I would like to publicly thank Ms Wang Yan for her fantastic effort to create this u tube video for me and the rest of the Lim Clan who are now disperse all over South East Asia and US . This is a typical migration story of Chinese from southern China to South East Asia. My great grand father Lim Boon Haw left his village of Dragon Gate, Anxi in 1885 for Penang to make his fortune which he did. He had properties then from Kampar, Perak to Phuket, Thailand. His Penang home was 1, Light Street( Currently Hong Leong Bank) in front of the Esplanade. His and his brother's gravestones are located at Batu Gantong Hokkien Cementry. His photos can be found in the Penang Museum and Singapore Peranakan Museum. The book "The Penang Chinese" featured him too. From the records, We are now 19th generations with 5 generations since my great grand father left China. Again I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to Ms Wang Yan to embark on my request to make this u tube video . This Lim Clan Thank you.
Very glad that Yan managed to locate your ancestral home, Uncle Lim. She really did an outstanding job tracking the place down. Hopefully, you will get a chance to visit the house in person one of these days. 👍
For overseas Chinese like us, our ancestors' homeland is always lingering in our mind. Your showing us that all is well in China is very comforting. Here is a small belated AngPow with our kind thoughts for your endeavours..
or maybe i'm being a little dramatic, it's hard to tell racists on the internet, i'm sure someone will feel sorry to your little heart if this is mistaken (but i don't think so~@@loopydoo just stop saying shiit like this to other people K?????
@suzyEvermore Their comment is ignorant but I won't say racist. They obviously don't take into account the why some can't just up and leave to go to their ancestors homeland but that's where educating them comes in. I'm sure your yourself don't have full knowledge of other cultures and are just as prone to make stupid comments like the rest of us.
Your quest to find Lim's family town was specially touching for me! I'm a 3rd generation japanese living in Brazil, and when I was in Japan, I tried finding my grandfather's childhood house. I was wandering around this very small village, when some police officers stopped me and asked what I was doing there. When I told them my story, they said: "Almost everyone here is Komoda, but we maybe know someone who can help." So, they took me to this local store (I actually thought they were going to arrest me lol). And the owners actually were acquainted to the exact Komoda family, and contacted them. So, someone from the family came by to take me to their home, and for my surprise, they had a picture with my grandmother, from trip they took to Brazil, which I did not know of, as I was living in Japan, and making calls were not as cheap as it is nowadays. Thank you so much for sharing your adventures around China, and reconnecting families!
Im not even Chinese and I cried. I am Armenian and finding and searching for your ancesters homes is very very familiar to me. Its such a difficult process. I am glad the Lim families kept such a good log of their family history.
@@ahmed_obeid_bin_daghr Armenia borders Turkey in the West, Georgia in the North, Azerbaijan in the East n Iran, in the South. And Syria is south of Turkey.
@@jon_nomad nah....prior to the 18th century, commoners in most of countries in the world didn't have surnames. china was an exception. china had extensive geneology recording tradition for everyone for 3000 years. due to early sinofication, korean and vietnamese had similar tradition for over 1000 yrs. as for japan, most of average japanese were not allowed to have a surname. surnames were reserved for nobilities & powerful. only after meiji restoration period in mid 19th century, for the purpose of modernization reform, japanese govt began to assign surnames to japanese commoners.
For many huaqiao, the need to search for one's cultural roots is strong. I decided to do this in 2003, when the internet was in its infancy. Armed only with the name of my father's village, I took a ferry ride from Hong Kong to Zhongshan in Guangdong. I had to ask a lot of questions when I arrived in Zhongshan, but eventually I found my way not only to the village, but also to father's ancestral home. There were distant elderly relatives in the village who remembered my father. I was shown the lychee tree that he planted as a young man before he left. The visit was short, lasting only a day, but it filled a personal void. For those who contemplating a trip like this, it is much easier to do this today, with smart phones and the internet.
That must have been such a moving experience, despite it being such a short visit. I'm sure it was a welcome surprise for your elderly relatives as well!
What a special episode! It is lovely to see the old culture of China that used to be and that so many still keep track of their families. In America, I'm afraid all connections get forgotten all too soon as the older generations pass away and the younger ones have no memories of them. Faded pictures, stories long told also get lost in the busy life.
This video is the reason I love China the culture, the people are so amazing. The history I love .if you are Chinese, you should be very proud of your country and traditions .I love the Chinese people. Amazing videos
‘The Old House Under a Lychee Tree’ would be a great title for a movie or a song lol. It is heartbreaking for a diaspora history enthusiast like me to read how tough Hokkiens(ethnic Minnan) life was. Constantly threatened by pirates, sea bans, ethnic wars, political wars and to see all of our ancestors’ pious hard work to exalt their predecessors by building glorious clanhouses were all looted and left to waste. The same story occurred even in their new homes in Nanyang such as Java and Sumatra, where a lot of Chinese establishment were torched, looted and repossessed during the wartime. I suppose all good things must come to an end. Here goes to our eternal journey to find a place to call home.
The story of China's Uncle Lim grandmother resonates with me. My late grandfather married my late grandmother in Yongchun. After the wedding, he immediately set sail for Malaya without my grandmother. He didn't return to China for many years. Apparently no lerters too. Later my great grandfather heard that he had another family in Malaya. He then took my grandmother and set sail to Malaya, found my grandfather and handed her over to him. He already had a son with the other lady; and later, they went on to have altogether 7 sons and 1 daughter. Life was tough for my grandmother. She only had 2 children with him, one of them was my father. She struggled everyday from an irresponsible husband who didn't care for her. She never saw her father again. We're glad that after we grew up, we, the grandchildren gave her a better life. Sorry to ramble on. This video touched many of us, bringing back memories of our ancestors. Thank you.
Hello! I am not Chinese but I have a grandfather who was a Chinese he used to be a hopia maker and sells it upon the market and streets, he settled in the Philippines and had children with my grandmother. Before my father was born, He already has a wife and children left in China. In fact, before he died he was planming to go back at China to visit his Son that he left long time ago. Hearing your grandmother story makes me cry. This is so wrong, I am a woman also and I don't want this kind of things happen to me. Even though you are not the true family left by my grandfather, I would like to apologize for what happened to your father and grandmother. I am crying now knowing that what my ancestor did make other people suffers 😭😭 I am so sorry.
@@pinelilsisterstudio7195 There's no need for you to apologize for what someone else did. Anyway, it was so long ago and times were very difficult. Perhaps they had their own issues. But we, the third generation of Lim in Malaysia are doing well. We now are into the fifth generation. I hope you're doing well and I wish you all the best..
I suspect that both this comment and the answers miss an important point : that in those days, first marriages were invariably arranged marriages forced upon often very young men who did not want the spouse. That he left immediately after the marriage without his wife supports this. My own grandfather was coerced by his own father into a political marriage with a powerful family, but his wife was intellectually handicapped. He was told that if he agreed, his father would not object to any subsequent wives that my grandfather took. He then had a son with this woman who was also handicapped, but had his own arranged marriage with a beautiful, bright, intelligent young woman who spent the rest of her life angry and resentful, looking after first her subnormal husband, then her handicapped son (a cousin whom I met and who at age 30 was unable to live independently). This was a story of generational tragedy in the old system. My grandfather became politically powerful, and had to hide this handicapped first wife from view. My grandmother was his second wife whom he chose, and who was known as his wife by the world. So don’t be too harsh on these ancestors without knowing the full story, as they were living in a world of vastly changing morality and culture.
We also visited our ancestral family home in quanzhou china in 2001. It was small, dilapidated, house with a courtyard. Our grandfather's room is like a 2x2 room that has somehow fit 3 people inside. Unfortunately, our ancestral home was brought down to give way for the construction of a high way. We also visited our distant relatives there. Unfortunately, I can't speak Hokkien, or mandarin that well so communication is between our grandparents and parents talking to their cousins. We are a 4th generation chinese living in the Philippines. Seeing where your family came from and the history of their exodus is indescribable but will make you appreciate your grandparents even more.
Thank you Yan from Lim Wen Hu/ Lim Boon Haw's descendants. I am especially grateful as your TH-cam video now means so much more to my own family than the photos I captured in 2011 when I was there. I wasn't aware of those lychee trees! Kamsia. I am a grandmother now, my late father's name is in that Zupu. Who I am today can be traced back to my Anxi ancestry. ...not 'kacang lupa kulit'
What you have done is wonderful...to search for the ancestors of this one family is like searching for all overseas Chinese in proxy. We all have our roots here in China wherever we are in the world. I pray that my dear late grandfather knows we missed him & the China he left so long ago. Thank you & Kung Hee Fatt Choy in my hakka dialect!
Great, I happened to do the same: travel half a cross the world to find them, meet them, getting to know them, returning the bones to the ancestral grave, receiving the key to the ancestral village, meeting my sister, wonderful experience.
I need to travel to Africa and trace my ancestry route... hmmmm I believe that they are called Hommosapian and left Africa approximately about a million years ago.. hmmmm.. yeah.. hmmmm.. Wish me luck.... 🤞🙏.. hmmmm..
Fun fact: mainland southeast Asia (Laos) are the ancestral homeland of Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Thai, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Malaysians, Indonesians, Filipinos...
@@peaceleader7315 There are also millions of ethnic Lao people living in eastern Central Asia countries particularly in Uzbekistan they came from southern China during the tang dynasty.
