THIS year marks the Year of the Rabbit — a gentle and beloved animal that signifies vitality, wit, caution and good luck in the Chinese zodiac.

It is the first Spring Festival since China adjusted its epidemic response measures. More foreigners living across China have traveled around exploring the country’s rich traditions and diverse cultures.

More than 225 million trips were taken during the weeklong holiday between Jan. 21 and 27, according to a State Council working group, about twice as much as last year or 73.5% of the 2019 reading.

Travel to experience China

Having lived in China for over 10 years, Muhammad Faisal, a Pakistani, experienced the Spring Festival travel rush in quite a special way.

Wearing a railway uniform and holding a detector, Faisal conducted safety checks for travelers entering Tianshui South Railway Station in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. Some travelers looked at him in surprise when realizing that he was a foreigner, and he responded with a warm greeting in fluent Chinese.

“I feel lucky to be able to participate in China’s ‘chunyun’ this way,” he said. The 29-year-old works as a railway staff member — doing safety checks, answering inquiries and keeping order during passenger boarding and disembarking.

On the Chinese Lunar New Year’s Day, El Batoul Nejjaoui from Morocco sent well wishes to her Chinese friends as spectacular fireworks lit up the night in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

Nejjaoui has been living in Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region for four years, working as a cultural messenger between China and the Arabic world by translating Chinese films and books into Arabic.

She has celebrated several Spring Festivals and experienced many festival activities such as making dumplings, paper cutting, guessing lantern riddles, and writing spring festival couplets on red paper.

“This year, I want to visit new places in China and also do some shopping,” said Nejjaoui, adding that she expects to experience different parts of China through travel during the holiday.

While Nejjaoui was exploring Guangzhou, Muhammad Wagiyanto, an Indonesian student at Ningxia University, was on his first trip to Beijing, hiking the Great Wall and touring the Palace Museum.

“I heard Beijing is a city with a long history and colorful cultures, and it’s absolutely true,” said Wagiyanto, who has video called home to share his travel experience with his family in Indonesia.

Special family reunions

Albida Sultana, 20, arrived in China for a first visit two months ago from Bangladesh. She said that Chinese New Year’s Eve, which fell on Jan. 21 this year, was a day full of joy and surprises that she would treasure in memory.

“That day, our university arranged lunch for us, providing dumplings, a variety of dishes, fruits, juice, nuts, seeds and chocolates. I tried all the dishes and they were so tasty,” said Sultana, who is studying at Ningxia Medical University.

Among the festival traditions, the feast on Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve has always been the highlight. Families gather together and eat a sumptuous feast. “That’s why we hold such celebrations,” said Ma Xin, deputy director of the university’s international education school.

Ma said that there are more than 400 international students from 32 countries and regions studying at the university, and over one-third have stayed on campus for this year’s Spring Festival holiday.

Busy studying for a postgraduate degree in orthopedic surgery, Muhammad Saad from Pakistan is among those who have stayed.

“Having been in China for over 10 years, I spent the most important years of my youth in China; there is a deep bond between me and this country, and I’ve found an interest in the Chinese culture,” the 32-year-old student said.

“I miss my family a lot on this special occasion. My university has arranged for similar celebrations many times, which feel like a special kind of family reunion for me.”

For Fetra Harisoa from Madagascar, celebrating the Spring Festival in her husband’s home county of Lichuan, East China’s Jiangxi Province, is a ritual she would never miss.

Going to market fairs is Harisoa’s favorite errand during the Chinese New Year holiday. Her typical day in Lichuan always begins with visiting the fairs to stock up on Spring Festival snacks and knickknacks, such as couplets written on red paper, candies, peanuts and melon seeds.

“I love spending time with the whole family. During the Spring Festival, we can also taste many local specialties, such as dumplings, rice noodles and a variety of desserts. It is precisely because of this that I fell in love with the Chinese New Year,” she grinned.

Village traditions

This year, Sebastian Hahn is celebrating his ninth Spring Festival in his girlfriend’s hometown, a village in Danzhou City, South China’s Hainan Province.

In the village, Hahn has experienced a totally different new year, making rice dumplings and going to street fairs.

Hahn was surprised to walk into a crowded market and smell the fascinating aromas of fresh fruits and local snacks.

“Chinese New Year should be like this!” he said. “It was so traditional and lively, which I never saw before,” he added.

Traditionally, Spring Festival is a time when people working in cities travel back to their hometowns for family reunions, which means rural villages are often in the most festive mood.

U.S. national Tommy Coleman has been living in Hainan for 12 years and calls himself a “new Hainanese.”

He said he was lucky to be able to spend a special Spring Festival this year with the ethnic Li and Miao people in Hainan’s Maona Village, Wuzhishan City.

Wuzhishan is famous for tea leaves, so Coleman and his family sampled the local black tea.

They also took part in traditional bamboo dances alongside locals, enjoyed the local tradition of a long-table banquet, and lit fireworks.

“We learned a lot about Li and Miao cultures, tried many local delicacies, and rang in the Chinese New Year with friendly villagers and their families. It’s a Spring Festival we will never forget,” he said.

(Xinhua)