The Hakka Chinese, a Chinese subgroup with their own language, organize complex and clandestine death ceremonies. These permit the spirits of their ancestors to return to the parental home, in order to then send them on to heaven. Olivier Pin-Fat, part Hakka Chinese, attended such a ceremony which was held for his grandfather. The rituals, his stay in the 500-year-old Hakka village, and the stories about his grandfather taught him much about the history of his family. Thus it was not only the spirit of his grandfather that was brought home by the ceremony, but Olivier Pin-Fat himself.

Olivier Pin-Fat (b. 1969, Great Britain) is a freelance photographer for Agence Vu, stationed in the Thai capital, Bangkok.