I am going back to my ancestral home in Shawan, Guangdong for the first time in November this year. I am also like the Lim family. Malaysia and China visa free travel now has made this trip a lot easier.
You are beyond amazing 🥺 I already felt your kind spirit through all of your videos, but you took the time to show someone his ancestry, and that’s just so wonderful of you! Not many people would do what you have done, so I truly hope you are proud of yourself and never lose your kind-hearted spirit. ❤❤❤ Sending love~ Savanna, from Ohio, US. ❤
Thanks for the interesting video. I had visited my grandfather ancestral home in Anxi many years ago and met my distant relatives over several generations. My grandfather was from 福建安溪同美村. My journey started from Guangzhou as I drove with my local Chinese friend on this unique trip to find my roots and my grandpa home. We drove to the village police station 安溪同美村派出所, the police officer was also from the same village and was so kind to lead us to the village elders that was familiar with the family tree matters. The elder managed to trace my distant relatives. We visited my grandpa ancestral which is a hundred years old yellow mud house and the ancestral altar hall. Interestingly, many from the village have also visited Singapore via 同美村陈氏宗乡会馆events. It was unique and emotional trip. I will always cherish the warm reception and hospitality extended to us.
This story makes me goosebumps...because Fujian is where my ancestors were from 😭 I found your channel few days ago and I love the stories, the landscapes you’re showing us. Thank you for sharing and greetings from Hong Kong China 🇨🇳 ( I’m a foreigner from SEA and HK is my second home for more than thirty years )
This is an amazing video. I a third generations chinese in Malaysia. My grand parents are from Fujian. Always wonder what the place they came from looks like . This is a first glimpse if what it could be like.
What a wonderfull act to do this for a family that clearly misses “home”. As a migrant myself, I can absolutely understand the urge to find your roots. Again Yan you are a wonderfull person and I enjoyed your video documentary. Thanks 😊
@@kenlim9281 Is your hometown also in Longmen Town, Anxi, Fujian Province? You should go back to your hometown to have a look! I have now used vpn to reply to your message in my hometown!
Your ancestors must have been of the finest quality people because we end up with Yan. A most excellent Lady and hostess. History and architecture , cultures and humanity should be shared and known, great Video. We have done family tree as well, it is good to know where we come from. We need more kind and humble Beautiful people like You on the Earth, We would All benefit. Thank you kindly Yan🌄♥️
Omg, this is so interesting! I absolutely like how you could bridge the gap between China and the Chinese diaspora across Southeast Asia through shared cultural heritage. This way, we can see a fuller picture of the Chinese culture. Bitte mach weiter so - love it!
Whoa! I am blown away with your remarkable search of Lim's ancestral home. Great job Yan. I am lucky to have found my relatives in 2018. Didn't have the chance to visit yet but we are already in regular contact and will be visiting them later this year. Cant wait to see my grandpa and great grandpa's home.
@@khenghoe6859 You'd better know the names of your loved ones, or where you came from in China, like your grandparents' or grandmothers' names, which can be searched through a huge family tree
Amazing! Just to share a snippet from my own quest to search for my ancestral village on Hainan Island, I made a trip to Qionghai and Wanning in Nov 2017. All I knew was my ancestral village as is called in Hainanese, was Nanqiao. Being English educated, I knew not what it is called in Pinyin. I located a village called Nanqiaozhen southwest of Wanning but it proved to be the wrong village. A detour to the prefecture office put me on the right track again, and I finally located my ancestral village was actually south of Qionghai, rather than near to Wanning as was told all along. It was wonderful indeed to see my ancestral village, located amidst rice fields and plots planted with pineapple. Plus, get to meet long lost cousins. 😁😁
@@TheAIHQ Watch out for the impending Cultural Revolution called CR 2.0 to be initiated by an idiot called Xi JinPing. Good luck to all my cousins in Longgunzhen Wanning & Nanning Quangxi.
@@TheAIHQ If you can know more details, it is easier to find, Wanning Hainan does have a boundary village, now there is a boundary island, the famous scenic spots are nearby 中文海南省万宁市分界村
Most Chinese-Filipinos living in the Philippines are from Southern Fujian, hence, they speak Fukien/Hokkien. There are many Tsinoy (Fil-Chi) with surename of Lim in the Philippines. 😊 This is very beautiful to watch.
I got emotional watching this. My mother is also a Lim from Penang and her ancestors came from China in the mid to late 19th century. Unfortunately we have no idea where our ancestral village is.
You are not the only one who got emotional. I am sure a lot of Oversea Chinese will get emotional watching this video and all the future videos about the Middle Kingdom.
Love this channel. Malaysian Chinese who comes from China seldom goes back to China to look for their ancestors. You have done a very good job. Hope your channel will grow by leaps and bounds. New Subscriber here 🤩
The four-year epidemic has trapped me in Hong Kong, an exotic place! I can go back to this old house the day after tomorrow. After watching this video, I am really looking forward to it!❤
Very interesting! In Europe too many years ago before the first World War, farmers used to live together in compounds similar to the last ancestors' house you have shown. In Europe, there was usually a landlord, a count or another nobleman who used to own the property and the farmers had to work for him. I guess it was similar in China. Many years ago I read a book titled Wild Swans Three Daughters of China by Yung Chang. She told the story of her ancestors seen from a woman's perspective. One of the best books I have ever read in my life. It is biographical so not a novel, the writer wrote it in English because she lives in the US. Your video immediately reminded me of her. I'm surprised they didn't make a movie based on the book which was a best seller. It's about human emotions not a political book but it also exposes the brutality of each government system. Every country is the same, when power and money are involved, everybody goes crazy. You had the cultural revolution, we had fascism. Fascism too promised everyone a fair share of the crop when most people were farmers. They seized property and gold from rich families to sponsor the war (war World 2). Italy was allied with Germany, the word fascism comes from the Italian word fascio which means hey stack. In the end, whether China or another country, we have to learn to live peacefully and let others live their life as they wish, after all we are only here temporarily. Thanks to our ancestors today we are mostly free to do what we love.
I think there is one particular China drama based on this kind of ancestory story. Starring by very famous beautiful well-established Taiwanese actress Ruby Lin in the Fujian Mandarin drama, 'Da Ci Tang' 《 大祠堂 》, but mind you the story plot is so distressing and so dramatic, and most probably the script writter did research some of the true life stories and they made into the drama like sort of grand compilation? Anyway I'm not sure whether it is based on true story / biography of certain people or not but Ruby Lin is such a great actress since her legendary 'My Fair Princess' drama based on the adaption of Taiwanese love story novel and she was actually being chosen by the legendary novel writer Chiung Yao as the actress for the character of Princess Mingzhu (a.k.a. Princess Zi Wei)! Malaysian Mandarin too, I think there is quite numerous dramas based on this type of stories too. The Iron Lady, starred by Yeo Yann Yann, another great actress from Malaysia. Destiny In Her Hands, starred by great actors from Malaysia and Singapore, one of them is Singaporean actress Jeanette Aw. Age Of Glory, starred by Malaysian actress Debbie Goh. The Descendant, starred by Malaysian actress Debbie Goh. I remember this type of stories is really popular during the early 90s to early 2000s, and the stories are kinda so melancholic torturing distressing and all sorts of revenging stuffs and the dramas really become the hot topics among the local Mandarin drama audiences to talk about and also among us were used to be students LOL
@@JoanKSX Thank you! Nowadays, as I have been mostly bed ridden for the past three years because of a disabling disease, I prefer to watch Xianxia dramas. Some of my favourite are: An Oriental Odyssey, Ashes of Love and The Legend of White Snake. I am of Italian ancestry so everything Chinese is new for me apart from the books I've read. I went to China with a friend as a young girl in 1991. We arrived in Beijing which back then it was filled with scaffoldings but visibly a work in progress. My friend and I only knew elementary English which we spoke with a strong Italian accent. We couldn't understand a word so we flew to Chengdu because my dream was to visit Tibet - I had read many intriguing books about it. Unfortunately, in Chengdu we were told that only packaged tours were allowed in Tibet for astronomical prices so we hiked to Emei Shan. We climbed what felt like a million stairs to the top of the mountain with a sleep over midway at a monastery. I had no clue why the Chinese people on the path kept patting us on the back, we were each carrying our backpacks, each was about kg 15. At the top, we discovered there was a bus route on the other side of the mountain so most people took the bus. I was completely ignorant then but now I know Emei Shan is a mountain where people cultivated to become immortal. My friend and I were mountaineers so back in Chengdu we met a very helpful guide, he was a pioneer freelance tourist guide that could speak English and he arranged our tickets to Nepal. Nobody else spoke English then. A funny situation was when we were on the path to Emei Shan top, some merchants wanted to sell us something and they created a cross with their fingers 十, which means 10 in Chinese but we didn't know. For Italians the cross is the symbol to exorcise demons. 😜😅😁
@@luxinfinity73 Oh I see. Year 1991, hmmm quite early. I went Beijing in year 2006 as secondary school student, one of the orchestral members representing Malaysia to participate in the International Youth Music Festival which was held in Beijing back then. And Beijing government sent us 3 university students who learnt Malay language (I personally think they might only take the subject as minor LOL). They spoke so brokenly and we were kinda irritated and feel so bad for them for trying so hard, so we ended up having conversations in Mandarin and we tried our best to mimic their standard Mandarin accent (or else we would sounded much more like the Fujian Uncle Lim in this vlog video LOL Yes, most Malaysians' Mandarin sounded this way if we were talking to each other among Malaysians hahaha) since the whole orchestral members do received formal Mandarin education back in our respective vernacular national secondary schools (we were all from Chinese vernacular national schools which mean in order to enter these schools, we ought to take Mandarin formal education in our primary schools and totally scored the subject and some of us were from sort of elite schools but our education syllabus is made suited to Malaysians, not as deep and hard as China one, yet our proficiency in Mandarin is still top of South East Asia region) and the guiding students were totally shocked and asked 'How on earth y'all speak such fluent Mandarin (they called it as 'common language', literally) ?' We answered, 'We learn formally in schools,' and they continued by asking pretty silly questions e.g. Do Malaysians live on top of trees and wear leaves as clothes? Do Malaysians have proper toilet with doors? Do Malaysians eat humans? LMAO We were like, 'Are you kidding? It's 21st century, nobody doing that in Malaysia LOL', they didn't even try to use any English sentences LOL I don't really surprised that China citizens in year 1991 couldn't speak English at all. And FYI, '十' is read as 'shi' in the Hanyu Pinyin, which literally mean 'ten' =) And yes as Malaysians we know about the Christianity cross thing. We have one of the largest churches in Malaysia at Bukit Mertajam (town), Penang (state), Malaysia (our country). So we won't use '十' finger gesture as 'ten'. Instead we would show you both palms with fully stretched out all the ten fingers hahaha By the way we Malaysians always watch subbed film works, that's why we could try to mimic so many other countries people's accents =P and we love original actors' voices and mostly annoyed by dubbed unless certain film work like the ancient China custome/historical background dramas/movies. Well, welcome to Malaysia 🇲🇾 Most of us speak decent English. If somebody's English is so poor, they would also try their best to speak in their very broken English LMAO (especially of Malay race people since they are the majority race so most of them too shy to speak broken English and most of them do afraid of other people's teasing and most of them mingle in Malay community only in their comfort zone, therefore generally they are having more percentage of much lower oral English proficiency. No worries, English is a compulsory passing subject in all our important exams). English is well-versed in Malaysia since our country was part of British colonization and British brought us English-orientated schooling systems and from there we branched out to several type of schooling system e.g. Malay-orientated national schools, Chinese vernacular national schools, Tamil vernacular national schools, Buddhist private schools, Islamic private schools, English-orientated schools (school names started with 'St. -' e.g. St. Mark, St. Georges, Convent etc. but now already converting to Malay-orientated schools), independent high schools, international schools etc.
