Community News

Organized by Henry Tom

Interested in recovering your Chinese ancestry?

For many overseas Chinese, the ultimate connection to China is their family heritage and Chinese genealogy.  Overseas Chinese, whose parents, and/or ancestors have emigrated from China, often find it difficult to make connections to their roots because their families shared little or had no detailed discussions about their past family history in China. The journey of Chinese genealogy, starting with archival research and culminating with a visit to one’s ancestral village in China, can provide the knowledge and understanding of how the experiences of their parents and ancestors influenced one’s own identity. 

Village genealogy books (zupus or jiapus) with clan and lineages that can span thousands of years are essential to recovering one’s Chinese heritage and family lineages – the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) destroyed almost all genealogy books in China except for those genealogy books in Guangdong province – only surviving due to the tenacity of the Cantonese people in Guangdong province to save them.  The Cantonese are quite unique and truly blessed to have this precious Chinese source that helps to preserve their heritage.

1) most lineage information in China was only recorded within the village;

2) the village book contains the names of their father and ancestors and their family lineage, which documents and verifies the ancestry and relationships of the people from that village;

3) and the books with your family lineages can be linked with clan lineages that were compiled before the village lineage.   

This April 2026 China Trip with tours and visits to ancestral villages provides a truly unique and rare experience – beginning with your own family research, attending Chinese genealogy workshops to understand the basic fundamentals and learn how to perform Chinese genealogy research – without having to be Chinese literate, with collaborative research in China and coming full circle with a visit to your ancestral village, from where parents and ancestors first started this epic journey. It is an opportunity not to be missed. Please consider going home to “qiáo xiāng” [ 僑鄉/侨乡] the hometown of overseas Chinese.

See also the Chinese Genealogy Workshop in San Francisco Chinatown, February 16 – 18, 2026, where there will be a session on preparing for your trip.

For questions, pricing & more details, please contact Henry Tom +1 480 980 8715 “Tomclan@Gmail.com”

CLICK HERE FOR Documents for the 2026 February Chinese Genealogy Workshop and the April China Trip

To get an idea of what you will see, do and accomplish on going to China to find your roots, see Ron Chan’s, “Chan China Roots Journal, 2018”, to get an idea how this trip can change your genealogy life. Download here.

Organized by Henry Tom

CHINESE GENEALOGY WORKSHOP, FEBRUARY 16 – 18, 2026, WITH OPTIONAL TOURS BEFORE AND AFTER

SAN FRANCISCO, VICTORY MEMORIAL HALL, CHINATOWN (Registration Fee)

This workshop has associated field trips on the weekend before and on the day after. 

This is a 3-day workshop – Presentations, RoundTable interactions with presenters & experts, and Hands-On Tutorials – special RoundTable Discussion on Preparing for the April 2026 China Trip.

This is a “how to” workshop that educates you on what you need to know to start performing Chinese genealogical research and/or visiting your ancestral village in China. The intent of the workshop is to educate people – so they can start researching and compiling their Chinese genealogy lineage – without having to be Chinese literate – let our expert researchers with years of experience in Chinese genealogy research assist you.  This workshop also helps people prepare for the forthcoming April 2026 China Trip. (See China Trip Post in Community Events For Details)

CLICK HERE FOR Documents for the 2026 February Chinese Genealogy Workshop and the April China Trip

CLICK HERE FOR More information on going to China to find and visit your village

Henry Tom Chinese Genealogy Workshop 2022 Group Photo

Workshop dates: Monday thru Wednesday – Jan 26 – 30, 2024         8:30 AM – 5 PM

3-day workshop – includes: Presentations on Monday and Tuesday. Tutorials on Wednesday.

Hotel: Gold Coast Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas,NV https://www.goldcoastcasino.com/

This workshop provides insightful presentations on Chinese genealogy research. It instructs attendees on how to use various techniques to advance their own research and discover the interesting information pertaining to their family / clan history and to identify those resources that can best serve them.  There will also be exposure to the various information, material, and tools available on the Internet and in books and other sources to assist in compiling and documenting Chinese lineages. The ancestral villages of attendees will be identified and located – the primary source for family genealogy books.  This is a “how to” workshop that educates you on what you need to know to start performing Chinese genealogical research and/or visiting your ancestral village in China. The intent of the workshop is to educate people about Chinese genealogy research – so they can start researching and compiling their Chinese genealogy lineage – without having to be Chinese literate.  Some of the Chinese narratives, lineage annotations, and histories do require translation. There will be translators at the workshop to help with limited translations. Please bring your family genealogy information and lineages and let experienced researchers assist you during the Round-Table sessions.

Registration: Please contact Henry Tom [ Tomclan@Gmail.com] 480 980 8715 to register – there is a $375 registration fee to defray the cost for the workshop and associated fees. 

The workshop registration fee is separate from the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino Hotel Package of $354 – covers 4 nights hotel room, free in room WiFi, free parking (surface & garage), includes the 14% tax, and the daily $43 resort fee.  The hotel room rate (for a single or double occupancy). The hotel package does not cover meals.

Once your registration form & payment (personal checks only) is received, a reservation link will be emailed to you to book your room. Deadline for booking hotel reservations: June 28, 2024. Reserve early – block of rooms is limited.  You can also book additional 1 nights before & 1 night after – the 4 nights workshop hotel package. Wednesday January 30, 2025 is Chinese New Year with several lions dancing in the hotel & spectacular Chinese New Year displays in major hotels. You can Uber or Lyft to the hotel from the airport which is about 4 miles away.

DNA Genealogy: Get Ancestry DNA to Work for You

StoryTelling: Writing a short story of a loved one using artificial intelligence as your coach. 

Scanning: Your way to protect, archive and to easily share precious photos and documents in a digital form.

Chinese Genealogy Scrolls: Using Powerpoint, learn how to create a customized, single-paged, poster-quality family tree scroll.

OCR / Techniques: How to use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software to scan & convert images into searchable Chinese characters and other Techniques.

Translations, Examine the complexities of traditional/simplified characters, Classical versus Modern Chinese, and genealogical terminology, providing you with the tools to connect with your heritage.

Finding Ancestral Villages. Understanding the Roots Database, online map websites, and administrative divisions in China, essential for locating ancestral villages.

For more information: Please contact Henry Tom [ Tomclan@Gmail.com ] 480 980 8715

Documents: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ywmn7nifayayqthp9gt4x/h?rlkey=0vrxr7u2p6h01pv820ciuj5vx&dl=0