Jicun village.
Dad is in there asking for directions. The Hakkas here are ultra friendly, EVERYONE we spoke to started by inviting us to their humble abode for tea.
The village hall.
The 村长。
Unfortunately, we found out that Jicun with a population of 3,000+ was populated by the surnames, Lee (李), Hu (湖) and Fang (芳).
However, the 村长 knew of a place where ALL in the village had the surname Lan (蓝), and he wanted very much to bring us there!
Me giving thanks to the 村长。
This place is called Xincun (新村), just another few minutes drive away. And there was a 蓝 Hall, basically an ancestral heritage center documenting all the 蓝 surnames with origins there. It seems this surname is more common than I thought.
蓝氏家族 (The 蓝 Hall)
There was a very friendly guy here and there were pictures of all the 蓝 peeps from way back when.
So I also found out that I am of the 29th generation of 蓝家。Interesting!
Dad talking to the caretaker of the Hall, who was ultra friendly.
Then lo and behold, we found out that Dad's cousin is there! Top row, fifth dude from the right! Dad's own dad wasn't there though.
Turns out Dad's cousin was there because he had made a significant donation to the Hall (#2 all-timer). So it seems like your face will only be there if you made a donation.
Yet knowing his cousin led to the caretaker recognizing some people he might know, so he made a few phone calls, who spoke to Dad and made good conversation. In the end there wasn't so much leftover information of my paternal grandpa, but we are sure he came from here and he had family here.
Xincun is developing very fast. The farmlands that we walked past might make way for towering skyscrapers in the highlands soon.
In fact, surprise surprise, it was revealed that grandpa actually still owns a piece of land and house in Xincun!
And this might just be it! Right beside the 蓝 Hall.
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