Students from Fuzhou University visit Nan'an for a field study tour exploring the city's overseas Chinese heritage. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A group of students from Fuzhou University's Maynooth International Engineering College recently spent three days in Nan'an, Fujian province, exploring the city's overseas Chinese heritage through visits to historic villages, museums, and cultural institutions.

Known as one of Fujian's major ancestral hometowns of overseas Chinese, Nan'an is home to historic overseas Chinese residences, archival records, and stories that trace more than a century of migration, philanthropy, and ties.

The program began in Rongzhong village, where students explored the community's rural revitalization efforts and its use of local cultural resources. They later visited the memorial hall of renowned entrepreneur, educator, and philanthropist Lee Kong Chian, examining photographs, personal belongings, and archival materials highlighting his career in Southeast Asia and his long-standing support for education and public welfare.

At Xuefeng Overseas Chinese Farm, the group traced the site's history as a settlement for returned overseas Chinese and explored how generations of residents helped build the community after coming back home to China.

The itinerary also included the Li Chengzhi Public Library, where students viewed a documentary on the Nanyang volunteers and explored stories of overseas Chinese from Nan'an documented in local historical collections.

By combining village history, stories of overseas Chinese figures, returned overseas Chinese communities, and wartime archives, the program offered a broader view of the enduring connections between Fujian's overseas Chinese communities and their ancestral roots in the coastal province.