My Recent China Trip - November 2017

[Henry]

Dear Colleagues,

I have been encouraged by friends to share a summary of my recent trip to China. You can view or download the PDF document from my Dropbox:

www.dropbox.com/s/18r6aauy35v4122/China%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Nov%2010%20-%2022.pdf?dl=0

In essence, the trip had 3 goals:

1 Organize & prepare for the Overseas Chinese Genealogy Workshop in Jiangman & Wuyi region, Guangdong, China, hosted by Wuyi University - November 7 - 17, 2018 : announcement is attached.

2 Travel to several important Li/Lee Clan sites in China

3 Gather Li/Lee genealogy books to compile my maternal Li/Lee lineage of 145 generations from HuangDi down to my grandchildren.

I am happy to report that all 3 goals were achieved.

We also visited the Memorial & Tomb of Chen Hu Gong in Huaiyang, Henan, China as well as the Chen ancestral hall in Zhujijiang, where I bought the new two volume Chen genealogy book for Guangdong province. The Guangdong province tour, a pre-workshop tour of the Overseas Chinese Genealogy Workshop will include visits to Zhujixiang heritage village, MeiGuan (Pass), and Tiantangshan Memorial & Tomb of Chen Feng Tai, the Chen progenitor of Guangdong province.

Henry

Attachments:

Announcement 2018 Overseas Chinese Genealog....doc (165.5 KB)

[douglaslam]

Henry, You covered a lot of ground in a very short time, and you're an excellent organiser in getting your group off the ground.

I met Selia Tan when she was in Sydney last year. I did not manage to spend more time to talk with her. She is always forthcoming in extending help and all my emails to her were answered in a timely fashion. I am sure your collaboration with Selia will lead to great things. Douglas

[Henry]

Hi Douglas,

Selia Tan is a wonderful historian and educator. She is one of the people responsible in getting the Kaiping Watch Towers (diaolou) recognized as a UNESCO Heritage Site and key person in the Jiangmen Wuyi Museum of Overseas Chinese - both are truly excellent places to visit, not to be missed if you travel to this part of China.

Henry

[douglaslam]

Hi Henry,

I did visit the Museum two or three years ago with Ming, my village brother. It packs an awful lot in the premises. The Museum is a venue I'll show overseas visitors to in future.

Diaolou owners or trustees are now asking exorbitant amounts for interior tours. I did mine back in 2010.

Selia is ever ready to extend help. If she could not find the time to help you personally, she would recommend people she knew well to give assistance. Selia is well connected.

Douglas

[jlee]

Hi Henry,
I just stumbled upon the tour which sounds very interesting as I am searching for the father's village in Guangdong at the moment. Is this tour open to other nationalities besides US residents?
Thank you in advance.
Julie

[Henry]

Hi Julie,

Yes, this workshop/tour is open to all, which includes the option of researching & visiting ancestral villages.

Please send me an email [ [e-mail]] and I will reply and answer any questions you might have.

Henry

[wingjoe]

Wow Henry. That's all I can say. 145 generations from Huang Di! And to think I'm stuck at 3 generations. I need inspiration and some thinking outside my box to dig up more leads. You got a lot accomplished in a very short time. Congratulations. Wingjoe

[Henry]

Hi Wingjoe,

Actually, it is not as hard as you would imagine.

All the actual Lee lineages are already done previously by Lee ancestors - all you have to do is to find the books.

On this trip, we were visiting the major places where the Lee/Li/Lei Clan originated from in China. I amassed 145 pounds of Li clan genealogy books. Then we selected out the line in the lineage that descended to Li Lian, first Lee/Li progenitor of Guangdong province.

You are doing the hardest part linking your family lineage into your village lineage which probably goes to your surname progenitor for Guangdong province.

By the way, I also found the 148 generations for my paternal side - Tan/Tom/Hom down to my grand children.

Where are you located - you may want to attend one of the genealogy workshops that I organize.

Henry

[ronchun]

Thanks for the pictures.  Waiting to hear from My China Roots whether they can meet with government authorities and get Jiapu.  Noted Chinese-Hawaiian genelogist Doug Chong thinks they were probably destroyed -- don't get up my hopes too high.  Don't know if the Chen books you got would be helpful in tracing my line to Huang Di without knowing that my family Jiapu still exists.  Thank you for the photos and summary.  If the Chen books are helpful, is it possible to purchase copies from you or wait until someone goes back there.

[Henry]

Hi Ron,

I believe in your case, you would just need your Chen village genealogy that traces your family lineage back up to Chen Feng Tai, the first Chen to come to Guangdong. Several members of the Chen clan have already done the research and compiled the Chen lineage from HuangDi down to Chen Feng Tai. In those 4 set Chen lineage scrolls that various Chen members have - from Dr. Philip Tan, the first 3 scrolls are the same - it is in the fourth scroll from Chen Feng Tai down to you is what is different.

By the way, in the pre-workshop tour of Guangdong province this November, we will visit the Chen Ancestral Hall in Zhujixiang, where you pay $65 to have your name added to the tablets in the Chen ancestral hall and they give you a 2 volume set of Chen genealogy lineages for Guangdong province that was published in 2016. The previous edition was only one volume.


Henry

[genekl]

Hello Henry, About the workshop and tours:

[1] In the PDF, the link to "Information & Forms" does not work. How to access?
[2] Is the Pre-Workshop tour of Guangdong (Meiguan etc.) part of the 8 hotel days?
[3] Can I join only the above [2] for the rate mentioned?

About myself, I am retired American, visit relatives in Guangdong, have been to many of the Si-Wuyi sites, including my ancestral village. I attended Dr Phillip Tan's wonderful recent presentation in Kuala Lumpur. Hope to meet you someday too!

Eugene Chan

[Henry]

Hi Eugene,

1 Here is a link that I just checked & it is working : www.dropbox.com/sh/c3457n94n6c0j9j/AADbU9lxYsou3npa4LMme0dma?dl=0

2 No, The pre-workshop tour of Guangdong province is synchronized with the workshop, but not included in he workshop price. You can join it as a standalone tour for $317 USD per person - the price dropped because we now have at least 16 people attending.

3 I have invited my dear friend Philip Tan to give the keynote at the workshop.

Please contact me directly [ [e-mail] ] - so, I can provide additional information.

Henry

[wingjoe]

Henry

I'm in the suburbs west of Philadelphia. My email is [e-mail]. Let me knw if you have any genealogy seminars in my area. I'd like to attend one.

Thanks WingJoe

[Henry]

WingJoe,

We had a Chinese American genealogy Workshop in New York Chinatown during the first weekend in April.

Henry