Diplomatic envoys to China from Caribbean and Pacific island nations, including Nauru, Micronesia, Fiji, Suriname, and the Bahamas, visited Shantou, Guangdong Province on March 17.
The delegation toured the Overseas Chinese Letters Museum (Qiaopi Museum), exploring the history and culture of Chaoshan overseas Chinese.
For Jeanette Kai Chan, wife of the Fiji Ambassador to China, the visit struck a deeply personal chord. "My husband's family moved to Fiji, I believe, in the 1930s. His father was just a young kid then. You can imagine he was trying to make a living," she shared. "And because of poverty, he was sent off. He struggled to make a living, but then he got this innate entrepreneurial spirit in him that he started a bakery business. In the process, he sent a letter. I think it's something like this 'qiaopi' back home, about sending money back."
Qiaopi, or "overseas Chinese letters," were remittances combined with family correspondence sent by Chinese emigrants to their hometowns. The museum in Shantou preserves thousands of these precious documents, which tell stories of sacrifice, perseverance, and enduring family ties spanning generations and oceans.
A lesson in heritage
Kai Chan recalled a poignant conversation between her husband and his father about the family's connection to their ancestral home in Zhongshan. "My husband, he said, 'Why are you sending all this money back to China to build a school? You can build a school in Fiji.' And then the father said to him, 'You will understand when you get older, that the connection back home is never-ending.'"
Her father-in-law, despite receiving little education himself, believed profoundly in the power of learning. "He believed that only through education can his country, China, become strong again. Therefore, he remitted and built a school with his own effort in the 80s. And he built two schools in Zhongshan, one primary school, and then maybe donated some money to help with the middle school as well."
Now, she said, her husband understands. "I think the ambassador knows now, that's why his father sent the money back to build a school, because he found the same connection."
She emphasized the importance of passing this legacy to younger generations. "I think the young generation needs to link their relationship back home. I think there's a lack of that kind of linkage, because the story goes from generation to generation. Without coming back to China to see what's happening, you can't really relate. So it's important to have young people come back."
Cultural revival and exchange
After the museum visit, delegates toured the Shantou Cultural Center, watching performances of intangible cultural heritage including Chaoshan paper-cutting, inlaid porcelain, and centipede dance, and trying their hands at making red peach-shaped rice cakes.
Fiji Ambassador Robert Lee saw in these traditional crafts an opportunity for renewed cooperation. "I see this is very familiar—mooncake, all that's very familiar. But we need to learn this skill again, learn the artisan skills, the crafts," he said. "I think that's an area that we'd like to see a lot more cooperation between Guangdong province, Shantou city, and even my own hometown of Zhongshan to rediscover the culinary skills."
Lee noted that early Chinese settlers brought Guangdong cooking techniques to Fiji, influencing local culinary traditions. "I'm seeing a lot of the revival of the culinary techniques and the culinary skills, and the more artisan and traditional skills. It's an area that I think we would like to also see happen: that people-to-people exchange, the culinary exchange, will open up a completely new sphere of cooperation between Fiji and China."
Cultural bridges across oceans
The envoys' visit reflects growing cultural ties between China and island nations of the Caribbean and Pacific. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, Confucius Institutes and cultural centers have been promoting Chinese language and traditions for years. As of 2018, there were 39 Confucius Institutes and 11 Confucius Classrooms across the region, reaching over 50,000 students and serving more than 8 million people through cultural activities.
Jacqueline Pollyana Bell, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of Jamaica in China, shared how cultural exchange thrives in her country. "In the case of my country, we have already established a Confucius Institute on the grounds of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Besides teaching the Chinese language, they also teach Chinese culture."
She noted that Jamaica has a Chinese benevolent society and several Chinese associations that host commemorative events each year celebrating China-Jamaica relations and the anniversary of the first Chinese arrival in Jamaica. "From time to time, the Chinese Friendship Association of Jamaica invites acrobatic troupes and lion dancing troupes from China to perform in Jamaica. These events are usually very popular among Jamaicans."
Ambassador Lee summed up the potential: "I think the artisan capabilities and skills is an area of great opportunity for people-to-people interaction. We want to see a revival of that because some of these skills were introduced by the early Chinese settlers in Fiji. You are reintroducing this back in China. We'd like to see this also revived in our people-to-people exchange between Fiji and China."
Reporter: Guo Zedong
Photo: Guo Zedong
Video & Video cover: Pan Jiajun
