Last professional letter writer in Chinese city pens 100,000 missives over 59 years

A 77-year-old man in southeastern China has spent nearly six decades turning homesickness, hardship and family duty into letters sent across the sea.

Jiang Mingdian, from Quanzhou in Fujian province, is regarded as one of China’s last active professional letter writers, though no public figures show how many still practise the trade.

Over 59 years, he has reportedly written more than 100,000 letters for local families to relatives overseas, reaching countries including the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

He entered the trade at the age of 18 with his parents’ encouragement. His father was among China’s earliest professional letter writers, while his mother, a primary school teacher, helped nurture his early education.

The profession grew out of Fujian’s long history of emigration.

From the 1840s, waves of young people, driven abroad by war and poverty, left the province in search of work. They sent home letters and remittances, but many relatives, constrained by dialect and illiteracy, could not read or reply.

Professional letter writers emerged to bridge that divide.