The greatest Chinese city outside China, and who actually built it
In 1819 a free port opened at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula and began pulling the whole dialect spectrum of Fujian and Guangdong into one harbour. By 1947 the colony counted 730,133 Chinese among 940,824 people, 77.6% of the island. Between 1819…
The Liao (廖) Surname: From a Xia-Dynasty State to the Wuyi Diaspora
A Name from Before Writing
The Liao (廖, Liào) surname is one of the few Chinese surnames whose story begins before writing. It traces itself to Shu'an (叔安, Shū'ān), lord of the ancient state of Liu (飂, Liù) in the Xia dynasty, a…
Imagine stepping into an ancestral hall (宗祠, zōngcí)—its wooden beams creak under the weight of centuries, yet every inch tells a story. The air carries the faint scent of incense, and on the walls hang scrolls detailing names, dates, and achievements—a living record of your family’s journey through time. For overseas Chinese communities, Chinese genealogy…