‘Letter to Grandma’ Revives UNESCO Heritage in China
A small-budget film shot entirely in the Chaoshan dialect with an all-amateur cast has become the most talked-about movie in China this year. “Letter to Grandma” (《给阿嬷的情书》) has earned over 6 billion RMB (approximately $830 million) at the box office as of May 19, according to Xinhua News, while achieving a Douban rating of 9.1—the highest for any Chinese-language film in 2026. The film’s emotional core centers on “qiaopi” (侨批), the remittance letters sent by overseas Chinese to their families, recognized by UNESCO as a Memory of the World heritage.
A Phenomenon Built on Word of Mouth
Produced on a budget of just over 10 million RMB (roughly $1.4 million), the film’s success defies conventional Hollywood-style blockbuster logic. Without star power or massive marketing campaigns, “Letter to Grandma” relied on a “regional deep cultivation, word-of-mouth first, gradual expansion” distribution strategy, supported by Guangdong’s “15 policies for film and television” framework.
The trajectory of its box office earnings tells the story of a slow-burn phenomenon: 50 million RMB on May 4, 100 million by May 9, 300 million by May 16, and 500 million by May 18. By the following day, it had crossed 600 million RMB, with platform predictions now projecting over 700 million. As Yangcheng Evening News reported, the film received repeated praise from central state media and was described as “a rare Chinese-language work of sincerity in the past two decades” by industry insiders.
The Story Behind the Story
Directed and co-written by Lan Hongchun (蓝鸿春), a native of Chaoyang in Shantou, Guangdong, the film tells the story of a young man who travels to Thailand with his grandmother’s treasured letters, only to discover that the “grandfather” who corresponded with her for decades had long since passed away. For eighteen years, a stranger—a woman named Xie Nanzhi—had been writing and sending money in his place, sustaining a beautiful lie that held two families together.
The narrative is built around qiaopi, also known as “yinxin” (silver letters), which were a unique combination of personal correspondence and remittance system used by overseas Chinese. In the Chaoshan and Southern Min dialects, “pi” (批) means letter. As Beijing Review detailed in an extensive feature, these letters represent “a century-old private postal and financial network” that sustained millions of families.
Qiaopi: The ‘Dunhuang of Overseas Chinese History’
The historical context gives the film its emotional weight. The “xia nanyang” (下南洋, going to the South Seas) migration saw approximately 2.94 million people from the Chaoshan region emigrate overseas between 1864 and 1911, according to Shantou Customs records. These migrants sent money and letters home through a network of “shuike” (water travelers) and later specialized “piju” (remittance bureaus).
By 1946, there were 131 remittance bureaus in the Chaoshan region alone and 451 across Southeast Asia. The system operated on a foundation of trust so strong that, as researchers note, despite the poverty of the couriers who walked up to 100 kilometers a day delivering letters, there were virtually no cases of embezzlement or lost remittances.
In June 2013, the qiaopi archives were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, recognized for their “authenticity, uniqueness, irreplaceability, rarity, and completeness.” The renowned Chinese scholar Rao Zongyi (饶宗颐) called qiaopi “the Dunhuang of overseas Chinese history.”
Authenticity as the Secret Ingredient
Lan Hongchun spent years researching qiaopi before making the film. In 2022, he visited the Shantou Qiaopi Museum and spent an entire day examining the exhibits, later buying大量 books on the subject. “The strong spiritual power, integrity, and friendship of our ancestors moved us deeply—we needed to tell this story,” he told reporters, as quoted by The Paper via 21 Jingji.
The director’s commitment to authenticity extended to casting. The three young leads—Li Sitong (a former finance student), Wang Yantong, and Wang Xiaohui (a training school teacher)—were all non-professional actors. The oldest cast member, 84-year-old Wu Shaoqing, who plays the elderly Ye Shurou, had a brother who was himself a “xia nanyang” overseas Chinese. Her performance required no acting; she had spent years waiting for qiaopi at her village gate.
A Cultural Bridge Between Generations
The film’s success has sparked what Chinese media call a “qiaopi fever.” The Shantou Qiaopi Museum has seen a significant increase in visitors, with many young people participating in letter-writing体验 activities. The museum’s collection of over 92,000 physical qiaopi documents—the largest of any comprehensive archive in China—has all been digitized and made accessible.
Overseas Chinese communities have also embraced the film. During a recent visit to Australia and New Zealand, a Shantou delegation specifically promoted “Letter to Grandma” to local Chinese community organizations. Leaders of Chinese associations in New Zealand, the UK, and Myanmar have expressed strong interest in bringing the film to their countries.
What It Means
“Letter to Grandma” represents more than a box office success. It demonstrates the power of authentic storytelling rooted in specific cultural heritage, proving that a regional dialect film with no stars can become a national phenomenon through emotional resonance alone. The film has also become a tool for cultural diplomacy, strengthening ties between China and its vast diaspora.
As Lan Hongchun and his team work on international distribution, the question remains whether this success can be replicated for other regional Chinese cultures. For now, the film stands as a testament to the enduring power of a simple letter—and the extraordinary stories that泛黄纸页 can still tell.
— Reporting based on Xinhua News, Beijing Review, Yangcheng Evening News, and The Paper/21 Jingji.