2026-10-08
Dear You’s Chaoshan-to-Nanyang Screen Geography
The location question behind Dear You is direct: if the story reaches Nanyang and Thailand, why was almost all of it shot in Chaoshan? The answer lies in screen geography. The film uses real places in Shantou, Chaozhou, and Jieyang to create a Nanyang memory space, while later tourism recreations add a separate layer that should not be treated as original filming evidence.
The 118-minute ratio
Lan Hongchun’s signed Sept. 29 essay states that Dear You runs 118 minutes, with only 2 minutes actually filmed in Thailand and the remaining 116 minutes filmed in Chaoshan. That figure frames the film as a production built mainly through local architecture, village textures, ancestral spaces, and streets rather than overseas shooting.
A May 26 Xinhua report gives the broader map: most filming locations were in Shantou, Jieyang, and Chaozhou. For viewers, this means the film’s Nanyang feeling is not a simple record of foreign locations. It is assembled through Chaoshan sites that take on different screen identities.
Tangxi Village as family space
Lan’s essay identifies Tangxi Village at Shantou’s Zhanglin old port as the place where the story opens, and describes it as a historical starting point for red-headed boats going out to sea. In the film’s geography, that lets a Chaoshan village function as the emotional entry point for departure, letters, return, and family memory.
The same essay says the late-life residences of both grandmothers are in Tangxi Village. Shurou’s residence, Zhang Cuonei, is described as a typical old Chaoshan house; Nanzhi’s residence, Qifeng Chen Ancestral Hall, is described as a Nanyang-style overseas Chinese house built by Thai Chinese returning home. The two are only one lane apart, about 200 meters, yet they carry different family histories on screen.
Longhu as a Thai ancestral hall
Longhu Ancient Village in Chaozhou is the clearest case of location doubling. A June 4 Chaozhou Daily report carried by Nanfang+ says Dear You includes two scenes filmed there. The scene in which grandson Xiaowei travels to Thailand and sees Zheng Musheng’s memorial tablet in a Thai ancestral hall was filmed at Longhu’s Huang Ancestral Hall.
That screen transformation has a documented production path. Longhu staff member Xu Xiuying said the crew made multiple scouting visits from 2023 to 2024 before deciding to film there. Lan’s Sept. 29 essay recalls being struck by Longhu’s stone paving and ancestral halls while filming a documentary in Chaozhou in 2013. When preparing Dear You, he thought Longhu Ancient Village could serve as the film’s Nanyang Teochew family temple. His mention of Penang’s Han Jiang ancestral temple in Malaysia works as a spatial reference from his experience, not as the film’s Thailand setting or a filming site.
Jieyang, Mianhu, and the Xima Road line
The Jieyang filming layer is also specific. Xinhua identifies Xiqi Village and Yangqi Village in Denggang Town as the locations for scenes including a postal worker delivering letters, Musheng running on a stone bridge, and Shurou reading a letter under a banyan tree. These are real village locations tied to concrete scenes.
Lan’s essay places another major section in Mianhu Ancient Town: after Nanzhi suffers an inn fire, the scenes in which she stands up again through the craft of making wumi guo were mostly filmed there. The crew filmed in Mianhu for more than a month, making it a production location for a character arc, not just a scenic old town reference.
Why Xima Road is a different category
Xima Road in Jieyang Ancient City belongs in a separate category. The May 26 Xinhua report says Xima Road recreated the film’s “Siam Chinatown,” including scenes of Musheng pulling a rickshaw and buying cloth for Shurou. The wording describes a recreation and an atmosphere-building tourism project after the film’s popularity.
So the practical distinction is this: Tangxi Village, Longhu’s Huang Ancestral Hall, Xiqi Village, Yangqi Village, and Mianhu Ancient Town are identified filming locations in the available record. The Thai ancestral hall, Nanyang Teochew family temple, and Siam Chinatown are screen or experience identities. Xima Road’s Siam Chinatown should not be backdated into an original set unless separate evidence says so.