China News Service, Beijing, September 23. Question: How can a local accent become a passport to cross mountains and seas?
——Exclusive interview with Chen Yingling, Executive Director of the Thai Chinese Business Center
China News Service reporter Du Yan
The frank and honest sentence "Boss, why do you disagree?" has become a widely circulated "famous behind-the-scenes scene" in the global hit movie "Love Letter to Grandma". The person who asked in Chaoshan dialect was none other than Chen Yingling, a new generation of overseas Chinese.
Originally from Chaoshan, she lives in Thailand. She has been recording the lives of overseas Chinese in Thailand with short videos for a long time. She is familiar to many people on the Internet as the "Thailand V sister". At the same time, as the executive director of the Thai Chinese Business Center, she shuttles between Thailand and China, building a two-way business bridge.
One end is connected to the curling fireworks on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, and the other is closely tied to the root memory of her hometown of Chaoshan. She tells the stories of overseas Chinese across mountains and seas in her own way, participating in and witnessing the spread of Chinese culture overseas from generation to generation.
The innocent heart deep in the light and shadow
The movie "A Love Letter to Grandma" has been a hit all over the world, and its current global box office has exceeded 2.1 billion yuan. "When I participated in the filming, I didn't expect that the movie would be so popular and have such a good response." Chen Yingling recalled the experience of "joining the team" and said that after learning that the film tells the nostalgia of Chaoshan overseas Chinese traveling to Nanyang, she immediately agreed.
Evaluated as the "behind-the-scenes hero" of the movie, Chen Yingling said with a smile: "Without me, the movie would not be missing any zeros. But without the overseas Chinese leaders playing their true roles, there would be less of a trendy flavor and a lack of hometown love." In her eyes, the presidents are willing to play small roles because of the tacit understanding of Chaoshan people. "If you are from your hometown, communicate in Chaoshan dialect, and the movie is in Chaoshan dialect, everyone is actually very willing to help."
Thailand has a deep connection with the Chaoshan region of China, and a large number of Chaoshan descendants live here. The film was released in major theaters in Thailand, and a "Teochew original subtitled version" and a "Thai dubbed version" were released. Local families of Chaoshan descent, old and young, went to the theater to relive family memories. Chen Yingling said that this movie is not only a work, but also evokes everyone's common memory of their ancestors, hometown, and Chinese culture.
"Many of my peers who only knew a few words in Chaoshan dialect were touched: At first they were curious, why can a movie be so popular and have such a high box office? Then as they read on, they found that the story was closely related to their own family, and they sighed, 'It turns out that my family has such a valuable story.'" she said.
"In the past, they only heard their elders talk about coming from 'Chaoshan' and did not know what their hometown was like. After watching the movie, many young people are willing to go home and sit down to listen to the suffering and struggle of their elders, and understand the heavy family behind their wandering and hard work. Responsibility and concern for home and country." Seeing such changes, Chen Yingling felt deeply in her heart: Chinese people's responsibility and friendship are never just about themselves. They always have their parents, children, hometown and country in their hearts, so they work extra hard outside.
Chen Yingling said that this quality engraved in the bones has transcended national borders through images, not only reawakening the memories of the homeland buried in the hearts of overseas children, but also knocking on the hearts of audiences at home and abroad.
Oral narration of memories over the years
Participating in the movie is a beautiful "episode" in Chen Yingling's life. In fact, as early as 2023, as the creator of the short video account "Thailand Sister V", Chen Yingling picked up her mobile phone and visited Chaoshan overseas leaders and older generations of immigrants in Thailand on a daily basis, and "talked about the past" with her predecessors in Chaoshan dialect - continuing the tradition of Chaoshan folk recounting the past and recording those past events that are about to disappear.
"A local accent is the best passport." She lamented that many seniors who usually do not easily accept interviews with the media instantly regarded her as "a junior" when she started a conversation with their local accent. They were willing to open up the conversation and talk about their dusty experiences. They were happy to see the younger generation passing on culture.
