"Look at this yellowed photograph… it was taken when my mother-in-law returned to China with her children. You can also see it in the Overseas Chinese History Museum of China in Beijing." In her home in Qionghai, Hainan, Yin Feng'e carefully brings out a stack of old photos. Her eyes fill with memories as her fingertips brush over an image of Li Yuemei dressed in simple clothes.

Yin Feng'e sorts through the few remaining old photographs in her home. Photo by Han Xing

In 1938, Li Yuemei, born in Penang, Malaysia, gave up a life of comfort to disguise herself as a man and join China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, earning her the title "the contemporary Hua Mulan." Regrettably, after she returned to China to live with her children in the 1960s, she lost all contact with her relatives in Malaysia.

As the daughter-in-law of Li Yuemei, Yin Feng'e and her family now share a heartfelt wish: they hope to find Li Yuemei's family in Penang, Malaysia, and reconnect a family bond that has been severed for nearly a century.

On the wall of Yin Feng'e's home hang photos of Li Yuemei and her relatives. Photo by Han Xing

Years of War: The "Contemporary Hua Mulan" in Disguise

In 1938, at the age of 20, Penang-born Li Yuemei made a life-altering decision.

At the time, China's southeastern sea and land routes were cut off by the Japanese army, and the newly opened Burma Road became a crucial "lifeline of resistance" for Southwest China. Thousands of vehicles and large quantities of supplies were needed, but there was a severe shortage of drivers and mechanics. Overseas Chinese leader Tan Kah Kee called upon young overseas Chinese with driving and repair skills to return and serve their motherland. Li Yuemei, who had been closely following the war and wished to contribute, immediately learned to drive and obtained a license. However, she was told upon registration that women were not being recruited. Undeterred, she cut her long hair, changed into her brother's clothes, and successfully joined the Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics group under the alias "Li Yuemei" (using a different Chinese character for her given name)—a story Yin Feng'e would hear countless times from her husband, Yang Shanguo.

The young man "Li Yuemei" was successfully registered. Before departure, however, during a mandatory medical examination, Li's identity as a woman was discovered. However, perhaps moved by her determination and wit, the team leader allowed her to stay with the volunteer group.

In the spring of 1939, Li Yuemei arrived in Kunming, Yunnan with her unit. By August 1939, over 3,200 patriotic overseas Chinese youths had gathered, and would later collectively be known as the Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics. The Burma Road, stretching 1,146 kilometers from Kunming, Yunnan, to Lashio, Burma, snaked through mountains over 3,000 meters high, with sheer cliffs on one side and rushing rivers on the other, and was subject to frequent Japanese bombing.

Li Yuemei was assigned to transport supplies along the Burma Road. The treacherous road conditions, coupled with frequent bombings, meant that overnight stops or waiting for emergency repairs were common. Each journey was a tremendous test of her patience and stamina. Like her colleagues, Li Yuemei often slept in the truck's cabin to prevent cargo or auto parts from being stolen. Her colleagues found the slender young "man" to be diligent and likable, with almost no one suspecting that she was actually a woman.

An article about Li Yuemei was published in the May 1994 issue of the "Tan Kah Kee Foundation Bulletin". Photo by Han Xing

"The wheel is in our hands, the blood is in our chests..." Driving through the desolate mountains, Li Yuemei would often sing the "Song of Departure" to stay alert. In 1940, a rollover accident left her seriously injured. Fortunately, a passing colleague, Yang Weiquan, pulled her from the mangled driver's cabin.

Her life was saved, but her identity as a woman was accidentally revealed to the unit. The media hailed her as a "contemporary Hua Mulan," and the reports caused a sensation. Renowned social activist He Xiangning wrote the words "Heroine Among Women" to describe her.

After the war, Li Yuemei married Yang Weiquan, also a Nanyang Volunteer Driver, and they settled in Burma, raising 10 children. In 1965, driven by a longing for her ancestral motherland, she brought eight of her children back to China (one of her children had married in Burma, and the other later went to Taiwan with her father, Yang Weiquan). She never imagined that this return would lead to a complete loss of contact with her family in Malaysia.

On the wall of Yin Feng'e's home hang photos of Li Yuemei and her relatives. Photo by Han Xing

Half a Century of Longing: From Lost Contact to a New Search

Li Yuemei passed away in 1968, and her wish to find her family became an unfinished task for her children to complete.

