bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Mabel Lui

For hundreds of years, people all over the world have written letters to express their affection and longing for family and loved ones who are far away.
This is no different in China, where filial piety has been ingrained into people thanks to Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist values that have been enshrined for centuries.
The Chaoshan region, in eastern Guangdong, is home to a particular historical culture of letter writing called qiaopi, also known as Teochew letters.
Qiaopi – qiao referring to emigrants and pi being the expression for letter in Minnan dialect – refers to the correspondence and remittance letters that were sent to China during the 19th and 20th centuries by Chaoshan, or Teochew, emigrants who had moved abroad.
These letters, added to Unesco’s Memory of the World Register in 2013, are valued as historical objects because their contents offer insight into the history of Chinese migration.
From national issues and international relations to daily activities and family affairs, qiaopi were a reflection of society and of the lives of Teochew people.

To learn more about these letters, we ventured to the Qiaopi Museum – also called the Qiaopi Cultural Relics Museum, or the Museum of Overseas Remittance Mail Relics – in Shantou, a city on the eastern coast of Guangdong.
Also commonly called Swatow, it is one of three cities – along with nearby Chaozhou and Jieyang – that make up the Chaoshan region. Many overseas Chinese can trace their roots to this region – its coastal location allowed for easier access to other countries, especially in the 19th century when all overseas travel was by boat.
At that time, those looking to escape poverty and earn more money abroad set sail from the port of Zhanglin in Shantou, a transport and trade hub that flourished during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912).
Once settled, having found work at their destination – often as low-paid labourers – the migrants would send their earnings home through informal channels to provide support for their families, as formal means of posting money home were not available yet. Thus were qiaopi born.
Often, the migrants were young men who left their wives, parents and children in China when they set off.

More than 20 million overseas Chinese have roots in Guangdong, including Chaoshan.
“Just about every family [in Guangdong] has someone who migrated to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, America, Australia and all over the world during the 19th and 20th centuries,” Zheng Wenbi, whose hometown is Shantou, told the Post in 2008.
“It sounds like a fairy-tale to us. But it was really a sad experience [for] those who had to leave home to go thousands of kilometres away across the sea.”
Living abroad was not easy for the millions of migrants who chose to leave China. In one qiaopi shown at the Shantou Qiaopi Museum, the Chinese character for “difficulty” is written boldly in black ink, reflecting the hardships that overseas Chinese faced.
In another short but heart-wrenching letter, a Chinese immigrant in Thailand tells his wife to use 50,000 yuan to retrieve his daughter, whom his wife had sold because she was unable to support two children at the same time.
The Qiaopi Museum has more than 120,000 such letters and copies of letters – whose writers tell various everyday stories and express a range of emotions – in its archives.
Over time, qiaopi culture grew to such an extent that it gave rise to a profession – that of the shuike, whose literal meaning is “water traveller”.

The shuike’s job was to transport people, letters and other goods between Southeast Asia and the Chaoshan region; the museum highlights the story of one shuike who was well regarded until he disappeared in 1943 after setting off for Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam with a group of villagers who were hoping to escape famine in Chaoshan.
It did not take long for the shuike profession to flourish and for remittance agencies with partners in Shantou to be set up in different countries.
Because many migrants were illiterate or semi-literate, professional letter writers also emerged. Often, the overseas Chinese would work with letter writers and agencies who were from their own communities and spoke their dialect.
Aside from the practical nature of the remittance letters, qiaopi also contain snippets about some of the momentous changes China went through, and offer a view of the politics and culture of the 1800s and 1900s.
One letter in the Qiaopi Museum details how, once news of China’s 1911 revolution – which saw the end of the country’s last imperial dynasty – reached Indonesia, the overseas Chinese there ecstatically shaved their heads and cut off their braids.

Since 1645, with the Manchu ethnic minority in power, Chinese men had been required to wear the Manchus’ “queue” hairstyle as a symbol of solidarity with the ruling dynasty. Those who did not comply were beheaded.
Featuring a bare forehead and a long braid at the back, the hairstyle had long been a source of tension and animosity between the elite and the lower and middle classes, who were mostly Han Chinese.
While the Manchus wanted to use the hairstyle as a means of unifying the country, many viewed it as a symbol of oppression.
As well as the letters on view at the museum, stamps and other objects provide further insight into qiaopi culture and the emigrants’ journeys. The practice of sending qiaopi lasted until the late 1970s, when the government ordered all qiaopi functions to be moved to the state-owned Bank of China.
Today, the history of qiaopi lives on mainly through the Qiaopi Museum in Shantou, various exhibitions and the Chaoshan people, many of whom have returned to, or have visited, Shantou and invested money in the city’s growth.


