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History and Culture

Explore Wuyi culture and traditions through cultural practices, festivals, and rites such as Chinese New Year celebrations, ancestor worship, and other traditional customs celebrated by Wuyi families

Wall in Zhuji Lane displaying Chinese surnames representing ancestral roots of the Wuyi region.
Cities of Wuyi History and Culture

Ancient Roots, New Traditions: Ethnic Integration in the Wuyi Region

The Wuyi region—comprising Xinhui, Taishan, Kaiping, Heshan, and Enping counties in Guangdong—is renowned for its distinctive culture shaped by centuries of migration and ethnic integration. Situated at the junction between the Pearl River Delta and the rugged hills of western Guangdong, Wuyi’s unique identity is a product of diverse ethnicities and historical narratives merging into…
May 24, 20251Comment

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Illustrated black-and-white portrait of Feng Ru with depictions of his early aircraft and in-flight piloting, symbolizing China's aviation origins.
Enping History and Culture

Feng Ru of Enping: The Chinese Wright Brother You’ve Never Heard Of

ucked in the hills of Guangzhou’s Huanghuagang Cemetery, beside the tombs of seventy-two revolutionary martyrs, rests a name few today recognize—yet one that once soared across continents. Feng Ru (冯如), born in 1884 in the humble village of Xingwei, Enping (恩平杏围村), carved his place in history as the first Chinese aviator and aircraft engineer. He…
May 19, 20250Comments

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Cities of Wuyi History and Culture

The Legacy of the Wuyi Overseas Student Movement: Pioneers of Modernization

China has long been recognized as a cradle of civilization and a center of intellectual and cultural diffusion across Asia. For over a millennium, its philosophical traditions—most notably Confucianism—shaped governance, ethics, and education systems in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The imperial examination system, which emphasized merit-based selection of officials, was among the earliest forms of…
May 15, 20251Comment

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Wu Tingfang, a prominent diplomat and lawyer, is seen surrounded by American officials, highlighting his efforts to protect overseas Chinese rights during the late 19th century.
Cities of Wuyi Emigration Stories History and Culture

Five Counties Immigrants and Their Struggle Against 19th-Century Racism

In May 1869, as the golden spike was driven into the final rail of America’s first Transcontinental Railroad, marking a historic moment that symbolized progress and unity, a painful omission cast a long shadow over the celebration. The Chinese laborers who had built the most treacherous stretches of the Central Pacific Railroad were nowhere to…
May 13, 20250Comments

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World map showing the global routes of the 19th-century coolie trade from Asia and the Pacific to the Americas and Caribbean.
History and Culture

The Coolie Trade and Early Migration Patterns (1840–1874)

The mid-19th century marked a dark yet transformative period in Chinese migration history, dominated by the global coolie trade (苦力贸易). Tens of thousands of laborers, predominantly from Guangdong’s Taishan, Xinhui, and Enping counties, were swept into this exploitative system. Between 1840 and 1874, over 200,000 Chinese workers were shipped to destinations such as Peru, Cuba,…
April 9, 20250Comments

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