INFO
| Name | Farewell Guangdong (Documentary Series) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Director(s) | Lynda Chanwai-Earle |
| Producer(s) | Toby Mills, Lily Lee |
| Key Cast | Xana Tang, Nicole Wu, Sam Liu, Janelle Hiew, Shirley Yang, Ivy Lie, Helen Wu |
| Composer(s) | David Yan, Kaihua ‘keva’ Chen |
| Artform | Screen |
| Creative Team | Director of Photography: Daryl Wong Editor: Peter Lee Artist: Stan Chan / Ink Link Art Studio |
ABOUT
Produced by Tawera Productions for Radio New Zealand, Farewell Guangdong is a documentary web series based on the non-fiction book by historian Lily Lee, who was among the first generation of New Zealand-born children of Chinese refugee mothers. Recounting the stories of seven women from villages in Guangdong province — a strategic area of South China that was invaded by the Japanese in 1937 and occupied until 1945 — the series traces their escape to Aotearoa during this period, their new lives as immigrants, and their legacy through the daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters they raised as Chinese New Zealanders.
Drawing from the exhaustive research into Chinese New Zealand communities published in Lee’s book, each Farewell Guangdong episode is dedicated to one woman’s story and family history — in chronological order, Lau Yuet Seen (劉月仙), Ou Choi Ping (區彩萍), Liu Boo Lung (廖寶蘭), Chao Hop Juk (曹合竹), Ho Yuke So (何玉蘇), Fong Toy Gee (鄺彩貴) and Ho Shew Shee (何蕭氏). Testimonial re-enactments, performed in Cantonese, bring to life each personal experience of survival. In most cases, the husbands were already working in New Zealand to support their families in China, meaning the wives and children had to make the harrowing journey alone.
Archival material is also combined with present-day interviews. Unique from the book, these oral histories focus exclusively on female descendants to, as director Lynda Chanwai-Earle explained, “celebrat[e] four generations of our mana wāhine,” provide “a window into our Chinese community,” and show “the injustices that we experienced and the resilience that we showed in the face of persecution and racism.” Conducted by Chanwai-Earle, the interviews form an intergenerational portrait of each family. The discussion of gender roles, racism, filial duty, language, education and food are recurring themes alongside a deep appreciation for the sacrifices made by those who fled their homeland to build a better life in a foreign country.
The seventh episode, which features Lily Lee’s extended whānau, touches on Māori-Chinese relationships through her marriage to David Lee, the son of Chinese and Māori market gardeners in Māngere in the 1940s. Other episodes address cultural and social norms around marriage and the emergence of biracial families within the community, contributing to a richer and more complex view of Chinese New Zealand identity and how subsequent generations express and reclaim their Chinese heritage.
Farewell Guangdong was funded by NZ On Air in 2022 as part of its factual project funding for “stories about and for under-represented communities”. Production was completed in 2024 and was made by a crew who were predominantly Chinese, including music composed by Chinese musician David Yan and artwork by Chinese artist Stan Chan. Seven Chinese actors were also cast to perform the re-enactments. Each episode runs 20–25 minutes, with the first episode released on YouTube and RNZ’s website on 29 January, 2025 to coincide with Chinese New Year.