@@JoanKSX Thank you! I currently live in Cambodia but before getting here I lived in Nepal, India, Thailand and 😁 Malaysia (primarily Georgetown). Malaysia is very welcoming, great food, friendly and helpful people. Everybody speaks English in Malaysia and the atmosphere is very peaceful. I attended a meditation seminar there and most of the attendees were Singaporean. They spoke English and there was at least one joke in each sentence. In the South of Thailand I lived with the Chinese Taoist/Buddhist descendant and volunteered at a school occasionally where my Muslim sister was teaching. I was in Satun, near the border with Malaysia, all the people I met were loving and open but occasionally there were some sporadic episodes of intolerance. My Muslim friends in Satun welcomed me with open arms and I consider them as my own family. The same can be said of my Taoist/Buddhist friends too however they confused my veganism as a clear sign of affiliation with their religion and tried hard to convert me. I was vegan for ethical reasons like preserving the environment and for the ethical treatment of animals. Nowadays, as I can no longer provide my own food, I eat mostly vegetarian but I also had fish, ham and eggs in the past. I listen to my body needs rather than my head. In Malaysia I have always felt safe. It was safe in 1991 and it is very safe now. In Georgetown I noticed how Hindu, Christian, Muslim and the Taoist/Buddhist all live together in peaceful harmony though they do not mix. In 2003, I lived in London, UK and thoroughly enjoyed the melting pot. I felt completely at home, everybody with their own differences yet a big family. I used to buy books from an Indian woman, fish and chips from my Pakistani friends and buy ganja from my Caribbean bro 😋 at the market! It felt like Heaven and I think that's the secret for a happy existence: treat everyone with respect and never judge anyone because we are all the product of love.
This made me feel very emotional. My father's parents left Guangdong during the cultural revolution and my father was born and grew up in Malaysia. He came to the UK to study and met my mother and hence I'm Anglo-Chinese. I know so little about my family history, I'm not sure my dad even knows the name of his ancestral village and that makes me sad. It was so wonderful seeing you help connect others with their roots, thank you.
You did a great job tracing the Lim family. My grand father is a Lim too. He migrated from China in the early 1900 to Cambodia. I would love to visit this place one day.
I 100% agree to her claim that she will show u the china that u can hardly see in other channels.. i must say i find videos on utube about china usually critical or in negative light, but ur channel is really doing great work to show how amazing ur country is and also ur culture.. great work ... keep it up...
Nice to be able to find way back to your roots. My grandparents from Amoy, Fujian. Came to Malaya before Second World War. Grandpa killed by the Japanese during the WW2. Grandma was fine. Parents born in Malaysia. I have migrated to London England for over 45 years now. It’s pretty hard to trace back to Fujian I am sure. Virtually impossible. However, a dream for me.
What a fantastic story! And what an amazing combination of ancient and modern technology to tell it. Nobody but Yan, with her amazing skills, curiosity, and empathy, could put it together. Thank you,
Amazing how this video just suddenly appear in my suggested feed. Longmen Village Anxi is also my ancestral home. I went there with my father in 2016 to visit his half brother whom he previously had never met. My grandfather left Longmen and migrated to Indonesia I think in the 1930s. We are the Bai clan. And we also got to see a similar thick red ginealogy book of our clan. Thank you for sharing this story!
I also have a zupu of my husband's family. His name is also listed in the book despite his ancestors leaving China 2 generations ago. I guess it's time to look for the actual village and get the zupu updated to include the new generations.
The genealogy here in Fujian will be counted every 50 to 100 years. If you are lucky enough to catch up, you can just write your name including your children. If you don’t catch up, you can also find the person in charge of the genealogy , add your name
I just started watching this channel. I found this episode especially intriguing. The the ability of social media can unite the whole world. A great example is this episode. My LIU family are originally from Fujian, China. I was Born in Taiwan, now I reside in United States. Great job and I look forward to follow along this channel and explore the "unseen China".
So happy for the Lim family.. This is the plight of the overseas chinese. Many unable to find their ancestral home anymore. The war broke many links as all contact was not encouraged during The Emergency as the then Malaya fought the communist insurgency. Not being able to speak mandarin also contributed to this difficulty to trace the ancestry. And Mr Lim had a copy of his ancestor book page, which helped alot. Seems the lady visited in 2011 too, so contact was already established. I wish good luck to all overseas chinese looking for their ancestry and their ancestral home .
I’m glad i found your videos introducing China in English language. Most China programs are mostly in Mandarin. Will definitely follow the rest of ur videos Keep it up , love your videos thus far ❤
What a wonderful video Yan! You were so considerate to spend your time to search for this Uncle Lim’s ancestral home in China. This makes your channel unique and special. Happy Lunar New Year! Xin nian kuai le!
A total inspiration for me to visit my ancestral home in China one day. I've only heard stories about my ancestors and ancestral home from my dad, aunt, and uncles but never had the opportunity to visit. I've heard stories about how my grandpa used to send money back to his village in Putian to build a house for the relatives he left when he came down to Malaysia to work, and eventually built his family here with my late grandmother. They never really felt home in Malaysia and both of them eventually returned to their motherland and eventually passed on, blessed be their souls. Keep the good contents coming, it's really an inspiration for us to find out roots.
if you haven't already, consider writing those old stories down -- my grandmother's stories of being a very little girl in Sweden are lost to time, as are a lot of the detail we used to have in some of the stories my family still remembers. We always meant to write them down but never got around to it. My grandmother couldn't understand why we were so interested; to her they were just boring and ordinary, the memories of an old woman. But to us they were like a magic window to our past. Collect your family stories while you can, and maybe one day you'll get to share them with relatives back in China! :)
Wow, this is wonderful. My mom is a chinese but she was given to a malay family when she was newborn, so she never knew her family. I really want to trace my ancestry but the people that knew my chinese grandmother already gone. It's such a shame. This is so heartwarming
Hi Yan. This is a wonderful endeavor to find the Lim’s ancestral home. I myself am a 3rd and 5th generation Chinese born and raised in America. Originally from Guangdong as typical of early Chinese American. My grandkids (6th and 7th generation) have not shown any interest in knowing their roots. Perhaps this will change as they get older.
Uncle Lim is very lucky to know his family information. I am also looking for my ancestors of the Tan clan but all i know are my grandparents names and they came to Melaka from the golden gate of fujian.. no one else in my family knows anything and i feel so sad about it😭
Amazing Yan. You are such a passionate person. I am fortunate to have my Dad n Mum to maintain my root in China. I hope more SE Asian of Chinese origin will remember to find their roots. Now China is so open to visiting and people are living well. TQ to Deng Xiao Ping to open China to what it is today.