There is no interview script, and many of Chen Yingling's records are daily chats. During her visits again and again, she witnessed the ruthlessness of time: when she met the old overseas Chinese leader who was energetic and high-spirited a few years ago again, she was shocked to see that aging seemed to have come in an instant. "He won't wait for you to say he will grow old slowly, nor will he mentally prepare you to feel his aging all at once."
"There are thousands of people listening to stories, but the number of old people who can tell stories is constantly decreasing." Feeling the cruelty of time, Chen Yingling, with a sense of urgency "for fear of not being able to make it in time," decided to make documentaries: short videos can retain a few minutes of footage, while documentaries can completely preserve the collective memory of a generation.
As a result, the documentary "Siam Chaoshan" came into being, recording the survival and struggle of Chaoshan people in Thailand in a panoramic manner. She and her team traveled to various places to search for historical materials. Currently, 90% of the project has been completed. They plan to launch a series of 10 short films of 15 minutes each, and also plan to release it to the big screen in the form of a feature film.
"The word 'slave' can evoke our common memories." She said that the film insists on using the oral accounts of the interviewees as first-hand material, striving to restore the true face of the times to the greatest extent and live up to the unconditional trust of the older generation of overseas Chinese leaders. At the same time, we also hope to “preserve the local accent and roots” in this way.
Crossing mountains and seas without forgetting where you came from
What is "home"? What is "root"? During repeated visits, Chen Yingling had real answers to these two words.
"Home is where your parents are; roots are where you remember where you come from." She told the story of an interview with a well-known overseas Chinese leader.
"I asked him, it is difficult for you to make money, why is it so refreshing to donate money? He said because that is what he wants to do. I asked again, why should you do it? If you don't do it, others and your hometown will gradually get better. He may have been confused by my question. Too many, so I just said: Because that’s my root.” Chen Yingling said frankly that even in her old age, the old man still insisted on returning to her hometown to worship her ancestors and spent all her money to support her family. The powerful words “that’s my root” were deeply imprinted in her heart.
This awareness of roots keeps people from forgetting their origins. The older generation of overseas Chinese rely on hometown associations, chambers of commerce, and letters to reunite with each other; while the new generation’s way of connecting has been iterated. She observed that many new generations of overseas Chinese in Thailand still have impressions of China stuck in the past. Nowadays, once they set foot in their hometown in person, they are often deeply shocked by China's speed and technology such as high-speed rail, autonomous driving, and mobile payment.
In her eyes, the camera not only records the current innovative stories, but also focuses on the arduous struggle of overseas Chinese - those self-made fashion business seniors and the cultural roots that have been adhered to for generations, are the most touching chapters in the camera.
Traveling between Thailand and China, Chen Yingling believes that she can give full play to the greatest advantages of overseas Chinese, understanding both the overseas context and the culture of her homeland. “Culture is not intrusive, it’s not about you listening to me or I listening to you, but harmony in differences, respecting each other’s differences, and looking for commonalities.”
Today, she continues to travel to different cities in Thailand and China, giving promotions, shooting videos, and salvaging the memories of overseas Chinese history, so that more people can see and understand the stories of the overseas Chinese’s homeland. "I want to use real stories to show the fighting spirit of overseas Chinese overseas, so that more people can understand the inheritance and rebirth of Chinese culture in foreign countries."
Outside the camera, as the executive director of the Thai Chinese Business Center, in her daily work, she promotes Chinese provinces and cities to carry out investment promotion meetings, promotion meetings, negotiation meetings, forums, business inspections and other related economic and trade activities in Thailand. She also leads Thai small and medium-sized enterprises to enter China, striving to promote economic and trade exchanges, cultural exchanges and two-way investment between Thailand and China, and tell the story of China well.
When the 2026 Beijing Cultural Forum is held, she participates in it, hoping to communicate and interact with guests from various countries, and hopes to promote more young people to understand each other through the lens and jointly participate in regional development and cultural exchanges. "'China and Thailand are one family', and they are also 'one family.'" She believes that individual records and exchanges can inject a steady stream of fresh energy into the exchanges and mutual learning between the two countries' civilizations.
