I visited my family's ancestral home in Guangdong for the first time and found where our story began

Over the Dragon Boat Festival weekend, the author embarked on a deeply personal journey to Gulao, a water town in Guangdong, China, to visit their ancestral home for the first time. Accompanied by their five-year-old son, cousins, and two elderly aunts, the trip marked a significant reconnection with family history, a quest initiated by the author's brother.

The brother's discovery of their family's origins in Gulao began a few years prior, piecing together fragmented stories from their late grandmother. These anecdotes painted a picture of a life marked by widowhood, raising seven children alone, and a past era of prosperity. His research eventually led him to the family house in Gulao, confirming their ancestral ties and paving the way for the overseas diaspora to reconnect.

During the four-day visit, the family experienced a warm reunion with a large extended clan. They shared meals prepared with ingredients sourced directly from the local environment, learned traditional cooking techniques, and witnessed the deep bonds of kinship, with adults referring to the author's young son as "uncle." For the author's father, who had visited twice before, and his sisters, aged 92 and 86, the visit was particularly emotional, marking their first time at the ancestral home since the family's departure generations ago.

The journey was more than just a physical visit; it was an exploration of identity. As the author's brother once reflected, "The question of who we are today is inseparable from the question of where we came from." This sentiment underscored the significance of retracing their lineage and understanding the narrative of their family's past, from hardship to reconnection.

“

The question of who we are today is inseparable from the question of where we came from.