Eunice Kang

    MY daughter was ecstatic when I told her we would spend the Spring Festival in my Northeast China hometown. She had been hoping to see snow for years.

    She was thrilled by the prospect of celebrating Spring Festival in a different place than Shenzhen.

    For two days, my daughter walked around without a sweater, claiming she was having a “cold-resistance drill.”

    When we arrived in my hometown and she found herself facing cold wind laden with chill from the snow, she was as cheerful as a cricket while riding down a slide made of ice. Having unrestricted access to various firecrackers and fireworks put her in seventh heaven. Emptying her red envelopes further added to her pleasure.

    I remained a devoted fan of indoor activities when the temperature dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius. Watching TV, playing poker and laughing the night away... there were plenty of things to do if you were not too fussy. The best part, of course, was the peaceful togetherness with my nearest and dearest.

    The only thing that made me uncomfortable was that I had to be shown around when I ventured out. I was disoriented and confused because my parents now live in a building two blocks away from our old building, and almost all the old buildings in and around the old housing estate where I grew up had been bulldozed for new high-rises.

    Going to downtown Shenyang one day, we passed an old factory zone that now is home to upmarket clothing shops, large furniture shops and restaurants. An IKEA outlet stood on the site of an old heavy machinery factory. I suddenly realized that I could now easily get lost in my hometown, after more than 10 years of absence.