81-year-old Australian Mel Chong came to visit his hometown of Lixi, Zhongshan in November 2023, and shared his family story with us.

In 1870, his grandfather Charles Duck Chong left Zhongshan to go to Australia by himself. At that time, many young men from Zhongshan went to Australia seeking a new life, to make money from gold, but also to get away from the constant fighting, war and breakdown of civil society that was happening because of the decline of the Qing rule.

In 1911, Charles Duck Chong sent his wife and four youngest children back to Lixi to visit his family. They stayed for about 18 months before returning to Australia. One of the children was Mel's father Robert Duck Chong.

In 1984, the first time he returned home, Mel took a photo for his father and the villagers.

In 1984, soon after China opened up again, when Robert was over 80 years old, he returned to Lixi with Mel. Five years later, they both again returned to their hometown, this time together with Mel's children and wife. Mel and his family made a third visit in 2000 after the death of his father.

The family's photos taken over the past century and the oral history passed through the generations show the many changes leading to today's modern China.

In 2000, after his father passed away, Mel returned to Lixi again with his family. The photo shows he tried to play an erhu.

In 1976, Lixi Village was among the first to implement the "production-related laborer contract system" in China. Over 40 years has passed since then, and Lixi has become an important icon of rural revitalization.

Mel commented that the village changed very much since his first visit in 1984. Now everything is so fresh and clean and the concrete roads and the houses look much better.

A photo of Mel and his cousin's family under a 160-year-old banyan tree taken in November 2023.

This time, he met his cousin Shixuan again. They shared happy memories under the 160-year-old house-shaped banyan tree. Mel said that, as a child of mixed racial marriage, he had difficulty in defining his own cultural identity. However, this time, he learnt more about his hometown and made new friends which made him feel he belonged here. He looks forward to coming back to Lixi next year.