(New Year's News) Couples on both sides of the strait celebrate the new year: May the two sides of the strait love each other like we do
China News Agency, Beijing, January 26. Title: Couples on both sides of the Taiwan Strait celebrate the Spring Festival: May the two sides of the Taiwan Strait love each other like we do
Author Zhu He
"In the new year, I hope that the two sides of the strait will become closer and closer like our feelings." Recently, Lin Yuyang, a Taiwanese youth who has settled in Beijing, and his wife Wang Man from Xi'an said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency.
After the adjustment of the epidemic prevention and control policy, many couples from both sides of the strait, like Lin Yuyang and Wang Man, returned to Taiwan during this Spring Festival holiday to experience the traditional Chinese New Year customs.
They traveled across the sea with the love of their small family, telling vivid stories about the integration and development of the two sides of the strait and getting closer to each other.
New Year's gift: from head to toe
On the eve of the Spring Festival, Lin Yuyang and Wang Man embarked on a journey back to Taiwan.
Lin Yuyang packed mainland baijiu in the suitcase, which is "more flavorful than Taiwan", while Wang Man brought Shaanxi specialties such as persimmon cakes and longxu crisps, intending to share them with relatives and friends.
"Air tickets to go home are so popular that it's really hard to get one." Wang Qiang and Ding Wenyun, couples from both sides of the strait, are equally eager to return home.
After reuniting with her family in mainland China, his wife Ding Wenyun returned to Taiwan with their children on the fourth day of the first lunar month.
In the suitcase, Wang Qiang brought a New Year's gift prepared by Wang Qiang for his father-in-law and mother-in-law - a new smartphone made in mainland China.
Wang Qiang recalled that when they first got married, the two often brought back many electronic products from Taiwan; in recent years, electronic products in the mainland have been updated rapidly, and they are also well-known and very popular in Taiwan.
This year, Taiwan youth Lin Jinwei took her son Mengmeng back to Taipei for the New Year; in order to take care of her youngest daughter Yuanyuan, his wife Zhang Shu from Shandong stayed with her parents in Beijing for a reunion.
In the suitcase when returning home, Zhang Shu prepared various gifts for his family in Taipei. Skin care products such as sea cucumbers came from his parents. The sneakers and new clothes he gave to his in-laws continued the custom of "adding new clothes in the new year".
"It's from head to toe." Mengmeng added.
Taste of the New Year: Chinese New Year is the same on both sides of the Taiwan Strait
In the Spring Festival of previous years, in order to reunite with their families, couples on both sides of the strait often travel across the sea during short holidays.
The mood and enthusiasm of relatives and friends looking forward to the reunion is unstoppable. Lin Yuyang and Wang Man's schedule is always well arranged, and both of them feel that "although they are a bit tired, they are still very happy".
On New Year's Eve this year, the couple came to Taipei's Dihua Street to buy new year's goods.
The shopping crowds are bustling, and the streets and alleys are decorated with red Spring Festival couplets and various lanterns, making them feel the same strong "New Year flavor" as in mainland China.
Ding Wenyun still remembers the scene when he and his husband Wang Qiang from Shandong went back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year together. "The scene was very lively and full of New Year atmosphere."
Wang Qiang was also deeply impressed by the sense of ritual during the Spring Festival in Taiwan: the whole family must gather together for a New Year’s Eve dinner, and there are so many people that “there is no room for one table.”
He felt that "many customs are the same as those in mainland China, and this is a vivid embodiment of a family on both sides of the strait."
Returning to Taiwan for the New Year in 2020, as medical staff, Wang Qiang and Ding Wenyun were worried about the epidemic situation, so they flew back to Beijing on the third day of the first lunar month to stand by.
In recent years, I have celebrated the Spring Festival with my family in Beijing, and I have shared the joy with relatives and friends across the Taiwan Strait in the "cloud".
"According to family tradition, the elders will give out red envelopes on New Year's Eve, while the younger generation will formally pay New Year's greetings to the elders," Ding Wenyun said. This is the most anticipated and exciting moment for the children.
New Year's resolution: move around more often
In addition to accompanying their families, Lin Yuyang and Wang Man also arranged a trip in Taiwan during this holiday.
The two met on a trip to Hualien seven years ago, and now they are looking forward to revisiting the old place.
In the past year, Lin Yuyang returned to school for further studies and studied for a doctorate at Renmin University of China; Wang Man insisted on exercising and regaining his health.
Now that they are settled in Beijing, their lives are more refined than before, making the hutong hut they live in "feel more like home".
Before returning to Taiwan, Lin Jinwei and Zhang Shu's son Mengmeng drew a painting related to the Spring Festival. "A group of rabbits sit on firecrackers and bid farewell to the mountain full of tigers, which symbolizes us saying goodbye to the old year and ushering in the new year."
The children are growing faster and faster, which makes Lin Jinwei and Zhang Shu very pleased.
They made short videos of the children's lives and posted them in the family group so that the family members in Taipei could pay attention to them in time.
The two expect that as the epidemic eases, it will be more convenient for relatives and friends on both sides of the strait to move around.
It is also Wang Qiang and Ding Wenyun's New Year's wish to visit home often. They hope to return to Taiwan at least twice a year in the future to enjoy more face-to-face reunions.
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