Latest Stories: Roots of China Culture, Heritage & Legacy

11

The Surname You Already Hold Your surname is not merely a name inherited from your ancestors. It is a compass — a pointer to a specific village, a specific migration…

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BySteven

10

Jun 2026

Diaspora Stories Wuyi History

The Women Who Built Gold Mountain: Jinshanpo Wives and the Hidden Architecture of Qiaoxiang

The Women Who Built Gold Mountain: Jinshanpo Wives and the Hidden Architecture of Qiaoxiang By RootsWeb Newsroom | June 10, 2026 1. A Face in the Dust The year is…

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BySteven

05

Jun 2026

Coolie Trade Migration History Wuyi Diaspora

Coolie Trade Peru Guano: The White Death on the Chincha Islands

The White Island The islands rise from the Pacific as white cliffs — not of chalk, not of limestone, but of guano (鸟粪, niǎofèn), the accumulated excrement of millions of…

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BySteven

02

Jun 2026

coolie-trade diaspora maritime

Coolie Ships Macau Havana: The Norway’s Bloody Hundred-Day Voyage

In the Siyi (四邑) counties of southern Guangdong — Taishan, Xinhui, Kaiping, Enping — there are villages the old people still call 寡妇村 (guǎfù cūn, "widow villages"). Not because the…

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BySteven

01

Jun 2026

cultural-heritage diaspora festivals

Dragon Boat Festival Across the Diaspora: From Wuyi to the World

rnrnThe dragon boat cuts across False Creek like a blade through memory.rnrnDrum — a single stroke, then the answering crash of twenty paddles striking water in unison. The dragon head…

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BySteven

31

May 2026

diaspora-history qiaoxiang village-deep-dive

Baisha Village, Kaiping: One Village, Five Continents

A tower stands alone in a rice paddy near a river called Baisha. Its reinforced concrete walls face west — toward America. It was built with money sent from a…

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BySteven

18

Mar 2026

australia gold-rush migration-history

New Gold Mountain: Wuyi Pioneers in Australia 1850-1901

New Gold Mountain: Wuyi Pioneers in Australia 1850-1901 Your ancestors might have talked about going to Gold Mountain (金山 Jīnshān). But which one? The Old Gold Mountain (旧金山 Jiù Jīnshān)…

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Taishan Village Life Before the Exodus: 1800-1850

Discover pre-migration Taishan through a bride in 1835—ancestral halls, wedding rituals, and women’s lives before Gold Mountain changed everything.

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BySteven

15

Mar 2026

History and Culture Taishan

Singapore-Taishan Migration History: Two Centuries of Connection

Singapore-Taishan Migration History: Two Centuries of Connection How migrants from one Guangdong county helped build a nation—and maintained a bond that spans 200 years. {{FIG:fig_map_1819}} In May 1822, a Taishanese…

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BySteven

13

Mar 2026

Cities of Wuyi Emigration Stories History and Culture

The Women Who Left: Chinese Female Migrants from Wuyi (1850-1940)

Beyond the familiar story of Gold Mountain wives who waited, there’s another story rarely told: the women who left Wuyi themselves. From tin-washing in Malaya to domestic service in Singapore,…

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BySteven

Cantonese Opera in the Qiaoxi...

Bringing Bones Home: How the...

Wuyi Returnees: The Overseas...

Coffee and the Returning Tast...

Jiangmen Overseas Chinese Pla...

All Posts

Cantonese Opera in the Qiaoxi...

Bringing Bones Home: How the...

Wuyi Returnees: The Overseas...

Coffee and the Returning Tast...

Jiangmen Overseas Chinese Pla...

Your Surname is Your Compass: How to Trace Your Wuyi Roots Starting With Just a Family Name

The Women Who Built Gold Mountain: Jinshanpo Wives and the Hidden Architecture of Qiaoxiang

Coolie Trade Peru Guano: The White Death on the Chincha Islands

Coolie Ships Macau Havana: The Norway’s Bloody Hundred-Day Voyage

Dragon Boat Festival Across the Diaspora: From Wuyi to the World

Baisha Village, Kaiping: One Village, Five Continents

New Gold Mountain: Wuyi Pioneers in Australia 1850-1901

Taishan Village Life Before the Exodus: 1800-1850

Singapore-Taishan Migration History: Two Centuries of Connection

The Women Who Left: Chinese Female Migrants from Wuyi (1850-1940)

Cantonese Opera in the Qiaoxi...

Bringing Bones Home: How the...

Wuyi Returnees: The Overseas...

Coffee and the Returning Tast...

Jiangmen Overseas Chinese Pla...

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