What Information Do I Need for a Roots Trip? The Complete Checklist

Short answer: Gather everything the family still has: the surname in Chinese characters, an ancestor's full name, any village or county name, old letters (qiaopi), photos, gravestones, and the migration story. Even two or three of these are enough to begin a serious search.

The checklist, from gold to helpful

1. The surname in Chinese characters

Sounds obvious, but romanized spellings vary wildly (Tan/Chan/Chen can be 陈; Lim/Lam/Lin can be 林). A photo of the character — from a document, signboard or grave — removes all doubt.

2. An ancestor's full name

Best with the generational character. Many Chaoshan lineages name each generation from a family poem; a name like 陈【家】辉 can place a person in a genealogy instantly.

3. A place name, in any form

Village, market town, county — in characters, in old romanization ("Swatow", "Teochew", "Teng Hua"), even as a sound remembered by an elder. Dialect recordings of an elder saying the name are genuinely useful: Chaoshan dialect shifts by county.

4. Qiaopi letters and envelopes

The remittance letters sent home with money often carry full sender and recipient addresses, village names and dates. The single richest artifact most families hold.

5. Photos and gravestones

Old houses, ancestral tablets, grave inscriptions — names, dates and village clues hide in the corners of photos. Gravestones often record the ancestral village even for people buried abroad.

6. The migration story

Who left, roughly when, from which port, on whose account, to which country, and who was left behind. Timelines eliminate false leads.

Where to look at home

Ask the oldest relatives first, on video if possible. Check: document drawers, old photo albums, the backs of framed photos, association membership cards, temple donation records, and relatives' group chats — someone always has a scan of something.

What happens next

Send us what you have — photos of everything, even fragments. We organize it into a clue sheet, tell you honestly how strong the trail is, and outline the research before any trip is planned. The initial assessment is free.

FAQ

We only have a surname and "somewhere near Swatow". Enough?

It is a start. Surname plus dialect area narrows to a cluster of villages; we have found families from less.

Do original documents matter, or are photos fine?

Phone photos are fine for research. Bring originals only on the trip itself, and keep them safe.