RESOURCES > Chinese Genealogy Resources > Ancestral Village Research

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 台山市斗山镇大湾村 (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.

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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