Fantastic work! The story is so typical Hokkien/Minnan (闽南) lol My family also disperse to China and Singapore now, but luckily we still manage to keep in touch with each other across the South China sea. Greet from a homesick Quanzhouer living in the UK at the Chinese new year eve.
I'm a Lim from Singapore and my ancestors are from Fujian too! We have a zupu as well, I'm keen to start looking for the ancestral home before my grandparents pass :")
Hi Yan, I have been watching your videos passively but wanted to write to say thank you for this video. I am a descendant from one of those immigrants that uprooted their lives to move to Southeast Asia. I have always wondered about my ancestry but never seriously entertained the thought of making a trip back to China because I know nothing about the country nor who my forefathers were, or the village they came from. And frankly, my mandarin is quite poor, and I am afraid of embarrassing myself in conversation. Although I am not a Lim, I got to learn more about my heritage and can imagine the lives of my forefathers through watching your videos. Thank you! ❤
This is an amazing ❤ video. It speaks to not only family lineage but gives us a clear example of how China's written language demonstrates how old the culture is. It takes some patience to research connections & where relatives went, but it is so interesting to learn. China is one of oldest continuous cultures in the world, and keeping family lineage demonstrates this fact.
Yan, That was incredible awesome thing that you did to help locating the family home for the Lin Family. Also the incredible synchronicity that guided you to come in contact with the Uncle that helped you in this journey…😮
I am also a Hokkien from Malaysia with ancestry from Lam Oa (Nan An), Fujian, surname Wang (Ong). Great content here, kudos for the hard work and keep them coming!
Another great episode of your china adventure to assist uncle Lim find his ancestral roots in China. How about you tracing the history of Yap Ah Loy who left Guangdong for Malaysia & founded KUALA LUMPUR, the capital city. I managed to visit his birthplace at his village 10 yrs. ago. I am sure your malaysian subscribers would like more about Yap A. Loy. He eventually returned to his village in Guangdong.
@MalaiischeIntelligenz are u even Malaysian?He became wealthy after he became a tin mining owner and brought early development to KL. U r stuck in your colonised mind
Gosh, this give me tears. Such a touching one Yan. Even though I know my ancestors were from 广东惠州, but we had totally lost contact since my grandparents era, after all the wars and etc. Oh ya, wish you a very blessed year ahead. 新年快乐，万事如意，身体健康
Splendid! The lengths you go to to help a subscriber find his ancestral home! I'm from Penang too. My ancestors came from Taishan. Hope you make a video there one day!
My late father was a migrant from Shantou (formerly known as Swatow). I still have a grand nephew living in Shantou and we are still in constant contact by WeChat. He has been urging me to come to Shantou, China, as my father's records are documented in our family history tree. I really look forward to visit my roots after watching this fantastic video. You have done a great job Ms. Wang Yan . Kudos to you. Please come and visit Malaysia again in the near future.
I guess many people migrated from Shantou. My grandfather also was from there, moved to Vietnam and after the war to Switzerland. I met another Lady from Thailand who also has ancestors from Shantou.
But just beware. I heard stories and had read one comment below this video that ancestory village people might be very demanding for money and they really giving you all the stress thinking overseas relatives are dirt rich LOL Just beware for the sake since flight tickets are already not like RM6 per trip LOL but at least 100 times much more expensive! Anyway, all the best, and safe trip and happy journey ;)
I have Chinese blood, mixed with Indian and Laotian. I'm only Chinese once a year, as we pay respect to our Chinese ancestors. I wish I know more about my Chinese and Indian side.
I left Taiwan 42 years ago and have since been living in America. I was from Changchua city Taiwan and my ancestors are from Anxi （An Kei) too. According to my family tree, I am the ninth generation immigrant from there, more than 10% of Taiwanese can trace their family back to Anxi.
Excellent job, Yan!! Maybe the results of you finding this home will unite many of the Lim family back together, as they have been 'scattered' over the years!! ❤
Thankyou for sharing this wonderful journey in time and space! So nice to share this with your Uncle and no doubt others family members who never saw their ancestor's house! The price of survival is sometimes very high and effects all future generations!!
I watch this video and was very touch for what you did. I remembered the episode where your grandpa asked you if you are working and you told him that you are working in Shanghai. 😂. The older generation does not understand what you are doing. Personally, you have done an amazing job, sharing a good many part of china for everyone in the world, especially Chinese like me whose grandpa and grandma came to SE Asia to look for a better life. Like the Lim family from Penang, hopefully someday, I can have the opportunity to visit our ancestors home.
My son married a girl from China who was studying in the Netherlands. I have now a granddaughter with Chinese genes. So I follow this video's about China with great interest.
it's a wonderful video, thank you for sharing. It's heart warming to hear the story and knowing that we are all welcome to visit, knowing the connection is always there. Anxi has been always in my mind since the day I saw it in my report card under 祖籍. Again, thank you!
Absolutely amazing vlog,.Tell so much about Chinese history in the last 100-150 years. I bing watch your vlogs as they open up the mysterious world of Chinese culture and way of living, which I am not sure ever been presented so authentically. This vlog is up a notch explaining one story how political, economical and social changes and conflicts have impacted millions of Chinese people that spread across the world and many still living in China.
I would like to publicly thank Ms Wang Yan for her fantastic effort to create this u tube video for me and the rest of the Lim Clan who are now disperse all over South East Asia and US . This is a typical migration story of Chinese from southern China to South East Asia. My great grand father Lim Boon Haw left his village of Dragon Gate, Anxi in 1885 for Penang to make his fortune which he did. He had properties then from Kampar, Perak to Phuket, Thailand. His Penang home was 1, Light Street( Currently Hong Leong Bank) in front of the Esplanade. His and his brother's gravestones are located at Batu Gantong Hokkien Cementry. His photos can be found in the Penang Museum and Singapore Peranakan Museum. The book "The Penang Chinese" featured him too. From the records,
We are now 19th generations with 5 generations since my great grand father left China.
Again I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to Ms Wang Yan to embark on my request to make this u tube video . This Lim Clan Thank you.
i'm from indonesia. same case as well. mine from zhong san, never been there.
Zhong San in what province? Th'ng Soa (Hokkian)?
@@sumamihardja6083 keknya zhong san do provinsi guang dong klo ga salah.
Very glad that Yan managed to locate your ancestral home, Uncle Lim. She really did an outstanding job tracking the place down. Hopefully, you will get a chance to visit the house in person one of these days. 👍
Yes, Yan did a fantastic job in locating the ancestral house and the accompanying video on U tube and Bilibili.
For overseas Chinese like us, our ancestors' homeland is always lingering in our mind. Your showing us that all is well in China is very comforting. Here is a small belated AngPow with our kind thoughts for your endeavours..
Thank you so much :)
then go back
or maybe i'm being a little dramatic, it's hard to tell racists on the internet, i'm sure someone will feel sorry to your little heart if this is mistaken (but i don't think so~@@loopydoo just stop saying shiit like this to other people K?????
@suzyEvermore Their comment is ignorant but I won't say racist. They obviously don't take into account the why some can't just up and leave to go to their ancestors homeland but that's where educating them comes in. I'm sure your yourself don't have full knowledge of other cultures and are just as prone to make stupid comments like the rest of us.
Ömlm@@littlechineseeverywhere
身为在马来西亚槟城的海外华人，看到这一集，我的心流泪和感触多。
Your quest to find Lim's family town was specially touching for me!
I'm a 3rd generation japanese living in Brazil, and when I was in Japan, I tried finding my grandfather's childhood house. I was wandering around this very small village, when some police officers stopped me and asked what I was doing there. When I told them my story, they said: "Almost everyone here is Komoda, but we maybe know someone who can help."
So, they took me to this local store (I actually thought they were going to arrest me lol). And the owners actually were acquainted to the exact Komoda family, and contacted them.
So, someone from the family came by to take me to their home, and for my surprise, they had a picture with my grandmother, from trip they took to Brazil, which I did not know of, as I was living in Japan, and making calls were not as cheap as it is nowadays.
Thank you so much for sharing your adventures around China, and reconnecting families!
Im not even Chinese and I cried. I am Armenian and finding and searching for your ancesters homes is very very familiar to me. Its such a difficult process. I am glad the Lim families kept such a good log of their family history.
Armenia is SYRIa!!!
@@ahmed_obeid_bin_daghr Armenia borders Turkey in the West, Georgia in the North, Azerbaijan in the East n Iran, in the South.
And Syria is south of Turkey.
I think all East Asian cultures like Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese have a history of keeping clan genealogy records.
There was an Armenian settlement in Penang Island of Malaysia. Look for Armenian Street.
@@jon_nomad nah....prior to the 18th century, commoners in most of countries in the world didn't have surnames. china was an exception.
china had extensive geneology recording tradition for everyone for 3000 years. due to early sinofication, korean and vietnamese had similar tradition for over 1000 yrs.
as for japan, most of average japanese were not allowed to have a surname. surnames were reserved for nobilities & powerful.
only after meiji restoration period in mid 19th century, for the purpose of modernization reform, japanese govt began to assign surnames to japanese commoners.
