Helping Overseas Born Chinese Find Their Roots In China - Huihan Lie (Founder of My China Roots)
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[Subtitles available on YouTube) Born in the Netherlands, Huihan started to ask questions about his Indonesian-Chinese ancestry & heritage. Knowing nothing about the language or culture, he moved to China 18 years ago to find out more about his roots and experience life working & living in China. In the process, he found many others on the same journey and so he founded My China Roots to help other Overseas Chinese reconnect with their roots & families.   

Essentially aiming to be the Ancestry.com of Asia, My China Roots offers a wide variety of services to help Overseas Chinese find out more about their ancestry. They have an extensive database of records both in China and overseas (simply create an account and answer a few questions to start building your family tree) and also provide investigative, research and translation services if you run into any brick walls (or if you simply have no idea where to start).    

Find out more about My China Roots here & and join their Discord community! 

• https://www.mychinaroots.com/ )

• https://www.mychinaroots.com/community   )   

The Zoom audio was a bit glitchy and the conversation was a bit rushed at the end as we realised we were running out of time. But feel free to reach out to Huihan directly if you want to find out more.  

Timestamps: 

• 0:00 - Intro 

• 1:25 - Huihan's Introduction (Netherlands to China)  

• 4:50 - Why Huihan decided to stay in China over the last 18 years 

• 6:55 - Is it harder for foreigners / overseas Chinese to find a job in China now? 

• 9:42 - Advice for Chinese Diaspora looking to find a job in China 

• 10:52 - What if you don't speak English? 

• 14:34 - Is there discrimination if you don't speak Chinese? 

• 18:50 - The importance of exploring and having an open mind 

• 20:30 - Any disadvantages for Overseas Chinese returning to China? 

• 23:45 - How did Huihan make friends in China? Advice for others  

• 25:50 - Best way to learn Chinese? 

• 28:00 - Huihan's life in the Netherlands 

• 33:25 - Huihan's journey finding his roots 

• 41:15 - What is My China Roots? Services? 

• 50:00 - Unique cases that My China Roots has solved? 

• 56:30 - Some Overseas Born Chinese discover their roots too late 

• 1:00:45 - Customer base of My China Roots? Is it growing? Final words and advice