lachinatown on May 3, 2016 20:57:47 GMT -5
Thank you douglaslam, you are the expert in this area.
bobbylo, can you tell us how you come to the villages, from written record or headstones? Doing some research, we think the first one is located in Kaiping, not in Xinhui. Also what is your surname? USA?
|
|
|
Post by twoupman on May 3, 2016 23:12:14 GMT -5
bobbylo, Your 龍盤里 Longpanli village is located in 新会 Xinhui as you mentioned, GPS @22.448697, 112.991173. twoupman houseofchinn.com
|
|
|
Post by lachinatown on May 4, 2016 9:31:31 GMT -5
The Long "pan" village in Xinhui is not the same one as the one you show on your post bobbylo. Therefore, which Chinese character is the correct one for your village?
|
|
|
Post by bobbylo on May 4, 2016 13:54:04 GMT -5
Thanks so much! Is 沙溪鎮 "sa kai" village? I don't read Chinese characters very well but I remember my mother talking about this place. I am glad that it will be easy to find. How do I find the exact location through GPS? We are very excited to go there even though we do not know where the ancestral house is. My mother's surname is Lum.
|
|
|
Post by bobbylo on May 4, 2016 14:12:11 GMT -5
Hi Lachinatown, Our surname is Lowe 劉 and we are in Canada. I got the village name from my father's tombstone. These are the characters on it: 龍盤里. I asked my friend to type it out as I cannot read it. As far as I know, my father is from xinhui. Thanks so much for your help.
|
|
|
Post by twoupman on May 4, 2016 19:49:44 GMT -5
bobbylo, Please post the image of the tombstone to verify 龍盤里. From Village Database under 劉 Lau (your Lowe) surname there is only one village bearing the name of Longpanli/Long Poon Lay 龍蟠里 (Line 219) in Xinhui/SunWui which I found on Google Maps/Baidu and mentioned above. I believe the inscription on the tombstone showing 盤 may have been an inadvertent error as both characters have the same pronunciation of Pan/Puhn. twoupman houseofchinn.com
|
|
|
Post by lachinatown on May 4, 2016 20:20:41 GMT -5
Maybe the Xinhui village is the correct one since it is much closer to zhongshan address. When using maps.google.com, just cut and paste coordinates to the search field, then the location will pop up. One of the problems with google maps is that satellite map and street/highway labeling are shifted out of positions. Also village labeling is lacking on maps, some may show up in Chinese maps or only show up at certain zoom level. This makes it double difficult. It is already hard with traditional and simplified Chinese. As for 沙溪鎮 "sa kai (Cantonese)" (Shaxizhen in Mandarin/officail Chinese) village it is the large town the nearby villages are attached to. 22.509284, 113.320725. See attached map for Xiazecun 下澤村 to Shaxizhen 沙溪鎮 to Zhongshan 中山. Read more: siyigenealogy.proboards.com/post/17276/edit#ixzz47k4WqNtMBTW: the two "pan" characters have difference meanings.
|
|
|
Post by bobbylo on May 5, 2016 2:08:00 GMT -5
Thank you for all your useful information. I am feeling more confident about the trip with all this information. As requested, I posted the tombstone with my father's village. Sorry that I posted in the wrong place. Perhaps there was a mistake in one of the characters and we should be visiting the place in Xinwui since it is the same sound. Looking forward to getting the confirmation from you all.
|
|
|
Post by lachinatown on May 5, 2016 9:47:40 GMT -5
Looking at the photo, there is no question which "Pan" character on the headstone. You were correct when first written it. Is there any place on the headstone the town is written? You have any letter or other documents showing Xinhui (SunWui in Cantonese)? Chinese characters are important regardless how people spell them in English or pronounce them.
Do you know who had the headstone made? That will give you an idea of its correctness, such as someone from the same village or a relative who had a personal knowledge of the village.
|
|
|
Post by douglaslam on May 6, 2016 8:45:29 GMT -5
bobbylo, 沙溪鎮 is not a village. It is a cluster of villages which goes by the name Sa Kai 鎮 or if you like, township, of which 下澤鄉 is one. 沙溪鎮 used to be named 沙溪區 or district. Mention Sa Kai to any taxi driver, he is going to get you there.
If your mother's name is Lum, there is a good chance she is from my village or from village like Liu Hau 寮後 or Sha Tin 沙田 where my fellow villagers moved to over the centuries.
lachinatown, Thanks for the kind words. I am no expert on Chungshan. If I knew a little better it is because I am a native of the county and I have made many return trips in recent years. I am going back again in October.
|
|
|
Post by twoupman on May 6, 2016 16:16:37 GMT -5
bobbylo, Do you mind showing the entire tombstone, just out of curiosity, to see what else is depicted? twoupman houseofchinn.com
|
|