For many huaqiao, the need to search for one's cultural roots is strong. I decided to do this in 2003, when the internet was in its infancy. Armed only with the name of my father's village, I took a ferry ride from Hong Kong to Zhongshan in Guangdong. I had to ask a lot of questions when I arrived in Zhongshan, but eventually I found my way not only to the village, but also to father's ancestral home. There were distant elderly relatives in the village who remembered my father. I was shown the lychee tree that he planted as a young man before he left. The visit was short, lasting only a day, but it filled a personal void. For those who contemplating a trip like this, it is much easier to do this today, with smart phones and the internet.
That must have been such a moving experience, despite it being such a short visit. I'm sure it was a welcome surprise for your elderly relatives as well!
What a special episode! It is lovely to see the old culture of China that used to be and that so many still keep track of their families. In America, I'm afraid all connections get forgotten all too soon as the older generations pass away and the younger ones have no memories of them. Faded pictures, stories long told also get lost in the busy life.
Such lovely Chinese people. I’m a Chinese American. Hope to visit China after I retired.
This video is the reason I love China the culture, the people are so amazing. The history I love .if you are Chinese, you should be very proud of your country and traditions .I love the Chinese people. Amazing videos
‘The Old House Under a Lychee Tree’ would be a great title for a movie or a song lol. It is heartbreaking for a diaspora history enthusiast like me to read how tough Hokkiens(ethnic Minnan) life was. Constantly threatened by pirates, sea bans, ethnic wars, political wars and to see all of our ancestors’ pious hard work to exalt their predecessors by building glorious clanhouses were all looted and left to waste. The same story occurred even in their new homes in Nanyang such as Java and Sumatra, where a lot of Chinese establishment were torched, looted and repossessed during the wartime. I suppose all good things must come to an end. Here goes to our eternal journey to find a place to call home.
that's a great title!
Man that's a good story
哎，文革10年真是给这个民族太多创伤了。不过福建广东的宗族观念是最浓厚的，起码族谱保存得非常好，可以让我们知道自己从哪里来。
@@yunguihe-nw2fd同意，虽然中国的历史书里对文革的描述极少，但是也用到了 十年浩劫 这么严重的词汇。
浩劫 这个词真的很重了。另外我的初中语文老师，有两位都是家里曾经很有钱的，包括我的一位同学，他们也都对当年的痛苦有着很深的记忆。讲述给了我们。对整个国家都是一次教训
The story of China's Uncle Lim grandmother resonates with me. My late grandfather married my late grandmother in Yongchun. After the wedding, he immediately set sail for Malaya without my grandmother. He didn't return to China for many years. Apparently no lerters too. Later my great grandfather heard that he had another family in Malaya. He then took my grandmother and set sail to Malaya, found my grandfather and handed her over to him. He already had a son with the other lady; and later, they went on to have altogether 7 sons and 1 daughter. Life was tough for my grandmother. She only had 2 children with him, one of them was my father. She struggled everyday from an irresponsible husband who didn't care for her. She never saw her father again. We're glad that after we grew up, we, the grandchildren gave her a better life. Sorry to ramble on. This video touched many of us, bringing back memories of our ancestors. Thank you.
Hello! I am not Chinese but I have a grandfather who was a Chinese he used to be a hopia maker and sells it upon the market and streets, he settled in the Philippines and had children with my grandmother. Before my father was born, He already has a wife and children left in China. In fact, before he died he was planming to go back at China to visit his Son that he left long time ago. Hearing your grandmother story makes me cry. This is so wrong, I am a woman also and I don't want this kind of things happen to me. Even though you are not the true family left by my grandfather, I would like to apologize for what happened to your father and grandmother. I am crying now knowing that what my ancestor did make other people suffers 😭😭 I am so sorry.
@@pinelilsisterstudio7195 There's no need for you to apologize for what someone else did. Anyway, it was so long ago and times were very difficult. Perhaps they had their own issues. But we, the third generation of Lim in Malaysia are doing well. We now are into the fifth generation. I hope you're doing well and I wish you all the best..
I suspect that both this comment and the answers miss an important point : that in those days, first marriages were invariably arranged marriages forced upon often very young men who did not want the spouse. That he left immediately after the marriage without his wife supports this.
My own grandfather was coerced by his own father into a political marriage with a powerful family, but his wife was intellectually handicapped. He was told that if he agreed, his father would not object to any subsequent wives that my grandfather took. He then had a son with this woman who was also handicapped, but had his own arranged marriage with a beautiful, bright, intelligent young woman who spent the rest of her life angry and resentful, looking after first her subnormal husband, then her handicapped son (a cousin whom I met and who at age 30 was unable to live independently). This was a story of generational tragedy in the old system.
My grandfather became politically powerful, and had to hide this handicapped first wife from view. My grandmother was his second wife whom he chose, and who was known as his wife by the world.
So don’t be too harsh on these ancestors without knowing the full story, as they were living in a world of vastly changing morality and culture.
We also visited our ancestral family home in quanzhou china in 2001. It was small, dilapidated, house with a courtyard. Our grandfather's room is like a 2x2 room that has somehow fit 3 people inside. Unfortunately, our ancestral home was brought down to give way for the construction of a high way. We also visited our distant relatives there. Unfortunately, I can't speak Hokkien, or mandarin that well so communication is between our grandparents and parents talking to their cousins. We are a 4th generation chinese living in the Philippines. Seeing where your family came from and the history of their exodus is indescribable but will make you appreciate your grandparents even more.
Thank you Yan from Lim Wen Hu/ Lim Boon Haw's descendants. I am especially grateful as your TH-cam video now means so much more to my own family than the photos I captured in 2011 when I was there. I wasn't aware of those lychee trees!
Kamsia. I am a grandmother now, my late father's name is in that Zupu. Who I am today can be traced back to my Anxi ancestry. ...not 'kacang lupa kulit'
@oo Our Lim ancestors arrived in Penang in the mid 1880s. How about yours? Only the orang asal are indigenous to Malaysia.
What you have done is wonderful...to search for the ancestors of this one family is like searching for all overseas Chinese in proxy. We all have our roots here in China wherever we are in the world. I pray that my dear late grandfather knows we missed him & the China he left so long ago. Thank you & Kung Hee Fatt Choy in my hakka dialect!
Great, I happened to do the same: travel half a cross the world to find them, meet them, getting to know them, returning the bones to the ancestral grave, receiving the key to the ancestral village, meeting my sister, wonderful experience.
I need to travel to Africa and trace my ancestry route... hmmmm I believe that they are called Hommosapian and left Africa approximately about a million years ago.. hmmmm.. yeah.. hmmmm..
Wish me luck.... 🤞🙏.. hmmmm..
Fun fact: mainland southeast Asia (Laos) are the ancestral homeland of Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Thai, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Malaysians, Indonesians, Filipinos...
@@oneviwatara9384 you got me...
@@peaceleader7315
There are also millions of ethnic Lao people living in eastern Central Asia countries particularly in Uzbekistan they came from southern China during the tang dynasty.
As a Chinese immigrant who lost the roots, I cried feeling hopeful watching this. Thanks.
中国永远都是你的家
可以回故土玩一玩，现在真的比以前好太多了
Uncle Lim is so fortunate to have you paying his ancestral home, a visit. I cried for whatever reason. Thank you Yan.
Thanks! Awesome video. Can’t wait ‘til you hit 100,000 subscribers.
Thank you so much!
I am going back to my ancestral home in Shawan, Guangdong for the first time in November this year. I am also like the Lim family. Malaysia and China visa free travel now has made this trip a lot easier.
Really inspiring to see this history, thank you! (I'm using adblock, so wanted to chip in)
You are beyond amazing 🥺 I already felt your kind spirit through all of your videos, but you took the time to show someone his ancestry, and that’s just so wonderful of you! Not many people would do what you have done, so I truly hope you are proud of yourself and never lose your kind-hearted spirit. ❤❤❤
Sending love~
Savanna, from Ohio, US. ❤
他们的祖籍地都是中国福建安溪，所以会很想帮他们寻找。是一段很棒的故事。
祝福她旅行顺利
The older gentleman in the vest and the Uncle from Malaysia look alike. They are definitely family 😊
Thanks don’t forget to stopped for Hokkien noodle soups or something similar:)
Finding one’s roots is so comforting and warm. To be able to trace one’s lineage and understand the family’s culture is very enriching!
Thanks for the interesting video. I had visited my grandfather ancestral home in Anxi many years ago and met my distant relatives over several generations. My grandfather was from 福建安溪同美村. My journey started from Guangzhou as I drove with my local Chinese friend on this unique trip to find my roots and my grandpa home. We drove to the village police station 安溪同美村派出所, the police officer was also from the same village and was so kind to lead us to the village elders that was familiar with the family tree matters. The elder managed to trace my distant relatives. We visited my grandpa ancestral which is a hundred years old yellow mud house and the ancestral altar hall. Interestingly, many from the village have also visited Singapore via 同美村陈氏宗乡会馆events. It was unique and emotional trip. I will always cherish the warm reception and hospitality extended to us.
This story makes me goosebumps...because Fujian is where my ancestors were from 😭 I found your channel few days ago and I love the stories, the landscapes you’re showing us. Thank you for sharing and greetings from Hong Kong China 🇨🇳 ( I’m a foreigner from SEA and HK is my second home for more than thirty years )
This is an amazing video. I a third generations chinese in Malaysia. My grand parents are from Fujian. Always wonder what the place they came from looks like . This is a first glimpse if what it could be like.
