Chinese Family History Group of Southern California

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  • HOME
  • RESOURCES
    • Chinese Genealogy Resources >
      • Guide for Researching Your Chinese Family History
      • Ancestral Village Research
      • Chinese Clan & Family Histories
      • Chinese & Chinese American Photographic Resources
      • Chinese and Chinese American Timelines & History >
        • Exclusion Acts
      • Chinese Genealogical & Historical Organizations
      • Chinese History Publications >
        • Heritage Collection at LA Public Library
      • Chinese Surname Research
      • Conversion of Chinese Calendars
      • Chinese Language Tools
    • General Genealogy Resources >
      • Government Sources & NARA
      • Preservation of Documents & Photos
      • Oral History Interview Techniques
      • Writing Your Family History
  • MEETINGS
    • Next Meeting
    • Past Meetings
  • JOIN / DONATE
    • Become A Member
    • Donate
    • Purchase the Guide For Researching Your Chinese Family History
  • CONTACT
  • CFHGSC Archive

Ancestral Villages

Ancestral Village Research

Chinese Village Database   http://villagedb.friendsofroots.org
Founded in 1991, the In Search of Roots program involves a yearlong commitment on researching one’s Chinese American family history and genealogy. After exploring their Chinese roots in America, participants will explore their roots in China through visiting their maternal or paternal ancestral villages in the Pearl River Delta region Guangdong Province. The program culminates in a Chinese New Year exhibition of the interns’ research at the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco, where participants share what they have learned with family, friends, and community.

Search for Chinese villages in the Guangdong (Canton) region by surnames. Includes four counties:
  1. 中山 / Chung Shan / Zhōng Shān
  2. 開平 / Hoiping / Kāi Píng
  3. 新會 / Sun Wui / Xīn Huì
  4. 台山 / Toishan
Surnames listed for each village may or may not be current due to migration. 

Google Maps https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en
Find English and Chinese maps, plus satellite maps.  Search for Taishan (Toisan) villages in Guangdong by pasting in the characters for the name of your village台山市大湾村 (replace 大湾村 with the characters for your village).  If the village is not in 台山 Taishan but in Guangdong Province, then paste in the name of county (see 1. -3.) characters for中山 Zhongshan, 開平 Kaiping, and 新會Xinhui, and then the characters for your village.
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The Taishan Project by Richard S. Lee
​The Taishan Project opens a window on contemporary life in a place sacred to the first Chinese who traveled abroad to establish new lives in the West. If you have family from Taishan or simply want to learn more about the Chinese community in your country, you are welcome here.
http://www.taishanproject.com/about-taishan-2019/
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/china.html
U.S. Army Maps Service, Series L500 from 1954
NF 49-4           Kuang-Chou 6.2mb
NF 49-4           Kuang-Chou (Canton) and Vicinity 3.1mb – detail map of Guangzhou City
NF 49-8           Chung-Shan 6.4mb – western Pearl River Delta
NF 49-8           Macau and Vicinity 3.9mb – detail map of City
NF 49-12         Ch’ih-Ch’I 4.8mb – southerly Guangdong area & sea
NF 50-1           Ho-Yuan 6.7mb – east of Guangzhou and north of Hong Kong
NF 50-5           Hong Kong 5.1mb – Hong Kong region
NF 50-5           Victoria, Kowloon and Vicinity 3.5mb – detail map of Hong Kong
District Names in Pinyin Mandarin and Cantonese
Friends of Roots, San Francisco
​Friends of Roots ​operates the Roots: Him Mark Lai Family History Project, a year-long program geared to toward young people, culmination in a journey to their ancestral villages in the Pearl River Delta region and beyond.  A similar program geared for adults over 30 and family groups called "Roots Plus". 
http://www.friendsofroots.org/
 
Friends of Roots also operates and maintains a Village Database where you can search by surname and village name.
http://villagedb.friendsofroots.org/search.cgi




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The Chinese Family History Group of Southern California (CFHGSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.  EIN: 82-4366653
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