The Teochew Store Blog / documentary

From the Terence Tan postcard collection.

More old postcards of early 20th century Teochew are available in Memories of Old Swatow 汕頭舊影.

Homecoming,  似水流年 (“Years flowed by like water”) in Chinese, swept a total of six awards at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1985, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Screenplay and Best Art Direction.

Stilll remembered as the best Hong Kong film produced in the 1980s, Homecoming was shot mainly in location in Tah-gang village of Gek-yor (揭陽塔崗乡) in Teochew.

In recent months, a series of short videos about overseas Teochews have gone viral on Douyin (TikTok), Facebook and other popular social media platforms, and captured the attention of Teochew communities in China and abroad. The videos originate from the official accounts of the Teochew cuisine documentary, “Flavours of Teochew from the Four Seas” (四海潮味, unofficial English translation). Featuring humorous and touching live stories of Teochew people living in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and France, the clips take on a refreshing perspective to present the blending of the Teochew identity with a diversity of local cultures.

Tan Wanxuan (陳婉璇), who hails from Teo-ann (潮安) district in Teochew, China, is the external liaison and producer of this documentary, as well as the director and editor of these short videos. Using Teochew food as a medium, “Flavours of Teochew from the Four Seas” describes the culture, customs and emotional longing for home of Teochew people from different corners of the world. How did Wanxuan become part of this documentary? What has she gained from her travels to these countries to interview and document about our Teochew cuisine and people? The Teochew Store was in touch with Wanxuan to learn about her story and “Flavours of Teochew from the Four Seas”.

The Forest of Miss Tang (陳小姐的森林) is a 40-minute Teochew language animation film produced in France. It tells the story of a Teochew family over six generations in Swatow, China, asking the question, to leave or to stay? The Forest of Miss Tang is the first Teochew language film to be produced in the West. It was broadcast on ARTE channel in Europe on 10 June 2023 and it has since been screened in a number of film festivals around the world.

The Teochew Store managed to speak with the film's director Denis Do, a Paris-born Teochew, to find out more about his feelings towards the Teochew identity and the creation of his film.

《陳小姐的森林》是一部在法国制作的潮语动画电影，它讲述了从十九世纪至今，一个汕头家庭绵延六代人的故事。它抛出了一个问题：“在社会剧烈变迁的背景下，我们是离开还是继续留在自己的家乡？”这部时长40分钟的动画电影已于2023年6月10日在ARTE（德法公共电视台）首映，这是潮语电影首次登陆欧洲。也在全球多个电影节的银幕上亮相，在各国的潮州社群中收获了不少好评和讨论。

潮舗特别连线本片的导演杜来顺（Denis Do），一位法国巴黎出生并成长的潮州青年,聊聊他对潮州人身份认同的经过，并运用于电影创作的过程。

A Teochew language short film about a Teochew who left for Siam, returning home after many years.

本作品围绕过番习俗，以艺术拍摄手法和原创动画制作形式表达潮州人在盛行出国谋生的“过番”年代，“番客”与家人之间的离别相思之情。

Wild Teochew, the first ever nature-documentary on wildlife in the Teochew region was officially released in the Teochew language recently. Deng Cueng (丁銓), who hails from Teochew, China, is the documentary’s director, as well as the editor of the photographic collection Historical Photos of Teochew. The Teochew Store had the pleasure of interviewing Deng Cueng to learn about his enthusiasm in promoting the nature and culture of his homeplace and the gains he has received from it.

近期，首部讲述潮州野生世界的自然纪录片《野性潮州》潮语版正式上映。来自中国潮州的丁铨是这部纪录片的导演，也是影集《旧影潮州》的编著者。潮舖特别连线丁铨先生，请他与我们分享他在推广家乡自然及人文文化中的热忱和收获。

Wild Teochew 《野性潮州》 is the first video produced on the wildlife in the Teochew region. It is a collection of footage produced by a group of local nature lovers over the course of 3 years.

This amazing documentary was nominated for the Best Production award (最佳作品) in the 3rd China Wildlife Image and Video Competition in 2022 (2022第三届野生生物影像年赛) hosted by Chinese National Geography and organized by DDFW and Chinese National Geography Book Company. 

Wild Teochew can now be watched in Teochew-language commentary provided by its director Deng Cueng 丁铨 (author of Historical Photos of Teochew 旧影潮州), accompanied by Chinese and English language subtitles.

Watch 《百年善纪——纪念潮汕八二风灾100周年》， a four-part documentary produced by Shantou Television to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1922 Swatow Typhoon. 

Commentary in Mandarin, with interviews in Teochew and Chinese subtitles.

The Teochew people are not the only ones who live in the Teochew region. Watch Wild Teochew 《野性潮州》, an extraordinary documentary on wildlife in Teochew's mountains, rivers, city, villages and sea that is directed by Deng Cueng 丁铨 (author of Historical Photos of Teochew 旧影潮州) and collects footages produced by a group of local nature lovers over the course of 3 years.

A gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s brought thousands of Chinese from Guangdong to Australia, including a small number of Teochews. The Land Down Under has today a mix of Teochew immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and China and this documentary produced in 2000 documents their stories. Interestingly, the television crew from Swatow also discovered a place where the Teochew language was widely spoken in Sydney's Cabramatta suburb.

在十九世紀五、六十年代，數千名來自廣東省的華工湧入澳洲採金，其中少數是潮州人。今日的澳洲有分別源於越南、柬埔寨、香港、台灣、新加坡、馬來西亞和中國等地的潮人。這部汕頭電視台2000年攝製的記錄片《騎在羊背上的潮州人》，記錄了他們不同的故事。有趣的是，記錄片的製作團隊竟然在悉尼的卡拉瑪打市郊發現了一個通用潮州話的地方。

Today's Teochew presence in the United States was largely established after a wave of migration in the 1970s and 1980s. However, do you know that historical shipping records show that about 40,000 coolies were shipped from Swatow to the country between 1852 to 1858, and some of them might have formed their own fishing settlements on the West Coast? Learn about this and various stories of success achieved by the Teochews in America in this documentary produced by Shantou Television 22 years ago. 

二十世紀七、八十年代的一波移民潮形成了今日的美國潮人社群。其實船運記錄顯示，在一八五二年和一八五八年之間有大概四萬民“豬仔”從汕頭港被運到美國，而且他們有可能在美國西岸形成了自己的漁村。定居美國的潮人如何在這片大陸上成功立足？請看看這部由汕頭電視台在2000年攝製的記錄片，《美國潮人》。

1990s Hong Kong is best remembered as a wealthy financial hub and the centre of the Chinese film industry. People often overlooked that pre-1997 Hong Kong was also, after Thailand, home to the world's second largest Teochew diaspora that numbered about 1.2 million. Just how large was the contribution of the Teochew people's contribution to Hong Kong's prosperity?

二十世紀九十年代的香港是著名富裕的金融城市和華人電影業中心。許多人不知道，其實1997年以前的香港，還是世界第二大的潮籍僑民定居地，僅次於泰國。在香港97年的人口總數中，潮州移民就有將近一百二十萬。潮州人對香港的繁榮，貢獻究竟有多少？請觀看紀錄片《潮人》之香江處處聞潮聲。

Escaping Cambodia with five children in the 1970s, a Teochew couple were cruelly separated on the Thailand border. Yet they were miraculously reunited in Canada five years later and after much hard work, eventually came to own a supermarket. Notwithstanding its great distance from Asia, Canada is a gathering point for Teochews who resettled from Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong and China. Let’s watch this video where several of them share their stories and aspirations.

一對潮州夫妻在上世紀七十年代離開柬埔寨逃往泰國，在邊境走散，不知生死。五年後，他們奇蹟地在加拿大團聚。為了生活，他們刻苦耐勞，最終成功經營自己的超市。在離亞洲數千里的加拿大是許多來自越南、柬埔寨、香港和中國潮人移民的集中地。在這片土地上，他們與我們一起分享自己的故事和夢想。

Thailand has the largest Teochew diaspora in the world, with the size of the community estimated at 5 million in the mid-1990s. This documentary from 1997 by Shantou Television gives a glimpse of the lives of the Teochews in Thailand. (Audio in Mandarin, with some interviews in Teochew).

海外潮州人在泰国居多。根据上世纪90年代的统计，泰国的潮州社群约有五百万人。想了解潮州人在泰国过去的生活情况，请观看汕头电视台1997年制作的纪录片《佛國潮踪》。

An animation film telling the history of the Teochew people, directed by a Teochew and dubbed entirely in Teochew language by 3 generations of Teochews living in France. How can you not be EXCITED?!

“The Forest of Miss Tang" (陳小姐的森林) is in an advanced stage of production and it needs funding support to be complete. The project has so far raised over €20,000 through crowd funding, but more support is still needed for it to be better.

The Teochew Store is lending our voice to this fund raising campaign as we believe this is a much worthy cause.

Watch the introduction video of the film by director Denis Do below (in French with English subtitles). To back the production of "The Forest of Miss Tang", click here for the project fundraising page. 

Have you ever watched a Teochew musical movie? Check out this rare classic that showcases a variety of Teochew art forms, including cross talk (相聲), bamboo clapper singing (竹板歌), Teochew classical music (潮州音樂), Teochew opera (潮劇),  Teochew narrative songbooks (潮州歌冊), ballads (歌謠), etc.

As the result of torrential rains on 29 and 30 August, extensive areas in the Teochew region were afflicted by floods. In some worst hit parts in Teoyor (潮陽 ) and Pholeng (普寧) districts, water-levels reached up to 2 metres and entire towns and villages were covered under water. Watch the Gaginang spirit in action as communities across Teochew mobilised themselves wasted no time to step forward selflessly evacuate and provide relief to tens of thousands of families trapped by the deluge. Teochew nang, Gaginang!