Wow. My ancestors(great grandpa) was also from Fujian. He also emigrated to Malaysia(Kuala Lumpur). This really affected me. Great video.
What a wonderfull act to do this for a family that clearly misses “home”. As a migrant myself, I can absolutely understand the urge to find your roots. Again Yan you are a wonderfull person and I enjoyed your video documentary. Thanks 😊
Uncle Lin is my uncle and my hometown. I am very happy to see this video overseas. Thank you, blogger!
This is also my home town but I never been there. 😭
@@kenlim9281 Is your hometown also in Longmen Town, Anxi, Fujian Province? You should go back to your hometown to have a look! I have now used vpn to reply to your message in my hometown!
Thanks for your reply.. My great grandparents from 龙门后井。some of my cousins still staying there. I'll definitely go back, hopefully by next year.
This episode has been quite amazing and a great eye opener. Imagine finding these living links between family members so far apart.
Your ancestors must have been of the finest quality people because we end up with Yan. A most excellent Lady and hostess. History and architecture , cultures and humanity should be shared and known, great Video. We have done family tree as well, it is good to know where we come from. We need more kind and humble Beautiful people like You on the Earth,
We would All benefit. Thank you kindly Yan🌄♥️
Omg, this is so interesting! I absolutely like how you could bridge the gap between China and the Chinese diaspora across Southeast Asia through shared cultural heritage. This way, we can see a fuller picture of the Chinese culture. Bitte mach weiter so - love it!
Whoa! I am blown away with your remarkable search of Lim's ancestral home. Great job Yan. I am lucky to have found my relatives in 2018. Didn't have the chance to visit yet but we are already in regular contact and will be visiting them later this year. Cant wait to see my grandpa and great grandpa's home.
how exciting! Best of luck on your upcoming visit to your recently discovered relatives :)
How do you go about doing the search? Any tips?
@@khenghoe6859 You'd better know the names of your loved ones, or where you came from in China, like your grandparents' or grandmothers' names, which can be searched through a huge family tree
Amazing! Just to share a snippet from my own quest to search for my ancestral village on Hainan Island, I made a trip to Qionghai and Wanning in Nov 2017. All I knew was my ancestral village as is called in Hainanese, was Nanqiao. Being English educated, I knew not what it is called in Pinyin. I located a village called Nanqiaozhen southwest of Wanning but it proved to be the wrong village. A detour to the prefecture office put me on the right track again, and I finally located my ancestral village was actually south of Qionghai, rather than near to Wanning as was told all along. It was wonderful indeed to see my ancestral village, located amidst rice fields and plots planted with pineapple. Plus, get to meet long lost cousins. 😁😁
Hi Beel p, my ancestral home is in Fenjie Village in Wanning County!
@@TheAIHQ Watch out for the impending Cultural Revolution called CR 2.0 to be initiated by an idiot called Xi JinPing. Good luck to all my cousins in Longgunzhen Wanning & Nanning Quangxi.
@@TheAIHQ If you can know more details, it is easier to find, Wanning Hainan does have a boundary village, now there is a boundary island, the famous scenic spots are nearby 中文海南省万宁市分界村
Most Chinese-Filipinos living in the Philippines are from Southern Fujian, hence, they speak Fukien/Hokkien. There are many Tsinoy (Fil-Chi) with surename of Lim in the Philippines. 😊 This is very beautiful to watch.
Ay yo Philipina Mabuhay, Salamat pogi 🎉🎉🎉
Ang ulap ai na Sa Langit
I got emotional watching this. My mother is also a Lim from Penang and her ancestors came from China in the mid to late 19th century. Unfortunately we have no idea where our ancestral village is.
You are not the only one who got emotional. I am sure a lot of Oversea Chinese will get emotional watching this video and all the future videos about the Middle Kingdom.
Best way is to visit your ancestors graves as the ancestorsvillage name is written on top on chinese type of graves.
Love this channel. Malaysian Chinese who comes from China seldom goes back to China to look for their ancestors. You have done a very good job. Hope your channel will grow by leaps and bounds. New Subscriber here 🤩
I admire the Chinese family for keeping their family tree book to track the generations that moved to other continents.
我媽媽也是姓林的！我外公在我媽還沒出生前就過世了，所以我們這一代就跟外公無緣見面。看了妳的視頻，讓我更加堅決要回去中國尋根了！
欢迎回去
Thanks! Love this kind of content.
Thank you for the support!❤️
The four-year epidemic has trapped me in Hong Kong, an exotic place! I can go back to this old house the day after tomorrow. After watching this video, I am really looking forward to it!❤
Very interesting! In Europe too many years ago before the first World War, farmers used to live together in compounds similar to the last ancestors' house you have shown. In Europe, there was usually a landlord, a count or another nobleman who used to own the property and the farmers had to work for him. I guess it was similar in China. Many years ago I read a book titled Wild Swans Three Daughters of China by Yung Chang. She told the story of her ancestors seen from a woman's perspective. One of the best books I have ever read in my life. It is biographical so not a novel, the writer wrote it in English because she lives in the US. Your video immediately reminded me of her. I'm surprised they didn't make a movie based on the book which was a best seller. It's about human emotions not a political book but it also exposes the brutality of each government system. Every country is the same, when power and money are involved, everybody goes crazy. You had the cultural revolution, we had fascism. Fascism too promised everyone a fair share of the crop when most people were farmers. They seized property and gold from rich families to sponsor the war (war World 2). Italy was allied with Germany, the word fascism comes from the Italian word fascio which means hey stack. In the end, whether China or another country, we have to learn to live peacefully and let others live their life as they wish, after all we are only here temporarily. Thanks to our ancestors today we are mostly free to do what we love.
Europe is a big place. There were vastly different systems in different times in different parts of Europe.
I think there is one particular China drama based on this kind of ancestory story. Starring by very famous beautiful well-established Taiwanese actress Ruby Lin in the Fujian Mandarin drama,
'Da Ci Tang' 《 大祠堂 》,
but mind you the story plot is so distressing and so dramatic, and most probably the script writter did research some of the true life stories and they made into the drama like sort of grand compilation?
Anyway I'm not sure whether it is based on true story / biography of certain people or not but Ruby Lin is such a great actress since her legendary 'My Fair Princess' drama based on the adaption of Taiwanese love story novel and she was actually being chosen by the legendary novel writer Chiung Yao as the actress for the character of Princess Mingzhu (a.k.a. Princess Zi Wei)!
Malaysian Mandarin too, I think there is quite numerous dramas based on this type of stories too.
The Iron Lady, starred by Yeo Yann Yann, another great actress from Malaysia.
Destiny In Her Hands, starred by great actors from Malaysia and Singapore, one of them is Singaporean actress Jeanette Aw.
Age Of Glory, starred by Malaysian actress Debbie Goh.
The Descendant, starred by Malaysian actress Debbie Goh.
I remember this type of stories is really popular during the early 90s to early 2000s, and the stories are kinda so melancholic torturing distressing and all sorts of revenging stuffs and the dramas really become the hot topics among the local Mandarin drama audiences to talk about and also among us were used to be students LOL
@@JoanKSX Thank you! Nowadays, as I have been mostly bed ridden for the past three years because of a disabling disease, I prefer to watch Xianxia dramas. Some of my favourite are: An Oriental Odyssey, Ashes of Love and The Legend of White Snake. I am of Italian ancestry so everything Chinese is new for me apart from the books I've read. I went to China with a friend as a young girl in 1991. We arrived in Beijing which back then it was filled with scaffoldings but visibly a work in progress. My friend and I only knew elementary English which we spoke with a strong Italian accent. We couldn't understand a word so we flew to Chengdu because my dream was to visit Tibet - I had read many intriguing books about it. Unfortunately, in Chengdu we were told that only packaged tours were allowed in Tibet for astronomical prices so we hiked to Emei Shan. We climbed what felt like a million stairs to the top of the mountain with a sleep over midway at a monastery. I had no clue why the Chinese people on the path kept patting us on the back, we were each carrying our backpacks, each was about kg 15. At the top, we discovered there was a bus route on the other side of the mountain so most people took the bus. I was completely ignorant then but now I know Emei Shan is a mountain where people cultivated to become immortal. My friend and I were mountaineers so back in Chengdu we met a very helpful guide, he was a pioneer freelance tourist guide that could speak English and he arranged our tickets to Nepal. Nobody else spoke English then. A funny situation was when we were on the path to Emei Shan top, some merchants wanted to sell us something and they created a cross with their fingers 十, which means 10 in Chinese but we didn't know. For Italians the cross is the symbol to exorcise demons. 😜😅😁
@@luxinfinity73 Oh I see.
Year 1991, hmmm quite early.
I went Beijing in year 2006 as secondary school student, one of the orchestral members representing Malaysia to participate in the International Youth Music Festival which was held in Beijing back then. And Beijing government sent us 3 university students who learnt Malay language (I personally think they might only take the subject as minor LOL). They spoke so brokenly and we were kinda irritated and feel so bad for them for trying so hard, so we ended up having conversations in Mandarin and we tried our best to mimic their standard Mandarin accent (or else we would sounded much more like the Fujian Uncle Lim in this vlog video LOL Yes, most Malaysians' Mandarin sounded this way if we were talking to each other among Malaysians hahaha) since the whole orchestral members do received formal Mandarin education back in our respective vernacular national secondary schools (we were all from Chinese vernacular national schools which mean in order to enter these schools, we ought to take Mandarin formal education in our primary schools and totally scored the subject and some of us were from sort of elite schools but our education syllabus is made suited to Malaysians, not as deep and hard as China one, yet our proficiency in Mandarin is still top of South East Asia region) and the guiding students were totally shocked and asked
'How on earth y'all speak such fluent Mandarin (they called it as 'common language', literally) ?'
