In the second year of the Tang Dynasty Guangqi period (886), Zeng Yanshi (20th Generation) was ordered by the Emperor to lead his family to assist his brother Wang Chao and Wang Shenzhi to enter Fujian and remove the local separatist forces. He moved to Fuzhou, Tingzhou, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and finally settled in the Longshantou area of Jinjiang County, Quanzhou. The descendants of Zeng Yanshi prospered and multiplied into a big family, known as The House of Longshan.

Niu Zhenmin (Shelley's great grandfather) started his international trading business between China, Russia, Mongolia and Japan in Ulaanbaatar. The business was forced to end due to the Mongolian Revolution of 1911. Thus, Niu joined the then Chinese government to serve the country. He led several battles to protect the people during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Niu was also famous for establishing schools during the War to ensure students to continue their education. To protect the family from assination, he left his role as the District Mayor of Nangong at the end of the War.

Other than international import and export business, the family had been developing integrated industries in Indonesia to magnify the family influence and promote modern industrial reform. In the early 20th Century, the family investment in the industrialisation of rice mills was a great success which changed the rice production industry completely and generated enormous wealth for the family.

Together with Zisi, Zengzi was the founder of the Confucian tradition that would later become famous under Mengzi. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-755) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Zengzi was given the honorific title of Earl of Cheng.

Yang Yugeng (Shelley’s grandfather) started his political career in the Central Commission of the Communist Youth League of China after he graduated from the National Central University. He was fully devoted to the construction of New China with great passion. Yang has proudly participated in the Beijing Workers Stadium construction project. It was one of the Ten Great Buildings constructed in 1959 for the 10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

The Zeng Clan Ancestor Zengzi (505-425 BC) was a Chinese philosopher, the disciple of Confucius, revered as one of the Four Sages of Confucianism. Under the guidance of Confucius, he became the author of The Classic of Filial Piety, a work that examined the importance of this tenet in the Confucian system. After the death of Confucius, Zengzi assembled disciples around him and preached the way of Confucius.

In 1943, Niu Zhenmin established Taiji Coal Mine in Beijing. The family stepped into the energy industry since then. With his outstanding business talents, Niu Zhenmin became one of the Four Big Tigers of the booming energy field, who also owned construction materials and railway business in China. Meanwhile, Niu Zhenmin's brother who served as the Party Secretary of Eight Route Army 120 Division, North China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and the Beijing University of Science and Technology, had been honourably awarded by China Premier Zhou Enlai.

After centuries of development, in the 19th Century, part of the family moved to Southeast Asia to further develop the family business. The family established its international trading company to actively promote trade between China and Southeast Asia, to also Europe and the Americas.

In 2019, the elders in the family were awarded the Commemorative Medal for "Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China", in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the development of the People's Republic of China.

Since the 1980s, the family has been actively supporting China's international development, and promoting the development of China and international investment and financing. The family has been keeping pace with the development of the new era, reorganizing and reforming family resources with wisdom, and becoming part of the economic miracle of the 40 years of China's Open Door Policy.