Posted by Raymond (72.235.251.83) on July 15, 2009 at 02:17:57:
In Reply to: chiu family posted by Jasmine Banks on June 18, 2009 at 23:45:08:
Jasmine,
I had just returned from a month-long trip to Xinhui City which included a 6-day stay in Gujing Town. Your ancestral village Zi Kai (pronounced Soo Kai in the local dialect) is no more than a 10-minute bus ride southwesterly from Gujing Town. If you decide to make a trip to your ancestral village, you may opt to stay at the Overseas Chinese Hotel in Gujing Town called "Q-Lin" for about $10 US per night in one of its nicer rooms. It's a very basic hotel with air conditioning and Western-style toilets in the nicer rooms. The Chiu/Chu/Chew/Jue/Jew surname seems to be very prominent in this area with various other Chiu villages around as well. Jiangmen is located adjacent to Xinhui, almost like twin cities.....and it's about a 40-minute taxi ride from Gujing Town. A large number of Chinese males in and around the Gujing Town area migrated overseas in the late 1800's/early 1900's, and the likely point of departure was from the Jiangmen docks from which ships sailed onto Hong Kong and hence to various overseas destinations. There is a large Overseas Chinese Museum in Jiangmen that commemorates the plight of the Overseas Chinese. Hope this helps you get started with good footing on your genealogical search.
Good luck,
Raymond