Tracing Your Roots?

Have you ever tried tracing your family tree? So far, I haven't, but I'm guessing I trace it from the males in the family. You see, Chinese families generally keep a book of genealogy in their hometowns, but only the males are included. Daughters are considered unimportant and are married off anyway, so they do not have a place in the family genealogy book. Instead, they are included as a wife in their husband's family's genealogy book, if at all. At least that's how my grandfather used to explain it. I don't know if that's the case with all families, or just with ours. But that just makes it difficult to trace the maternal line.