Hit movie Dear You sparks hunt for real-life ties in Bangkok's Chinatown

The popular Chinese movie Dear You has begun its overseas release in Hong Kong, Malaysia, North America, Australia, and New Zealand starting this week.

Since its Chinese mainland release on April 30, the modest-budget feature has grossed more than 1.6 billion yuan ($255.7 million) at the domestic box office, making it the country's second biggest film of the year to date.

In the story of Dear You, the friendship between Zheng Musheng's wife in China and Xie Nanzhi, Zheng's fellow villager in Thailand, has touched many people.

It has also led to a question: Did Zheng Musheng actually exist in real life?

To find the answer, our correspondent in Thailand recently visited one of Southeast Asia's oldest Chinese communities, Bangkok's Chinatown, to interview descendants of Chinese immigrants and dig deeper into the story behind the scenes.