By Grace Ng, China Correspondent

YONGCHUN COUNTY, CHINA - Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong received a hero's welcome here at his ancestral village in Fujian province yesterday.

Mr Goh was visibly moved though when he first set eyes on the rustic wooden house with high ceilings and open courtyard where his grandfather once lived.

The idea of retracing his roots came as a result of stories told to him by his late grandmother. Mr Goh's heritage can be traced all the way back to the Ming dynasty in 1403. It originated in Wuling village of Yongchun county, in Quanzhou city.