Taoist funeral rituals used to tell stories about life in Hong Kong plays and a movie

Chinese migrants’ letters home, from happy to heartbreaking, on display at museum

Multilingual writers enrich the world’s literary canon

Chinese film about Covid lockdown wins top prize in 2024 Golden Horse awards in Taiwan

Chinese culture

Filled with sorrow, joy and reflections on politics and events, letters to loved ones written by Teochew migrants from Chaoshan in southern China are on display at the Qiaopi Museum in Shantou, Guangdong. Photo: Mabel Lui

A display at the Qiaopi Museum – also called the Qiaopi Cultural Relics Museum, or the Museum of Overseas Remittance Mail Relics – in Shantou. Photo: Mabel Lui

One of the remittance letters on display at the Qiaopi Museum. Photo: Mabel Lui

In one letter shown at the museum, the Chinese character for “difficulty” is written boldly in black ink. Photo: Mabel Lui

Qiaopi refers to the family correspondence and remittance letters that were sent to China during the 19th and 20th centuries by Teochew emigrants who moved overseas. Photo: Mabel Lui 

5 must-see places in Shenzhen for art lovers and architecture fans

The Marisfrolg Campus in Shenzhen. Photo: Shutterstock

Art for sale at Dafen Oil Painting Village, one of the oldest places in Shenzhen for art lovers to go. These days there are plenty of other attractions in the southern Chinese city for fans of art and architecture. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Shenzhen Art Museum’s new venue. Photo: Xinhua

The picturesque Art Canteen is located in the old village of Aohu. Photo: YouTube/Jobie Lam 

C Future City, in Zhongzhou Bay. Photo: Weibo/Aedas

The Marisfrolg Campus building is an architectural gem. Photo: Shutterstock

An artist copies a Vincent van Gogh masterpiece in her studio in Dafen Oil Painting Village. Photo: Shutterstock

How China’s underground raves give frustrated youth a sense of escape

Ravers dance in an abandoned air raid shelter in Guangzhou, China. Underground raves are growing in popularity in the country. Photo: AP

Xing Long, DJ and rave organiser, in his hometown of Changchun, in Jilin province, China. Photo: AP

Xing tests audio gear before a rave at a friend’s bar in Changchun, China. Photo: AP

Electronic music fan and fashion student Chen Xiangyu dances at a rave in Changchun, Jilin province. Photo: AP

DJ Kuro plays music at a rave in Changchun, China. Photo: AP

Loong Wu and ravers cross the road with DJ equipment on a cart during a public party in Shenzhen in China’s Guangdong province. Photo: AP

5 of the best Shenzhen restaurants for regional Chinese cuisines, from Sichuan to Hunanese

Xiang Jiao Hunan Bistro, known for its fiery Hunanese dishes, is one of many Shenzhen restaurants serving regional Chinese cuisines. Photo: Xiang Jiao Hunan Bistro


The interior of Gem Garden, often described as Shenzhen’s most beautiful restaurant. Photo: Horizontal Design

Cured crab sliced 18 ways, a signature dish at Yong Fu Xiao Xian. Photo: Yong Fu Xiao Xian

Yangya Yongya is best known for its “yin yang” hotpot, with spicy numbing Sichuan soup in one half and fresh tomato soup in the other. Photo: Yangya Yongya

Best apps for foreign visitors in China and which are useless – like Google Maps

WeChat and Alipay are the best apps for foreigners to download to use for payments in China since both began allowing users to link international cards to their payment systems. Photo: Getty Images

A customer makes an electronic Alipay payment on his smartphone to pay for his food at a restaurant in Beijing. Photo: AFP

An Alipay QR payment code (right, in blue) and a WeChat QR code (left, in green) are displayed at a street stall selling gadgets in Beijing for customers to scan to pay for items. Photo: AFP

A customer makes an electronic payment with Alipay on his smartphone for his food at a restaurant in Beijing. Photo: AFP

Lifestyle

Arts & Culture

Family & Relationships

Culture

People who left Chaoshan, southern China, for work sent back remittances and reflections on life. A museum in Shantou displays their letters


People who left Chaoshan, southern China, for work sent back remittances and reflections on life. A museum in Shantou displays their letters.


China travel

Greater Bay Area: Travel & Lifestyle

Travel Destinations