2026-09-29
China Overseas Chinese History Museum Collection Size
China Overseas Chinese History Museum holds more than 60,000 items and sets. The Dear You special exhibition in Beijing sits inside that larger collection, not the other way around.
The scale in one number
China Overseas Chinese History Museum holds more than 60,000 items and sets. That is the museum’s overall collection scale, not the number of objects on view in a single special exhibition.
For readers coming in through Dear You, that distinction matters. The Beijing exhibition is one part of a much larger institutional collection built over time around overseas Chinese history and memory.
Where the collection comes from
The museum’s holdings come from more than 100 countries and regions. About 95% were donated by overseas Chinese, returned overseas Chinese and their relatives. That donation pattern gives the collection a strongly transnational character.
In practical terms, the museum is not built around one locale or one narrow archive. Its scale and source structure make it suitable for presenting migration, family connection and qiaopi-related material in a wider historical frame.
Why Dear You appears here
The themed exhibition “江海万里不觉远——《给阿嬷的情书》电影道具及侨批文物特展” opened in July at the China Overseas Chinese History Museum in Beijing. It was jointly organized by the museum and Damai Entertainment, and was listed as a key exhibition in the museum’s 2026 “侨·蕴” cultural and art series.
The Beijing run ended on September 13, 2026. China News Service reported that the exhibition was then set to travel to Fujian and other places for a national tour; its link to the museum therefore includes not only a film-prop display, but also a re-curated exhibition built with the museum’s holdings and historical materials.
What the exhibition brings together
Dear You treats qiaopi as a through-line, and the exhibition reflects that. It is divided into three parts: “潮汕·故土相守”, “暹罗·落地生根”, and “侨批·一纸情牵”. The show also builds more than ten recreated film sets and combines screen art, Chaoshan folk custom and overseas Chinese history.
That makes the exhibition useful for viewers who want to connect the film’s scenes with physical objects and historical settings. The display is not only about props; it links them to place, family ties and the overseas Chinese world that shaped the story.
Why qiaopi matters here
Qiaopi refers to remittances and letters exchanged between overseas Chinese and relatives back home. It is also called silver letters, and it functions as both money transfer and family correspondence. In Dear You, it is one of the film’s key narrative threads.
In June 2013, the archive set “侨批档案——海外华侨银信” was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register through a joint nomination by Guangdong and Fujian. That helps explain why the museum exhibition places qiaopi, film props and museum holdings in the same frame: they are different entry points into the same historical field.