"Mom, you have returned home. And you can rest well now at home," said Chien Li-jen while gently patting a backpack on his chest. It contained his mother's ashes.

Last week, Chien, 70, and his brother Chien Li-yi departed Taipei Songshan Airport to arrive in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei province. They met a group of relatives who had waited for them at the airport.

Chien's mother died at the age of 106 before the Spring Festival.

Chien said his mother's last wish was to return to her hometown in Huangpi district of Wuhan for burial after she died.

"Before her death, my mother kept saying that she wanted to be sent back to Huangpi. And now, she has finally returned to her hometown as she wished," Chien said.