A corner of Huang Liyong's house decorated with various trees and flowers. [Photo by Zhang Xiang/chinadaily.com.cn]

Cai Jinshui, a representative of overseas Putianese, said Yao and his peers helped their fellow villagers to settle abroad and encouraged them, once back home, to contribute to Putian's public welfare development by building schools, hospitals, bridges, roads and parks.

The tradition begun by Yao and others has inspired Putianese wherever they may live. Hanjiang district, which governs Dongda village, has received donations totaling 480 million yuan from overseas residents since the reform and opening-up policy.

"There are now 412 foreign-invested companies in Hanjiang boasting capital of 680 million dollar in actual use," Cai said.

However, with the permanent resident population of Dongda village holding steady at 1,809 and the overseas population of its former residents twice that at over 4,000, the village is more and more a gathering-place for left-behind women, elders and children, and the old mansions so beloved in Yao's time and after are no longer as well maintained.

Huang Liyong's two-storied house, a legacy of the 48-year-old man's grandfather, is equipped with a spacious courtyard that had fallen into disrepair.

Before returning back to Dongda village five years ago, Huang had been working construction in Singapore, South Korea and Dubai for over two decades. His 24-year-old son is also a migrant worker, in Argentina.

For years, the old family house was home to only Huang's mother and wife. It stood sadly and silently as if its life were fading away.

"That's why I came back," Huang said.