Latest Stories: Roots of China Culture, Heritage & Legacy

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nttThe Wuyi (五) region of Guangdong Province sent over two million people overseas between 1840 and 1940 — and every single one of them came from a specific village. Not…

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BySteven

23

Jul 2026

Labor Migration Wuyi Diaspora

Chinese Railroad Workers: The Wuyi Villages That Built the Transcontinental

Chinese Railroad Workers: The Wuyi Villages That Built the Transcontinental Between 1865 and 1869, approximately 12,000 Chinese workers laid the track that connected America from coast to coast. More than…

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BySteven

22

Jul 2026

diaspora History and Culture Primary Sources

What Is Qiaopi? A Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Remittance Letters

Between 1850 and 1950, millions of Chinese emigrants sent home letters unlike any correspondence in human history. Each one was simultaneously a love letter, a bank transfer, a household budget,…

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BySteven

13

Jul 2026

Practical Guide Roots Trip Planning Wuyi Heritage

Plan Your Wuyi Roots Trip: Visas, Routes, and Getting There

Plan Your Wuyi Roots Trip: Visas, Routes, and Getting There The Five Counties (五邑, Wǔyì) of Wuyi — Taishan (台山), Kaiping (开平), Xinhui (新会), Enping (恩平), and Heshan (鹤山) —…

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BySteven

06

Jul 2026

Migration Routes Port Towns

Guanghai: Taishan’s Historic Port Town and Its Maritime Diaspora

Guanghai: Taishan's Historic Port Town and Its Maritime Diaspora The Fortress by the Sea The year was 1387. The Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming dynasty, looked at…

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BySteven

04

Jul 2026

Migration History Museums

Inside the Taishan Overseas Chinese Museum: What 150 Years of Qiaopi Letters Reveal About Love and Distance

Between 1840 and 1949, the Wuyi region sent over two million people overseas — and for a century, the only thread connecting them to home was paper. The qiaopi (侨批,…

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BySteven

03

Jul 2026

Labor Migration Wuyi Diaspora

What Wuyi Workers Built: A Labor Migration Atlas

Between 1840 and 1940, the Siyi (四邑, Four Counties) region of Guangdong sent over two million laborers overseas — the largest sustained labor migration in modern Chinese history. These were…

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BySteven

03

Jul 2026

qiaoxiang Return Migration Taishan

Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm: The Taishan Town That Built a Home for Returned Chinese

Between 1840 and 1940, the Siyi (四邑) region of Guangdong sent over two million people overseas — one of the largest sustained migrations in modern history. Taishan alone contributed an…

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BySteven

29

Jun 2026

diaspora Primary Sources Wuyi History

Reading Qiaopi: What Remittance Letters Reveal About Wuyi Families

A guide to reading qiaopi — the remittance letters that sustained Wuyi families for a century. Five representative letters with full translations and analysis, revealing the formula, the feeling, and…

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The Meijia Courtyard of Duanfen, Taishan: 108 Buildings That Ten Surname Groups Built with Gold Mountain Dreams

In 1931, at the peak of overseas Chinese remittances to Taishan, ten surname groups pooled their Gold Mountain earnings to build something unprecedented — a 108-building arcaded market town on…

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BySteven

Yamen 1279: The Battle That E...

Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm:...

What Is Qiaopi? A Beginner&#8...

The Meijia Courtyard of Duanf...

The Women Who Left: Chinese F...

All Posts

Yamen 1279: The Battle That E...

Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm:...

What Is Qiaopi? A Beginner&#8...

The Meijia Courtyard of Duanf...

The Women Who Left: Chinese F...

The Village Atlas of Wuyi: An Interactive Guide to Ancestral Home Villages

Chinese Railroad Workers: The Wuyi Villages That Built the Transcontinental

What Is Qiaopi? A Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Remittance Letters

Plan Your Wuyi Roots Trip: Visas, Routes, and Getting There

Guanghai: Taishan’s Historic Port Town and Its Maritime Diaspora

Inside the Taishan Overseas Chinese Museum: What 150 Years of Qiaopi Letters Reveal About Love and Distance

What Wuyi Workers Built: A Labor Migration Atlas

Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm: The Taishan Town That Built a Home for Returned Chinese

Reading Qiaopi: What Remittance Letters Reveal About Wuyi Families

The Meijia Courtyard of Duanfen, Taishan: 108 Buildings That Ten Surname Groups Built with Gold Mountain Dreams

Yamen 1279: The Battle That E...

Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm:...

What Is Qiaopi? A Beginner&#8...

The Meijia Courtyard of Duanf...

The Women Who Left: Chinese F...

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