Ancestral Home
When Chen Ying (陳英) arrived in Xinhui (新會), his clan settled down in many areas. One of the areas was called Huangchong (黃沖) which is in the same vicinity as my ancestral village of Kengtou (坑頭) and is often linked to it as the main rural market town. Today Huangchong is often referred to as part of Yaxi (崖西) municipality.
Kengtou is now officially called Jiukengtou (臼坑頭) or Old Kengtou so as not to confuse it with another village called Xinkengtou or New Kengtou (新坑頭). Ours was originally a Chen clan only village but in recent times women who have married men from other villages sometimes came to live in Kengtou. So, the exclusivity of Chens only has been eroded.
Since its founding, the original village’s population grew and families departed and started new villages at its outer fringes. Two of these are Gaosha (高沙) and Wucun (伍村). Of course, today one cannot physically discern the difference because they have all grown and merged together. Nonetheless, the locals still refer to their villages as separate entities.
To this day, these villages do not have running water, sewers or indoor plumbing; only basic electricity is available for all houses. Kengtou village has seen many improvements and all the old dirt paths are paved with concrete. There are no longer any dirt exposed areas.
Below is a satellite map of the location of Kengtou village.
