BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- China's word-of-mouth hit "Dear You" continued to top China's daily box office for an 11th consecutive day on Wednesday, with its total earnings surpassing 700 million yuan (about 102 million U.S. dollars).

The low-budget, Chaoshan (Teochew)-dialect film, directed by Lan Hongchun and headlined by first-time actors, now ranks among the five top-grossing releases at China's box office this year, according to film data platforms Maoyan and Beacon.

It has outperformed all other May Day holiday releases, including crime thriller "Vanishing Point" and Hong Kong-set franchise entry "Cold War 1994," which have cumulative box office earnings currently standing at 430 million yuan and 280 million yuan, respectively.

Both Maoyan and Beacon now project "Dear You" to end its theatrical run with total revenue of over 1.6 billion yuan, after revising their projections upward multiple times since the film's opening on April 30.

Reportedly produced on a budget of just over 10 million yuan, the film has emerged as one of China's biggest cinematic surprises of 2026. Viewers and critics have praised it for its emotional authenticity, grounded storytelling and convincing performances from first-time actors.

The story draws on the history of "qiaopi," the letters and remittances sent home by earlier generations of overseas Chinese. UNESCO added the "qiaopi" archives to its Memory of the World Register in 2013.

The film follows two women whose lives become quietly intertwined through 18 years of correspondence and care after the husband of one of them dies while working overseas, exploring themes of women's solidarity, emotional responsibility, and attachment to family, homeland and cultural roots.

On China's review platform Douban, the drama currently holds a rating of 9.1 out of 10, making it one of the highest-rated Chinese films in recent years and among the best-reviewed domestic releases of the past decade.