Using the present to preserve the past

Volunteers went to Guangdong's Zhanjiang city to record historical stories of Guangzhouwan, or Zhanjiang, July 14, 2014. [Photo by Li Chaoliang/provided to China Daily]

Smartphone apps

"To fully utilize the social networks, we've developed a smartphone application about the history of Kwangchowan," said Zhou Tengda, 28, director of the Kwangchowan History Research Group.

It took him a month to create the app, which contains more than 500 photos and stories adding up to about 500,000 Chinese characters. Instead of printing 5,000 books or pamphlets at a cost of about 25,000 yuan, Zhou opted to use the app, which cost less than 1,000 yuan.

"Digital publication is cheap, and it's also a good way of storing all the material," he said. "The younger generation is the one that will keep and pass on this heritage, so we need to present the content in a way they are familiar with and interested in."

By the end of the year, Zhou will unveil a website that will enable people nationwide to upload their family histories and communicate with each other to swap stories and other materials.

"I hope our research work in Zhanjiang can be expanded across the nation," he said. "Social networks connect people and that makes it easier for us to save our history together."