We answered, 'We learn formally in schools,'
and they continued by asking pretty silly questions e.g. Do Malaysians live on top of trees and wear leaves as clothes? Do Malaysians have proper toilet with doors? Do Malaysians eat humans? LMAO
We were like, 'Are you kidding? It's 21st century, nobody doing that in Malaysia LOL',
they didn't even try to use any English sentences LOL
I don't really surprised that China citizens in year 1991 couldn't speak English at all.
And FYI, '十' is read as 'shi' in the Hanyu Pinyin, which literally mean 'ten' =)
And yes as Malaysians we know about the Christianity cross thing. We have one of the largest churches in Malaysia at Bukit Mertajam (town), Penang (state), Malaysia (our country).
So we won't use '十' finger gesture as 'ten'.
Instead we would show you both palms with fully stretched out all the ten fingers hahaha
By the way we Malaysians always watch subbed film works, that's why we could try to mimic so many other countries people's accents =P and we love original actors' voices and mostly annoyed by dubbed unless certain film work like the ancient China custome/historical background dramas/movies.
Well, welcome to Malaysia 🇲🇾
Most of us speak decent English. If somebody's English is so poor, they would also try their best to speak in their very broken English LMAO (especially of Malay race people since they are the majority race so most of them too shy to speak broken English and most of them do afraid of other people's teasing and most of them mingle in Malay community only in their comfort zone, therefore generally they are having more percentage of much lower oral English proficiency. No worries, English is a compulsory passing subject in all our important exams).
English is well-versed in Malaysia since our country was part of British colonization and British brought us English-orientated schooling systems and from there we branched out to several type of schooling system e.g. Malay-orientated national schools, Chinese vernacular national schools, Tamil vernacular national schools, Buddhist private schools, Islamic private schools, English-orientated schools (school names started with 'St. -' e.g. St. Mark, St. Georges, Convent etc. but now already converting to Malay-orientated schools), independent high schools, international schools etc.
@@JoanKSX Thank you! I currently live in Cambodia but before getting here I lived in Nepal, India, Thailand and 😁 Malaysia (primarily Georgetown). Malaysia is very welcoming, great food, friendly and helpful people. Everybody speaks English in Malaysia and the atmosphere is very peaceful. I attended a meditation seminar there and most of the attendees were Singaporean. They spoke English and there was at least one joke in each sentence. In the South of Thailand I lived with the Chinese Taoist/Buddhist descendant and volunteered at a school occasionally where my Muslim sister was teaching. I was in Satun, near the border with Malaysia, all the people I met were loving and open but occasionally there were some sporadic episodes of intolerance. My Muslim friends in Satun welcomed me with open arms and I consider them as my own family. The same can be said of my Taoist/Buddhist friends too however they confused my veganism as a clear sign of affiliation with their religion and tried hard to convert me. I was vegan for ethical reasons like preserving the environment and for the ethical treatment of animals. Nowadays, as I can no longer provide my own food, I eat mostly vegetarian but I also had fish, ham and eggs in the past. I listen to my body needs rather than my head. In Malaysia I have always felt safe. It was safe in 1991 and it is very safe now. In Georgetown I noticed how Hindu, Christian, Muslim and the Taoist/Buddhist all live together in peaceful harmony though they do not mix. In 2003, I lived in London, UK and thoroughly enjoyed the melting pot. I felt completely at home, everybody with their own differences yet a big family. I used to buy books from an Indian woman, fish and chips from my Pakistani friends and buy ganja from my Caribbean bro 😋 at the market! It felt like Heaven and I think that's the secret for a happy existence: treat everyone with respect and never judge anyone because we are all the product of love.
This made me feel very emotional. My father's parents left Guangdong during the cultural revolution and my father was born and grew up in Malaysia. He came to the UK to study and met my mother and hence I'm Anglo-Chinese. I know so little about my family history, I'm not sure my dad even knows the name of his ancestral village and that makes me sad.
It was so wonderful seeing you help connect others with their roots, thank you.
You can ask him about the village then maybe you can find the place and reletives
文革是国家的错，抱歉，虽然政府已经在极力的避免提及这段过往了。但令人欣慰的是在中国历史教科书中对文革的描述是 十年浩劫 。说明国家也意识到了。最后希望你们在国外生活的开心，有机会的话可以来中国玩一玩。
You did a great job tracing the Lim family. My grand father is a Lim too. He migrated from China in the early 1900 to Cambodia. I would love to visit this place one day.
Was his name Lim Goh Tong?
I 100% agree to her claim that she will show u the china that u can hardly see in other channels.. i must say i find videos on utube about china usually critical or in negative light, but ur channel is really doing great work to show how amazing ur country is and also ur culture.. great work ... keep it up...
Nice to be able to find way back to your roots. My grandparents from Amoy, Fujian. Came to Malaya before Second World War. Grandpa killed by the Japanese during the WW2. Grandma was fine. Parents born in Malaysia. I have migrated to London England for over 45 years now. It’s pretty hard to trace back to Fujian I am sure. Virtually impossible. However, a dream for me.
wow what a history, and happy new year! Amoy 厦门is a pretty city now, and welcome to visit china! 💗
thanks Heinrich, wish you a lot of good luck and fortune for the rabbit year!
很好找，在福建几乎是一个姓氏居住在一个村庄，只要有你爷爷奶奶或太爷的名字，基本可以找到
@@欧阳清风-k2d 除非能基本确认到村，或者有足够的家族信息，单纯只有姓名很难，同姓氏村很多也经常有同名。而且只有大的宗族才有族谱。
@@紙老虎逗泥蛙 噢原来如此
What a fantastic story! And what an amazing combination of ancient and modern technology to tell it. Nobody but Yan, with her amazing skills, curiosity, and empathy, could put it together. Thank you,
Amazing how this video just suddenly appear in my suggested feed. Longmen Village Anxi is also my ancestral home. I went there with my father in 2016 to visit his half brother whom he previously had never met. My grandfather left Longmen and migrated to Indonesia I think in the 1930s. We are the Bai clan. And we also got to see a similar thick red ginealogy book of our clan. Thank you for sharing this story!
I also have a zupu of my husband's family. His name is also listed in the book despite his ancestors leaving China 2 generations ago. I guess it's time to look for the actual village and get the zupu updated to include the new generations.
The genealogy here in Fujian will be counted every 50 to 100 years. If you are lucky enough to catch up, you can just write your name including your children. If you don’t catch up, you can also find the person in charge of the genealogy , add your name
我的家里也有族谱，想想若干年后我的后人能看到我的名字。温暖的故事❤
名字在族谱中，说明他们是有联系，不然不会写入族谱的。
I just started watching this channel. I found this episode especially intriguing. The the ability of social media can unite the whole world. A great example is this episode. My LIU family are originally from Fujian, China. I was Born in Taiwan, now I reside in United States. Great job and I look forward to follow along this channel and explore the "unseen China".
What a lovely young woman you are to go search for this man’s ancestral home.
So happy for the Lim family..
This is the plight of the overseas chinese. Many unable to find their ancestral home anymore. The war broke many links as all contact was not encouraged during The Emergency as the then Malaya fought the communist insurgency.
Not being able to speak mandarin also contributed to this difficulty to trace the ancestry.
And Mr Lim had a copy of his ancestor book page, which helped alot.
Seems the lady visited in 2011 too, so contact was already established.
I wish good luck to all overseas chinese looking for their ancestry and their ancestral home .
I’m glad i found your videos introducing China in English language. Most China programs are mostly in Mandarin. Will definitely follow the rest of ur videos Keep it up , love your videos thus far ❤
amazing how a simple question can lead to such a life affirming adventure. well done!
What a wonderful video Yan! You were so considerate to spend your time to search for this Uncle Lim’s ancestral home in China. This makes your channel unique and special. Happy Lunar New Year! Xin nian kuai le!
Ya lah….let’s help her channel to grow exponentially by thumbs up and sharing her videos with friends and relatives:)
A total inspiration for me to visit my ancestral home in China one day. I've only heard stories about my ancestors and ancestral home from my dad, aunt, and uncles but never had the opportunity to visit. I've heard stories about how my grandpa used to send money back to his village in Putian to build a house for the relatives he left when he came down to Malaysia to work, and eventually built his family here with my late grandmother. They never really felt home in Malaysia and both of them eventually returned to their motherland and eventually passed on, blessed be their souls. Keep the good contents coming, it's really an inspiration for us to find out roots.
if you haven't already, consider writing those old stories down -- my grandmother's stories of being a very little girl in Sweden are lost to time, as are a lot of the detail we used to have in some of the stories my family still remembers. We always meant to write them down but never got around to it. My grandmother couldn't understand why we were so interested; to her they were just boring and ordinary, the memories of an old woman. But to us they were like a magic window to our past. Collect your family stories while you can, and maybe one day you'll get to share them with relatives back in China! :)
如果是在莆田很容易找到，福建广东人有很浓的宗祠文化，期待您找到，如果需要帮忙我也可以给您问问❤
Wow, this is wonderful. My mom is a chinese but she was given to a malay family when she was newborn, so she never knew her family. I really want to trace my ancestry but the people that knew my chinese grandmother already gone. It's such a shame. This is so heartwarming
Hi Yan. This is a wonderful endeavor to find the Lim’s ancestral home. I myself am a 3rd and 5th generation Chinese born and raised in America. Originally from Guangdong as typical of early Chinese American. My grandkids (6th and 7th generation) have not shown any interest in knowing their roots. Perhaps this will change as they get older.