Yin Feng'e's late husband, Yang Shanguo, was Li Yuemei's eldest son. After his mother's death, he and his siblings moved to their father Yang Weiquan's hometown of Qionghai, settling there with the help of local villagers. The connection to their distant relatives was severed due to the difficulties of the era.

It wasn't until 1998 that Yang Shanguo's eldest brother-in-law traveled from Taiwan to Hainan, bringing Yang Weiquan's ashes back to his hometown to be interred with Li Yuemei. "That's when we learned that my father-in-law had been thinking of us in Taiwan," said Yin Feng'e. This reunion sparked the family's hope of finding their relatives in Malaysia. "It's not for any other reason, we just want to know if they are doing well, and to tell them that my mother-in-law always remembered her home in Penang."

The path to finding them, however, hasn’t been easy. They have no specific address or contact information, only names and vague memories from the older generation. After returning to Taiwan, the brother-in-law suffered a stroke, gradually losing his memory and ability to recognize people. Later, Yang Shanguo also had a stroke and finally passed away two years ago. The memories of their relatives seemed to fade with time.

"When Old Yang was still alive, he would often ask his smart speaker at home, 'Xiaodu, Xiaodu, who is Li Yuemei?'" Yin Feng'e knew in her heart that although her husband rarely spoke of his mother and family, he was always immensely proud of her.

In recent years, as reports and commemorative events for the Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics have increased, their descendants in Hainan have formed organizations. Yin Feng'e and her eldest son, Yang Fusheng, are often invited to participate in related events. Last year, Yin Feng'e retraced the Burma Road as part of a commemorative activity. Standing on the land where her ancestors had shed their blood and seeing Li Yuemei's name on the memorial wall, her resolve to find her family grew stronger. "My mother-in-law's story shouldn't just remain in history, and the connection with our relatives should be renewed in our generation." She sought help from media in Guangdong, hoping to find clues in their family genealogy, but the results were disappointing. The village records for Li Yuemei's ancestral home in Taishan, Guangdong, only traced her father's branch back to their departure for Malaysia, with no further updates.

An old photo preserved in Yin Feng'e's home shows one of Li Yuemei's relatives, name unknown. Photo by Han Xing

Old Photos and New Hope: Working Together for a Reunion

This August, Yang Fusheng traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the inauguration of the Nanyang Volunteer Drivers and Mechanics Memorial. On the memorial wall in the park, engraved with the names of over 3,000 volunteers, he immediately spotted his grandmother's name—Li Yuemei.

Yang Fusheng told reporters that when he was young, his father received a letter from a relative overseas. Since it was written entirely in English, only his English-speaking father knew its contents, and the letter is now lost. "I think at that time, my grandmother's family was also thinking of her, hoping to hear news from us. My grandmother lived an extraordinary life full of twists and turns. If we can find her family, it would bring a sense of completeness to her life story."

Among the photos in Yin Feng'e's collection are a family portrait of Li Yuemei's family of more than ten in Burma, solo portraits of her relatives, and black-and-white photos of a young Yang Shanguo with his sister. She also has a copy of a magazine published decades ago, which featured a report on Li Yuemei. The article mentioned that she was the fourth of nine siblings, listing their names as: Jinlun, Jinquan, Yueming, Yuemei, Jinrong, Jinhe, Jinyuan, Yueqin, and Yueping.

"If we can find our relatives in Penang, I want to show them these photos, tell them about my mother-in-law's life after she returned to China, and also tell them about our lives now," she said with a smile. Even just sitting together, chatting, and sharing their life stories would be a great tribute to Li Yuemei.

The good news is that media outlets in China and abroad are assisting in this search. With the help of the Hainan International Media Center, Malaysia's Nanyang Siang Pau, which first reported on Li Yuemei over 80 years ago, is once again focusing on this cross-border family search. Malaysia's Kwong Wah Yit Poh has also published a report on the search. The Federation of Hainan Associations Malaysia has actively joined the effort, helping to spread the word. A journalist from Singapore, after learning of Yang Fusheng's story, is also diligently searching for leads.

As the interview concluded, Yin Feng'e took out her phone and showed a video where her daughter uses AI technology to share a "trans-temporal embrace" with Li Yuemei. In the video, the young woman leans against "Li Yuemei," her smile warm. "My mother-in-law's spirit has always illuminated our path," Yin Feng'e said. "We believe that one day, with everyone's help, this family bond that spans mountains and seas will be renewed."

(Editor's Note: If you have any leads regarding this family search, please contact us at thisishainan@163.com)