Chinese passengers

[Hydie Cheung]

Wow, Dave~ This is very detailed and interesting indeed!! Thank you very much for taking time to do this little research. I'm amazed by how diversed the Titanic passengers are. Incredible informations!! Thank you very much!

Always,
Hydie

 

[Jeremy Lee]

So what happened to the men after the disaster if they left America after the sinking? I think that little research is done on this aspect of Chinese on board the Titanic compared to the others. Another question - were all the Chinese men from Hong Kong?

 

[Dave Gittins]

The US immigration records merely gives the birthplace of the 6 survivors as China, which covers a bit of real estate. They may have been from Hong Kong, which was a British colony at the time. Presumably they joined their ship and got on with life. Barring something from the Hong Kong papers, they'll remain men of mystery.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

A little more from Craig Stringer's Titanic People - the claims against White Star for property loss (using Dave's version of their names):

Chang Chip $172.14
Cheong Foo $96.16
Ling Hee $91.05
Fang Lang $137.09
Lee Bing $99.34

 

[Chris Dohany]

Ellis Island records give the places of birth of all but one of the surviving sailors as Hong Kong; the remaining man, Lam, is listed as having been born in "Canton," China.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I just found a snippet on the Chinese sailors, naturally while looking for something else!

It appears that the US authorities were none too keen on wandering Chinese. According to the New York Times, they were held on Ellis Island, no doubt pending them joining their ship.

 

[Tom K. Fong]

To all of you regarding Mr Fang Lang,(chinese rescue in lifeboat #14. I have most of the answers to your questions because he was my father

 

[Jan C. Nielsen]

So tell us about your dad, Tom. What happened to him after surviving the Titanic disaster?

 

[Hydie Cheung]

Hello, Tom! Welcome to the board. I actually have several questions regarding to your father. Just out of curiosity. You don't have to answer everything if you are not feeling comfortable.

1. What happened to your father after he was saved from the disaster?
2. Did he ever tell you about the disaster? What was his account on that?

Hydie

 

[Tom K. Fong]

Ok... This is Tom's son thats posting this new message. Indeed he is my grandfather. He never told my father Tom of the incident. However he was told from an old man from Chinatown, one of my grandfather's friends that my grandfather survived a ship wreck and was holding on to some object in the water but never specified what ship so my father Tom figured it was somewhere in the South China Sea. Recently some of my relatives visited us and my 3rd cousin who is very old told us that my grandfather had been a survivor in a shipwheck in 1912 leaving for the U.S We have 2 picture that also show some conclusive evidence. On one of the pictures it has one name and the other has a different name written in Chinese below his picture. On the on of the pictures, when the name is spoken in Chinese, it comes out to be Fang Lang; on the other picture is the name he acquires after he is married. This has been very eye-opening for me and for my father Tom. Thank you for reading for what i have to say

 

[Fiona Nitschke]

Thank you, Tom. Good to see you made it onto the board after visiting the guest book.

Have you been able to do any further research into your grandfather's life?

 

[Dave Gittins]

Tom, if you'd like to contact me directly,. I'll connect you to a Chinese researcher who has been working on the Chinese seamen. I'm sorry to say that he hasn't made a lot of progress with the Chinese press in Hong Kong. One thing he did establish is that the street names in the US immigration records are incorrect. There were no such streets in Hong Kong at the time. He thinks they are probably mangled versions of Chinese words.

 

[Tom K. Fong]

To Hydie and Jan.Between 1913to1920's he was enslave to someone for oweing for the passage fare to come to America.Between 20's and 40's a bit of mystery.Late 40's and 50's he was a big political and fund raiser for General Chiang Kai Shek for the war efforts against Chairman Mao.I will give more detail info in the near future.

 

[Jan C. Nielsen]

Thanks for that, Tom. If he was a fundraiser for Chiang Kai Shek then, ultimately, he may have ended up on Taiwan, don't you think?

 

[Dave Gittins]

The story of Fang Lang owing money for his passage sounds like a family legend. He travelled with seven other Chinese firemen on ticket 1601, which was paid for by the Donaldson Line. He was going to join a small ship called Annetta, which used to operate in the Caribbean. (The name of the ship is given as Anetta in the US inquiry, but my version is from Lloyd's Register).

More positively, Tom provides a source for the story of Fang Lang being rescued after floating on wreckage. This incident is in several books but I've never seen a primary source. If this is documented by a contemporary letter or newspaper report, it would clear up another loose end.