Uncle Lim is very lucky to know his family information. I am also looking for my ancestors of the Tan clan but all i know are my grandparents names and they came to Melaka from the golden gate of fujian.. no one else in my family knows anything and i feel so sad about it😭
金门谭氏？
@@googleyum I don't understand
Amazing Yan. You are such a passionate person. I am fortunate to have my Dad n Mum to maintain my root in China. I hope more SE Asian of Chinese origin will remember to find their roots. Now China is so open to visiting and people are living well. TQ to Deng Xiao Ping to open China to what it is today.
Fantastic work! The story is so typical Hokkien/Minnan (闽南) lol My family also disperse to China and Singapore now, but luckily we still manage to keep in touch with each other across the South China sea. Greet from a homesick Quanzhouer living in the UK at the Chinese new year eve.
I'm a Lim from Singapore and my ancestors are from Fujian too! We have a zupu as well, I'm keen to start looking for the ancestral home before my grandparents pass :")
My late father was from Anxi . I visited my ancestral village twice to meet my relatives
Hi Yan, I have been watching your videos passively but wanted to write to say thank you for this video. I am a descendant from one of those immigrants that uprooted their lives to move to Southeast Asia. I have always wondered about my ancestry but never seriously entertained the thought of making a trip back to China because I know nothing about the country nor who my forefathers were, or the village they came from. And frankly, my mandarin is quite poor, and I am afraid of embarrassing myself in conversation. Although I am not a Lim, I got to learn more about my heritage and can imagine the lives of my forefathers through watching your videos. Thank you! ❤
What an amazing and excellent documentation of family tree in your culture. And that ancestral house , too beautiful and should be preserved.
OMG! I did that with my dad at 2001. My dad since passed away. So important. You are the best!
This is an amazing ❤ video. It speaks to not only family lineage but gives us a clear example of how China's written language demonstrates how old the culture is. It takes some patience to research connections & where relatives went, but it is so interesting to learn. China is one of oldest continuous cultures in the world, and keeping family lineage demonstrates this fact.
Randomly got fed this video on TH-cam and am pleasantly surprised to see my friend's family tree featured. What a small world!
Yan, That was incredible awesome thing that you did to help locating the family home for the Lin Family. Also the incredible synchronicity that guided you to come in contact with the Uncle that helped you in this journey…😮
This video is very interesting. I am Malaysian Chinese too. My great great grand-parents came from 广东省，我是第4代出生在马来西亚
I am also a Hokkien from Malaysia with ancestry from Lam Oa (Nan An), Fujian, surname Wang (Ong). Great content here, kudos for the hard work and keep them coming!
Another great episode of your china adventure to assist uncle Lim find his ancestral roots in China. How about you tracing the history of Yap Ah Loy who left Guangdong for Malaysia & founded KUALA LUMPUR, the capital city. I managed to visit his birthplace at his village 10 yrs. ago. I am sure your malaysian subscribers would like more about Yap A. Loy. He eventually returned to his village in Guangdong.
Yap Ah Loy did not discover KL but modernised it
@@tunkulailitunkushahriman3939 Who said he modernized it! Yap Ah Loy was salve trader providing labor to the Brit.
@MalaiischeIntelligenz are u even Malaysian?He became wealthy after he became a tin mining owner and brought early development to KL. U r stuck in your colonised mind
Kuala Lumpur was already exist before Yap Ah Loy came, he built the tin industry here and make Kuala Lumpur turn to a big city
@@MalaiischeIntelligez he died over a hundred years ago.
Thank you Yan for being the bridging factor. Much appreciated.
Gosh, this give me tears. Such a touching one Yan. Even though I know my ancestors were from 广东惠州, but we had totally lost contact since my grandparents era, after all the wars and etc. Oh ya, wish you a very blessed year ahead. 新年快乐，万事如意，身体健康
你也一样，身体健康，合家欢乐！
我有客户是惠州的。惠州经济非常好。有化工，陶瓷，密胺等等产业。
So inspiring. Your effort and its grand results and the willingness of people to help you is wonderful.
Thank you so very much Yan for doing this. Its a fantastic video you did.
Its very kind of you to take up Uncle Lim's request as a mission. And a pretty successful mission too.
Wonderful and eye-opening content. Good job.
This is wonderful. Helping some uncle you just met reconnect back to his family in China. Such a great adventure.
Great job Yan, you manage to trace the family tree of Uncle Lim. Lot of Chinese all over the world hope to be able to find their ancestors in china.
OMG! What a video...i felt you brought me a piece of my ancestral home although i am a Lee. Now I know why i like ti kuan yin tea.
You may have reunited a family, that is wonderful! What a kind thing to do. I love this video. ❤❤❤
Splendid! The lengths you go to to help a subscriber find his ancestral home! I'm from Penang too. My ancestors came from Taishan. Hope you make a video there one day!
I m a Malaysian too . I am a Hakka . My ancestor home is in Lufeng , Guangdong province . I am fortunate that I manage to find my ancestor home .
My late father was a migrant from Shantou (formerly known as Swatow). I still have a grand nephew living in Shantou and we are still in constant contact by WeChat. He has been urging me to come to Shantou, China, as my father's records are documented in our family history tree. I really look forward to visit my roots after watching this fantastic video. You have done a great job Ms. Wang Yan . Kudos to you. Please come and visit Malaysia again in the near future.
I guess many people migrated from Shantou. My grandfather also was from there, moved to Vietnam and after the war to Switzerland. I met another Lady from Thailand who also has ancestors from Shantou.
But just beware.
I heard stories and had read one comment below this video that ancestory village people might be very demanding for money and they really giving you all the stress thinking overseas relatives are dirt rich LOL
Just beware for the sake since flight tickets are already not like RM6 per trip LOL but at least 100 times much more expensive!
Anyway, all the best, and safe trip and happy journey ;)
现在回来也方便的。有机会可以回汕头看看
@@JoanKSX 这种情况是有可能的，但是现在福建这边很富裕了，几率很小，有些大家族甚至有自己的家族基金，其中一部分就是用来开支海外同族的招待费用。
@@JoanKSX你说的是以前😂。现在福建是中国最有钱的地方之一。
I have Chinese blood, mixed with Indian and Laotian. I'm only Chinese once a year, as we pay respect to our Chinese ancestors. I wish I know more about my Chinese and Indian side.
I left Taiwan 42 years ago and have since been living in America. I was from Changchua city Taiwan and my ancestors are from Anxi （An Kei) too. According to my family tree, I am the ninth generation immigrant from there, more than 10% of Taiwanese can trace their family back to Anxi.
Great job Yan, this probably the best video i have seen in 2023.
Excellent job, Yan!! Maybe the results of you finding this home will unite many of the Lim family back together, as they have been 'scattered' over the years!! ❤
Thank you ❤️
Thankyou for sharing this wonderful journey in time and space! So nice to share this with your Uncle and no doubt others family members who never saw their ancestor's house! The price of survival is sometimes very high and effects all future generations!!
I watch this video and was very touch for what you did. I remembered the episode where your grandpa asked you if you are working and you told him that you are working in Shanghai. 😂. The older generation does not understand what you are doing. Personally, you have done an amazing job, sharing a good many part of china for everyone in the world, especially Chinese like me whose grandpa and grandma came to SE Asia to look for a better life. Like the Lim family from Penang, hopefully someday, I can have the opportunity to visit our ancestors home.
Appreciate ur work and different way knowing locals
Keep it
My son married a girl from China who was studying in the Netherlands. I have now a granddaughter with Chinese genes. So I follow this video's about China with great interest.
Fantastic video.
Meaningful and sincere effort.
Will inspire more overseas Chinese esp in se asia to understand and seek their roots.
This is a beautiful video, Yan. And it also shows how kind of you.
Cheers from Indonesia.
That's very kind of you. You really made their day. 👍🥰
It's such a nice & meaningful video to bring connection of family members closer to each others. You are such a kind & helpful person.
Love this video, shows a lot of the ancient Chinese culture . 春节快乐, 兔年快乐
it's a wonderful video, thank you for sharing. It's heart warming to hear the story and knowing that we are all welcome to visit, knowing the connection is always there. Anxi has been always in my mind since the day I saw it in my report card under 祖籍. Again, thank you!
Great to have this kind of documentary on the original stories of Chinese overseas ancestors homes. Great research and very interesting production.
Absolutely amazing vlog,.Tell so much about Chinese history in the last 100-150 years. I bing watch your vlogs as they open up the mysterious world of Chinese culture and way of living, which I am not sure ever been presented so authentically. This vlog is up a notch explaining one story how political, economical and social changes and conflicts have impacted millions of Chinese people that spread across the world and many still living in China.