Overzeeërs - De Bladeren Keren Altijd Terug naar de Wortel plot
To celebrate the Chinese New Year with family, two young women, Mei Fang and Jinju, return to their hometowns. They tell about their dreams and motivations and their experience with migration. What does it mean to be a hua qiao, an overseas? What does it yield, and for whom does it actually benefit? And what price must be paid for that? Mei Fang left her country when she was seven. She left for her parents, who had already settled in Europe before. She was the last of six children in a family that was further raised in the Netherlands, where her father owned a Chinese restaurant. When her parents got older, they returned to China. Little by little, Mei Fang elicits from her father the family's migration history and discovers the price that had to be paid to escape poverty. Jinju was sent to Europe ten years ago by her parents. She wasn't the only one from her village: at least one person from every family had crossed the ocean. With the money they sent home, the families could build new houses, lead a better life. Although Zhejiang Province is developing at lightning speed, the young people still want to become overseas.