Episode
Qiaopi: when letters held families together
- Podcast
- Round Table China
- Published
- May 27, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1402
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.spreaker.com/episode/qiaopi-when-letters-held-families-together--72182281
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Summary
How did Chinese migrants send money and messages home before phones or banks existed? They did not click send. Instead, they handed cash and letters to couriers who crossed the sea on faith alone. It was not fast, but it somehow worked. We're talking about Qiaopi, a forgotten system that connected families when nothing else could. / Would you take a lot more money for a lot more loneliness (14:25)? On the show: Steve, Yushan & Xingyu