We’ve heard some questions about Ancestry.com’s recently launched Chinese site, Jiapu.cn, and help for researchers who want to use it but don’t know Chinese.

“There isn’t an English version of the Chinese site, just as there isn’t an English version of our Italian, French, German or Swedish sites,” says Simon Zivian, spokesperson for the Ancestry.com’s international business. “These international sites have been launched in local markets for those markets.”

In addition, the jiapu (family histories) on the site are in Chinese.

You can get a rough translation using Google’s Web page translator, but you’d need to search using Chinese characters, and you’d need translation help with the digitized records.

For translation help, I’d suggest contacting a university Asian Studies department or a local Chinese organization to ask for recommendations. Here are a few other Chinese genealogy resources:

• Shanghai Library (the Web site has an English version)
  The site states a genealogy service is available by telephone or writing but you still may need to have your communications translated.

• Genforum China forum

• In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames by Sheau-yueh J. Chao from Genealogical Publishing Co

• China Gateway
  Links to repositories in North America, China and elsewhere that have Chinese collections

• Chinese Immigration from the National Archives

• Chinese-Canadian Genealogy

I did a search for professional genealogists specializing in Chinese research and came up empty. Hit Comment and add a post if you know of one.